| abstract |
Axially fed fluid is sheared during long residence time in a radial workspace between counter-rotating coaxial disk-shaped centrifugal impellers. Gases evolve in the fractal turbulence of a shear layer, which is forced between laminar boundary layers, and an axial suction pump axially extracts evolved noncondensibles and volatiles through cores of radial vortices in the shear layer. Cavitation due to shear between the impellers kills pathogens by shock waves, microjets, OH radicals, and nearby UV light pulses. Oppositely charged electrodes bounding the workspace cause electroporesis and electrohydraulic cavitation. The electrodes are counter-rotating ridged armatures of disk dynamos, forming a dynamic capacitor having audio frequency pulsed electric fields. Electrode erosion by arcing is prevented by shear between the electrodes. n The device is also a continuous crystallizer. Inductive repulsion keeps conductive fractions, including suspended metals such as arsenic and mercury, and mineralized water and brine, from passing through the dynamic capacitor at the periphery of the reactor along with the nonconductive solvent. Solutions reach saturation while gases such as carbon dioxide are axially extracted. Metals and concentrated dissolved solids linger in the highly turbulent workspace and agglomerate into chunks, until reaching a size where momentum transfer from the impellers can impel the chunk through the inductive repulsion. Atomized water sprays from the periphery of the workspace and evaporatively cools, precipitating salt and fine crystals of pharmaceuticals. Scale forming compounds precipitate in the reactor into chunks which are easily separable from cooling water or reverse osmosis feed by conventional means. Electrolytic cracking neutralizes ammonia and VOCs. |