A Practical Manual On Sea Water Distillation
With A Description Of The Necessary Machinery For The Process

SEA WATER DISTILLATION. CHAPTER I . GENERAL OUTLINE AND DESCRIPTION OF DISTILLATION. Distillation Explained. 1. Distillation, as applied to sea water, is a process in which the water contained in sea water is converted into steam or vapour by the action of heat, which is absorbed, and such steam or vapour, thus generated, is then recon- verted into water, by having its heat abstracted and ab- sorbed by some cooling agent, say cold sea water. The water only is affected by its conversion into steam or vapour, and its reconversion into water. The sea water thus has its saline matter separated from the ordinary- water. The steam produced is simply water in its pure and gaseous state, and as soon as its heat (usually called its latent heat) is abstracted from it, it liquefies or becomes water again, or what is called distilled water. 2. The process of sea water distillation, therefore, in- volves two distinct operations, viz. :—First, Vaporisation, or the conversion of the water from a liquid to a gaseous state ; and secondly, Liquefaction, or the reconversion of the vapour from a gaseous to a liquid state. By the above process the saline matter and all non-volatile substances 1