Rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production

Abstract

The present invention discloses a rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium gas production. The rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium gas production includes a column body provided with a discharge port, a reflux port, and a liquid air inlet; a separator is arranged between the top and the middle of the column body to isolate the top and the middle of the column body from each other; the number of trays of multiple trays is determined by the theoretical number of trays calculated by the stage-by-stage calculation method, and the number of trays is an integer greater than three; a main condenser-evaporator is arranged at the top of the column body. Among them, the middle of the column body is communicated with the nitrogen inlet side of the main condenser-evaporator through a first pipeline, the nitrogen outlet side of the main condenser-evaporator is communicated with the non-condensable gas inlet of the neon-helium column through a second pipeline, the nitrogen outlet side of the main condenser-evaporator is communicated with the reflux port through a third pipeline, the column body is provided with a liquid nitrogen extraction port, and the liquid nitrogen extraction port is located between the second theoretical tray and the third theoretical tray among multiple trays. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the structure of the rectifying lower column has small structural changes and high extraction rate of rare gases.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of neon-helium production equipment, and in particular to a rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production. Background Art

[0002] Neon can be used in neon lights, mercury lamps, insulation detectors, high-frequency electroscopes, plasma research, lasers, etc., and is used as a cryogenic coolant, standard gas, special mixed gas, etc.

[0003] Helium is widely used in military, scientific research, petrochemical, refrigeration, medical, semiconductor, pipeline leak detection, superconducting experiments, metal manufacturing, deep-sea diving, high-precision welding, optoelectronic product production, etc.

[0004] Neon and helium have low boiling points, close to that of nitrogen. The existing technologies for extracting neon and helium in the air separation field are not very mature, and most of the neon and helium in air separation are discharged into the atmosphere. Moreover, for the air separation rectification extraction devices in the existing technologies, some have low extraction rates and some have insufficient purities. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention aims to at least solve one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. For this purpose, an object of the present invention is to provide a rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production, which has small structural changes and a high extraction rate of rare gases.

[0006] The rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a tower body, the tower body is sequentially arranged with a top, a middle part and a bottom in the vertical direction, an outlet is provided at the top of the tower body, a reflux port is provided in the middle part of the tower body, and a liquid air inlet is provided at the bottom of the tower body; a separator, the separator is arranged between the top of the tower body and the middle part of the tower body to isolate the top of the tower body from the middle part of the tower body; a plurality of trays, the plurality of trays are spaced apart along the middle and lower parts of the tower body, the number of trays is determined by the theoretical number of plates calculated by the plate-by-plate calculation method, and the number of trays is an integer of three or more; a main condenser-evaporator, the main condenser-evaporator is arranged at the top of the tower body, wherein, the middle part of the tower body is communicated with the nitrogen inlet side of the main condenser-evaporator through a first pipeline, the nitrogen outlet side of the main condenser-evaporator is communicated with the non-condensable gas inlet of the neon-helium tower through a second pipeline, the nitrogen outlet side of the main condenser-evaporator is communicated with the reflux port through a third pipeline, the tower body is provided with a liquid nitrogen extraction port, and the liquid nitrogen extraction port is located between the second theoretical plate and the third theoretical plate among the plurality of trays.

[0007] According to the rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production in an embodiment of the present invention, by arranging a liquid nitrogen extraction port between the second theoretical plate and the third theoretical plate for liquid nitrogen extraction, compared with the solution in the related art where non-condensable gas and liquid nitrogen in the nitrogen side of the main condenser are directly extracted, the reflux ratio at the upper end of the rectifying lower column structure can be made larger, effectively removing oxygen and argon in the raw material gas and making the neon-helium concentration in the raw material gas higher.

[0008] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the number of theoretical plates is 35 - 45.

[0009] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the number of theoretical plates is 42, and the liquid nitrogen extraction port is arranged between the second theoretical plate and the third theoretical plate.

[0010] According to some embodiments of the present invention, a throttling element is provided on the second pipeline.

