A fluid treatment system incorporating an integrated heat exchanger and thermal
treatment unit. A fan draws or pushes a contaminated fluid through the heat exchanger,
which is preferably of the counter flow type. The integrated heat exchanger and
thermal treatment unit is fabricated by stacking sheets of metal foil so that gaps
are defined between adjacent sheets. These gaps define alternating untreated and
treated fluid channels. The untreated fluid flows through the heat exchanger and
into the thermal treatment unit, with is disposed within aligned orifices formed
in the metal foil sheets. Heat transfer occurs between adjacent treated and untreated
channels, which greatly improves the efficiency with which a temperature of the
untreated fluid entering the heat exchanger is changed as a result of heat transfer
with the treated fluid that is exiting the heat exchanger. A header system is in
fluid communication with either all of the treated or all of the untreated fluid
channels. The integrated heat exchanger and thermal treatment unit also usable
as a chemical reactor to generate a desired chemical product from at least one reactant.