Concentration of foaming materials

Claim 1

A CONTINUOUS PROCESS FOR THE EVAPORATION OF VOLATILES, WITHOUT FOAMING, FROM LIQUID-CONTAINING, NORMALLY FOAM-FORMING MATERIALS, WHEREBY RAPID ISOLATION OF VAPORS FROM THE CONCENTRATED MATERIAL IS PERMITTED, WHICH COMPRISES CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING MATERIAL TO BE TREATED INTO A TORTUOUS FLOW PATH OF RELATIVELY NARROW CROSS- SECTION, ELONGATED IN A DIRECTION LATERAL TO THE FLOW OF MACROSS-SECTION; PASSING THE MATERIAL THROUGH THE FLOW PATH WHILE SUPPLYING HEAT TO RELEASE VAPOR FROM THE MATERIAL; CONTINUING TO PASS IN HOMOGENEOUS ADMIXTURE THE CONCENTRATED MATERIAL AND ITS VAPORS THROUGH SAID FLOW PATH WHILE CONTINUING TO SUPPLY HEAT THERETO, WEREBY THE RATE OF FEED AND THE AFOREMENTIONED HEAT SUPPLIED TO THE MATERIAL AND ITS VAPOR ACCORDING TO SAID PRESELECTED VARIATION IN CROSS-SECTION OF THE FLOW PATH EFFECTS A HIGH RATE OF EVAPORATION AND A HIGH VELOCITY OF THE MIXTURE THROUGH THE FLOW PATH THUS INHIBITING DEPOSITION OF CONCENTRATE UPON THE SURFACE WHICH DEFINES THE FLOW PATH; DISCHARGING PRODUCT FROM THE END OF THE FLOW PATH WITH ITS VAPORS HOTTER THAN ITS CONCENTRATED MATERIAL; AND THEREAFTER PERMITTING THE ALREADY SEPARATED VAPORS TO BE RAPIDLY ISOLATED FROM THE CONCENTRATED MATERIAL.