Advanced Capillary Force Vaporizers

Abstract

The present invention relates to the vaporization of liquids and the pressurization of vapors in capillary force vaporizers. More particularly, the invention provides new developments in the assembly and configuration of capillary force vaporizers, as well as systems and methods that incorporate these features, thus providing capillary force vaporizers that exhibit enhanced operability and reliability during operation.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to the vaporization of liquids and the pressurization of vapors in capillary force vaporizers. More particularly, the invention relates to new developments in the assembly and configuration of capillary force vaporizers, as well as systems and methods that incorporate these new features.[0003]2. Description of the Pertinent Art[0004]Many applications utilize gases that have been generated from liquid sources. Vaporization devices have been designed to vaporize liquids and release the resulting vapor under pressure. In applications in which a pressurized vapor stream is desired, prior art devices generally require that liquid be supplied to the device under pressure, or that the vapor is otherwise pressurized by external means. For example, in pressurized boiler systems, liquids are generally required to be supplied under at least as much pressure as that of the produced vapor. Pressurized l...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]The present invention seeks to overcome certain limitations of, and provide advanced features over prior art capillary force vaporizers (CFVs) for the vaporization of liquids and the generation of pressurized vapor. The CFVs described herein are suitable for use under a variety of operating parameters. These operating parameters include, but are not necessarily limited to: reliability over time in cases where a CFV device is used intermittently; increases in time intervals during which a CFV is in active operation; variations in power density to the CFV; using different liquid feed or feed combinations; changes in environmental operating conditions; and so on. The capillary force vaporizers of the present invention also feature novel operating parameters that provide better reliability and improved responses to changes in input heat and power, in addition to offering other advantages over prior art devices as will be discussed in greater detail below.

Problems solved by technology

Pressurized liquid sources are usually inconvenient to use, heavy to transport, potentially explosive, and prone to leakage.

While a number of the devices mentioned above offer advantages over alternative liquid vaporization technologies, many of the devices are insufficiently robust to enable operation either for extended periods of time, or over a variety of operating conditions.

However, during longer periods of operation, namely on the order of days or weeks, several anomalies in materials performance were noted.

Furthermore, none of these devices are intended or adapted for use in pressurized environments.

That is, none of the devices described or presented above are configured for use either with pressurized vapor streams or with pressurized liquid feed sources.

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