EVAPORATOR ELEMENTS

The practical application of evaporator technology is profoundly affected by the properties and characteristics of the solution to be concentrated. Some of the most important properties of evaporating liquids are discussed below. 

The properties of the feed to an evaporator may exhibit no unusual problems. However, as the liquor is concentrated, the solution properties may drastically change. The density and viscosity may increase with solid content until the heat transfer performance is reduced or the solution becomes saturated. Continued boiling of a saturated solution may cause crystals to form which often must be removed to prevent plugging or fouling of the heat transfer surface. The boiling point of a solution also rises considerably as it Is concentrated. 

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In molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), the constituent elements of the desired film in the form of molecular beams are deposited epitaxially onto a heated crystalline substrate. These molecular beams are typically from thermally evaporated elemental sources (e.g., evaporation of elemental As produces molecules of As2, As3, and As4). A refinement of this is atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) (also known as atomic layer deposition, ALD) in which the substrate is exposed alternately to two... 

Steam generating installations consist of two types of elements (a) basic-the boiler itself, and (b) the accessory-pumps and treatment apparatuses for water and fuel, water and steam piping, air fans and smoke stacks. An oil- or gas-fired steam generator is shown in Fig. 96. The heating surfaces are divided into economizer section, evaporation elements, and steam superheaters (if present). The steam generator design may differ from the one shown in Fig. 96. 

Gr. xenon, stranger) Discovered by Ramsay and Travers in 1898 in the residue left after evaporating liquid air components. Xenon is a member of the so-called noble or "inert" gases. It is present in the atmosphere to the extent of about one part in twenty million. Xenon is present in the Martian atmosphere to the extent of 0.08 ppm. the element is found in the gases evolved from certain mineral springs, and is commercially obtained by extraction from liquid air. 

Tantalum is a gray, heavy, and very hard metal. When pure, it is ductile and can be drawn into fine wire, which is used as a filament for evaporating metals such as aluminum. Tantalum is almost completely immune to chemical attack at temperatures below ISOoC, and is attacked only by hydrofluoric acid, acidic solutions containing the fluoride ion, and free sulfur trioxide. Alkalis attack it only slowly. At high temperatures, tantalum becomes much more reactive. The element has a melting point exceeded only by tungsten and rhenium. Tantalum is used to make a variety... 

The small differences in physical properties of substances containing elements with isotopes are manifested through mea.surement of isotope ratios. When water evaporates, the vapor is richer in its lighter isotopes ( Hj O) than the heavier one ( Hj O). Such differences in vapor pressures vary with temperature and have been used, for example, to estimate sea temperatures of 10,000 years ago (see Chapter 47). 

As well as the evaporation of neutrals from the sample, some positive ions (M+) are also produced, the number depending on the temperature and the energy difference, 1 - ([). This production of positive ions is known as surface or thermai ion emission. The tn/z values of the ions are characteristic of the elements in the sample. 

Some elements (S, Se, Te, P, As, Sb, Bi, Ge, Sn, Pb) in liquid samples arc conveniently converted into their volatile hydrides before being passed into the plasma, as discussed in Part A (Chapter 15). For some samples, any volatile solvent is first evaporated in a sample holder, which is then heated strongly to vaporize the resulting solid residue, as discussed in Part C (Chapter 17). 

The second class of atomic manipulations, the perpendicular processes, involves transfer of an adsorbate atom or molecule from the STM tip to the surface or vice versa. The tip is moved toward the surface until the adsorption potential wells on the tip and the surface coalesce, with the result that the adsorbate, which was previously bound either to the tip or the surface, may now be considered to be bound to both. For successful transfer, one of the adsorbate bonds (either with the tip or with the surface, depending on the desired direction of transfer) must be broken. The fate of the adsorbate depends on the nature of its interaction with the tip and the surface, and the materials of the tip and surface. Directional adatom transfer is possible with the apphcation of suitable junction biases. Also, thermally-activated field evaporation of positive or negative ions over the Schottky barrier formed by lowering the potential energy outside a conductor (either the surface or the tip) by the apphcation of an electric field is possible. FIectromigration, the migration of minority elements (ie, impurities, defects) through the bulk soHd under the influence of current flow, is another process by which an atom may be moved between the surface and the tip of an STM. 

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