[0011] According to some embodiments of the present invention, a liquid storage tank is provided inside the tower body. The liquid storage tank is arranged between the isolation element and the second theoretical plate, and the third pipeline is communicated with the liquid storage tank.

[0012] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the plurality of tower plates include a first tower plate and a second tower plate. The first tower plate is located above the liquid nitrogen extraction port and the second tower plate is located below the liquid nitrogen extraction port. Among them, the efficiency of the first tower plate is more than 1.4 times that of the second tower plate.

[0013] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the ratio of the efficiency of the first tower plate to that of the second tower plate is 1.5 - 2.

[0014] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the first tower plate is provided with a plurality of guiding sieve holes penetrating through its thickness direction, and the first tower plate is provided with an inclined platform, and the inclined platform is arranged adjacent to the inlet of the first tower plate.

[0015] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the plurality of tower plates include a first tower plate. The theoretical tower plates located above the liquid nitrogen extraction port adopt the first tower plate. The first tower plate is a high-efficiency rectifying tower plate, and a packing structure is adopted inside the tower body below the liquid nitrogen extraction port.

[0016] Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be given in part in the following description, become apparent in part from the following description, or be understood through the practice of the present invention. Description of the Drawings

[0017] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and be easily understood from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein:

[0018] Figure 1It is a schematic structural diagram of the rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production in the related art;

[0019] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of the rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production according to an embodiment of the present invention

[0020] Reference numerals:

[0021] Rectifying lower column structure 100 for neon-helium production;

[0022] Top 10; Middle part 20; Bottom 30; Packing 40; First tray 50;

[0023] Main condenser-evaporator 60; First pipeline 61; Second pipeline 62; Third pipeline 63; Liquid storage tank 70 Detailed implementation manners

[0024] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the drawings, where the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below by referring to the drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present invention and should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

[0025] In the related art, as Figure 1 , the clean process air from the air purification system is divided into four parts. One part directly enters the cold box and is cooled to near the liquefaction point and then enters the bottom 30 of the rectifying lower column. One part enters the cold box and is cooled to near the liquefaction point and then enters the middle and lower parts of the rectifying lower column to participate in rectification. In the rectifying lower column, the rising gas and the down-flowing liquid are in full contact. After heat and mass transfer, nitrogen is obtained at the top 10 of the rectifying lower column. The nitrogen enters the main condenser-evaporator 60 at the top 10 of the rectifying lower column and is condensed. A part of the liquid nitrogen flows down as the reflux liquid of the rectifying lower column. A part of the liquid nitrogen is throttled after being subcooled and part of it is sent to the rectifying upper column. At the same time, non-condensable gas is extracted from the nitrogen side of the main condenser-evaporator 60 and sent to the neon-helium column as the rising vapor. After rectification in the neon-helium column, neon-helium gas products are generated at the top of the column. However, due to the direct extraction of the non-condensable gas and liquid nitrogen from the nitrogen side of the main condenser-evaporator 60, the amount of liquid nitrogen refluxing in the rectifying lower column is small, and oxygen and argon in the raw material gas cannot be effectively removed.

[0026] Below, reference is made to Figure 2 to describe the rectifying lower column structure 100 for neon-helium production according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] The rectifying lower column structure 100 for neon-helium production according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a tower body, a separator, a plurality of trays, and a main condenser-evaporator 60.

