🔍 Key Concepts

• Flash evaporator flow path – where seawater enters, is heated, flashes to vapor, and where brine is discharged • How evaporation affects salinity – fresh water leaves as vapor, dissolved salts stay behind in the remaining liquid • Difference between feed water, heated seawater, and brine discharge in a distilling plant

💭 Think About

• Trace the seawater through the system: where does it enter, where is it hottest, and where has the most water already been removed as vapor? • In which part of the system has the liquid spent the most time in contact with heating surfaces and undergone the most evaporation? • Which locations are mainly carrying relatively fresh feed or cooling water versus concentrated brine?

✅ Before You Answer

• For each option, decide if that stream is incoming feed, intermediate heated water, cooling medium, or concentrated brine • Ask: at this point, has significant fresh water vapor already been removed, leaving salts behind? • Eliminate any options that are primarily cooling or initial feed rather than final concentrated discharge.