Systems and methods for polymer purification using a coiled coaxial coaxial machine.

Abstract

Invention details;

Claims

OCR07AP1. A method for removing contaminants from a fluid stream consisting of a carrier fluid and contaminants, which includes: fluid flow through the inlet of a coiled tube; in the coiled tube, at least one first and second phase of the fluid stream is induced, where the first phase has a lower density than the second phase, and where the majority of the first phase consists of the carrier fluid and the majority of the second phase consists of contaminants; fluid flow is directed from the outlet of the coiled tube into an expansion vessel, where the expansion vessel has an outlet high point and an outlet low point lower than the outlet high point; the second phase is directed through the outlet low point; and the first phase is directed through the outlet high point.

2. A method for removing contaminants from the fluid stream in claim 1, which is further enhanced by a first-phase flow step through a particle filter to remove any remaining contaminants and create a reduced contaminant fluid stream.3.The method for removing contaminants from the fluid stream in Claim 1 incorporates a procedure to resize the coiled tube to partially restrict the fluid flow and induce pressure loss in the fluid stream along the length of the coiled tube, where at the inlet the coiled tube the pressure is approximately 500 to 5,000 psi gauge and at the outlet the coiled tube the pressure is approximately 50 to 4,000 psi gauge.

4. The method for removing contaminants from the fluid stream in Claim 1 incorporates a procedure to control the fluid stream pressure through a control valve located upstream of the coiled tube.

5. The method for removing contaminants from the fluid stream in Claim 1, after the induction of the first and second phases, incorporates a procedure to vaporize the first phase of the fluid stream. 6.

7. The method for removing contaminants from the fluid stream in Reimbursement 1, which includes additional steps for controlling the fluid flow rate at the displacement of the coiled tube and at the upstream end of the expansion vessel through a second control valve located between the outlet of the coiled tube and the expansion vessel.

8. The method for removing contaminants from the fluid stream in Reimbursement 7, where the fluid temperature inside the coiled tube is between approximately 100 and 600 degrees Fahrenheit.

9. The method for removing contaminants from the fluid stream in Reimbursement 7, where the heating step for the fluid stream includes enclosing it in a heating jacket around the coiled tube.

10. The method for removing contaminants from the fluid stream in Reimbursement 7, where the heating step for the fluid stream includes introducing the heat-transfer fluid into a heat exchanger surrounding the coiled tube. 11.The method for removing contaminants from the fluid stream in Claim 1, which incorporates additional steps for maintaining the fluid velocity flowing through the coiled tubing, is provided by arranging more than one coiled tubing section, each section of which comprises different diameters, with the diameter of the coiled tubing section increasing from the section near the inlet of the coiled tubing to the section near the outlet of the coiled tubing.

12. The method for removing contaminants from the fluid stream in Claim 11, where each more than one coiled tubing section comprises a coiled tubing diameter between at least one-quarter inch and up to five inches, and a coiled tubing diameter between at least six inches and up to 24 inches.13.A system for removing contaminants from a fluid stream, a fluid stream consisting of a mixture of carrier fluid and contaminants; a system comprising: a coiled tube with an inlet for receiving the fluid stream, an outlet, and a pressure control valve located upstream of the coiled tube inlet; where the coiled tube consists of more than one section with different diameters, the diameter of the coiled tube sections increases from the section near the inlet to the section near the outlet; and an expansion vessel with an inlet connected to the fluid path of the coiled tube, an expansion valve with a high point outlet and a low point outlet.

14. A system for removing contaminants from a fluid stream under claim 13 where the coiled tube induces the vaporization of the carrier fluid phase and the contaminant phase of the fluid stream.

15. A system for removing contaminants from a fluid stream under claim 13 where the system is further integrated with a heating system to control the temperature inside the coiled tube.16.

17. The system for removing contaminants from a fluid stream under claim 15 where the heating system comprises: a heat exchanger enclosing the coiled tubes; and a heat exchanger through which the circulating fluid continuously transfers heat.

18. The system for removing contaminants from a fluid stream under claim 13 where the heating system comprises a heating jacket enclosing the coiled tubes.

19. The system for removing contaminants from a fluid stream under claim 13 where the contaminant phase flows through the low-point outlet of the expansion vessel and the vaporized carrier fluid flows through the high-point outlet of the expansion vessel.

20. The system for removing contaminants from a fluid stream under claim 19 where more than one section within the coiled tubes comprises a tube diameter ranging between at least one-quarter inch and up to five inches, and a coil diameter ranging between at least six inches and up to 24 inches.

21. The system for removing contaminants from a fluid stream under claim 19 where the coiled tubes are installed in a pressure vessel.

Images