[0028] The tower body is arranged vertically, including a top part 10, a middle part 20, and a bottom part 30 arranged in sequence. The top part 10 of the tower body is provided with a discharge port, the middle part 20 of the tower body is provided with a reflux port, the bottom part 30 of the tower body is provided with a liquid air inlet. The isolation member is located between the top part 10 and the middle part 20 of the tower body, sealing and isolating the top part 10 and the middle part 20 of the tower body. A plurality of trays are arranged at intervals in the middle and lower part of the tower body. The number of trays is determined by the theoretical number of trays calculated by the plate-by-plate calculation method, and the number of trays is an integer greater than three. The main condenser-evaporator 60 is arranged at the top part 10 of the tower body, and the middle part 20 of the tower body is communicated with the nitrogen inlet side of the main condenser-evaporator 60 through a first pipeline 61. The nitrogen outlet side of the main condenser-evaporator 60 is communicated with the non-condensable gas inlet and the liquid nitrogen reflux port of the neon-helium tower through a second pipeline 62 and a third pipeline 63 respectively. At the same time, the tower body is provided with a liquid nitrogen extraction port, which is located between the second theoretical plate and the third theoretical plate. Compared with the related art, in the scheme of directly extracting liquid nitrogen from the nitrogen outlet side of the main condenser-evaporator 60 (such as Figure 1 ), according to the rectifying lower tower structure 100 for neon-helium production of the embodiment of the present invention, by adopting the method of setting a liquid nitrogen extraction port between the second theoretical plate and the third theoretical plate for liquid nitrogen extraction, compared with the scheme of usually directly extracting non-condensable gas and liquid nitrogen on the nitrogen side of the main condenser-evaporator 60 in the related art, the reflux ratio at the upper end of the rectifying lower tower structure can be made larger, effectively removing oxygen and argon in the raw material gas and making the neon-helium concentration of the raw material gas higher.

[0029] Such as Figure 2 , in some embodiments of the present invention, in order to ensure the overall height of the rectifying lower tower is controllable and reduce the tray resistance, the theoretical number of trays is 35 - 45.

[0030] Such as Figure 2 , preferably, the theoretical number of trays is 42, and the liquid nitrogen extraction port is arranged between the second theoretical plate and the third theoretical plate. Thus, not only can the neon-helium concentration in the raw material gas be increased, but also the height of the tower body can be controllable and the tray resistance can be reduced.

[0031] Such as Figure 2 , in some examples, the second pipeline 62 is provided with a throttling member.

[0032] Such as Figure 2 , in some examples, the tower body is provided with a liquid storage tank 70. The liquid storage tank 70 is located between the isolation member and the second theoretical plate, and the liquid storage tank 70 is arranged adjacent to the liquid nitrogen reflux port. The third pipeline 63 is communicated with the liquid storage tank 70, thereby avoiding the influence of the reflux liquid nitrogen on the gas-liquid contact in the tray.

[0033] In some embodiments of the present invention, such as Figure 2, a plurality of trays include a first tray 50 and a second tray. The first tray 50 is located in the tray section above the liquid nitrogen extraction port, and the second tray is located in the tray section below the liquid nitrogen extraction port. The first tray 50 is a high-efficiency rectification tray, and the efficiency of the first tray 50 is more than 1.4 times that of the second tray.

[0034] Preferably, the efficiency of the first tray 50 is 1.5 - 2 times that of the second tray.

[0035] In some embodiments of the present invention, the first tray 50 is a high-efficiency rectification tray, provided with a plurality of guiding sieve holes penetrating along its thickness direction, and an inclined platform is arranged at the tray inlet. Thus, the momentum of part of the gas is utilized to push the liquid to flow, so as to offset the hydraulic gradient formed by the liquid flowing through the tray due to the flow resistance, uniformly reduce the liquid layer, and reduce the reverse flow and uneven distribution of the gas-liquid two-phase in space. Therefore, both the tray pressure drop is reduced and the tray efficiency is improved. The function of the inclined platform is to avoid the liquid leakage phenomenon at the tray inlet under low gas velocity. The efficiency of the high-efficiency rectification tray is 100 - 120%, and the efficiency of the conventional tray is 60 - 70%.

[0036] In some other embodiments of the present invention, the plurality of trays include a first tray 50. The first tray 50 is a high-efficiency rectification tray and is arranged above the liquid nitrogen extraction port. The tower body below the liquid nitrogen extraction port adopts a packing 40. In other words, the theoretical trays in the upper section of the liquid nitrogen extraction port adopt high-efficiency rectification trays, and the lower section of the liquid nitrogen remains a packed tower. The advantages are that the height increase of the upper section is small, the tower body height is controllable, the tray resistance is small, and the purpose of reducing energy consumption is achieved. Compared with the extraction method of the traditional extraction port, the extraction rate is increased by 80%.

[0037] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention.

[0038] In the description of the present invention, the "first feature" and "second feature" may include one or more of such features.

[0039] In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more.

[0040] In the description of the present invention, the first feature being "above" or "below" the second feature may include the direct contact between the first and second features, or may include the situation where the first and second features are not in direct contact but in contact through additional features therebetween.

[0041] In the description of the present invention, the first feature being "above", "over" or "on top of" the second feature includes that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the horizontal height of the first feature is higher than that of the second feature.

[0042] Other components and operations of the rectifying lower column structure 100 for neon-helium production according to the embodiments of the present invention are known to those of ordinary skill in the art and will not be described in detail herein.

[0043] In the description of this specification, the descriptions with reference to terms such as "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "schematic embodiments", "examples", "specific examples", or "some examples", etc. mean that the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described can be combined in a suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0044] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions, and variations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A rectifying lower column structure for the production of neon-helium gas, characterized in that Comprising: A tower body, the tower body including a top, a middle part, and a bottom arranged in sequence along the vertical direction, the top of the tower body being provided with a discharge port, the middle part of the tower body being provided with a reflux port, and the bottom of the tower body being provided with a liquid air inlet; An isolation member, the isolation member being arranged between the top of the tower body and the middle part of the tower body to isolate the top of the tower body from the middle part of the tower body from each other; A plurality of trays, the plurality of trays being arranged at intervals in the middle and lower parts of the tower body, the number of trays of the plurality of trays being determined by the number of theoretical trays calculated by the stage-by-stage calculation method, and the number of trays being an integer of more than three; A main condenser-evaporator, the main condenser-evaporator being arranged at the top of the tower body, Wherein, the middle part of the tower body is communicated with the nitrogen inlet side of the main condenser-evaporator through a first pipeline, the nitrogen outlet side of the main condenser-evaporator is communicated with the non-condensable gas inlet of the neon-helium tower through a second pipeline, the nitrogen outlet side of the main condenser-evaporator is communicated with the reflux port through a third pipeline, the tower body is provided with a liquid nitrogen extraction port, and the liquid nitrogen extraction port is located between the second theoretical tray and the third theoretical tray among the plurality of trays. The plurality of trays include a first tray and a second tray. The first tray is located above the liquid nitrogen extraction port and the second tray is located below the liquid nitrogen extraction port. Wherein, the efficiency of the first tray is more than 1.4 times that of the second tray efficiency.

2. The rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production according to claim 1, wherein The number of theoretical trays is 35 - 45.

3. The rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production according to claim 2, characterized in that, The number of theoretical trays is 42.

4. The rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production according to claim 3, characterized in that, The second pipeline is provided with a throttling member.

5. The rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production according to claim 3, characterized in that, A liquid storage tank is arranged inside the tower body, the liquid storage tank is arranged between the isolation member and the second theoretical tray, and the third pipeline is communicated with the liquid storage tank.

6. The rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production according to claim 1, characterized in that, The ratio of the efficiency of the first tray to the efficiency of the second tray is 1.5 - 2.

7. The rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production according to claim 6, characterized in that, A plurality of guiding sieve holes penetrating through the thickness direction thereof are arranged on the first tray, and the first tray is provided with an inclined platform, and the inclined platform is arranged adjacent to the inlet of the first tray.

8. The rectifying lower column structure for neon-helium production according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The plurality of trays include a first tray. The theoretical trays located above the liquid nitrogen extraction port adopt the first tray. The first tray is a high-efficiency rectifying tray. A packing structure is adopted inside the tower body below the liquid nitrogen extraction port.

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