High-purity helium preparation system

Abstract

The invention provides a high-purity helium preparation system which comprises a liquid helium tank, a liquid helium pump and a vaporizer, a first pipeline is connected between the liquid helium tank and the input end of the liquid helium pump, the input end of the first pipeline extends into the liquid helium tank, a filter is arranged at an inlet of the first pipeline, the filter is used for filtering solid-phase neon in liquid helium, and the filter is always soaked in the liquid helium; the output end of the first pipeline is connected with the input end of the liquid helium pump, a second pipeline is connected between the output end of the liquid helium pump and the input end of the vaporizer, high-purity liquid helium filtered by the filter enters the vaporizer through the liquid helium pump, and the liquid helium is converted into normal-temperature helium in the vaporizer and then is discharged through the output end of the vaporizer; the filter can filter solid neon particles in the liquid helium, and the vaporizer vaporizes the filtered high-purity helium into normal-temperature helium, so that the content of trace-level neon in the high-purity helium is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of helium production, and particularly to a high-purity helium production system. Background Art

[0002] Helium is a scarce and important strategic resource. With the progress of science and technology and the development of society, it is widely used in industries such as national defense, aerospace, cryogenic superconductivity, nuclear magnetic resonance, large scientific projects, semiconductor chips, and optical fibers. Moreover, the annual demand for helium shows an increasing trend. Currently, helium mainly comes from natural gas, and is extracted from helium-rich natural gas through membrane separation, pressure swing adsorption, and cryogenic distillation. During the extraction process, the physical properties of various natural gas hydrocarbons, nitrogen, argon, etc. are quite different from those of helium, and they can be relatively easily removed by the above methods to meet the requirements of high-purity helium in the national standard. However, because the melting point and boiling point of neon do not exceed 30K, for trace amounts of neon content, it is very difficult to process the neon content to meet the national standard requirements of high-purity helium through condensation adsorption in the liquid nitrogen temperature range. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the technical problem that in the prior art, it is very difficult to process the neon content to meet the national standard requirements of high-purity helium through condensation adsorption in the liquid nitrogen temperature range.

[0004] To solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a high-purity helium production system, which includes: a liquid helium tank, a liquid helium pump, and a vaporizer. A first pipeline is connected between the input end of the liquid helium tank and the liquid helium pump. The input end of the first pipeline extends into the liquid helium tank, and a filter is provided at the inlet. The filter is used to filter solid-phase neon in the liquid helium. The filter is always immersed in the liquid helium. The output end of the first pipeline is connected to the input end of the liquid helium pump. A second pipeline is connected between the output end of the liquid helium pump and the input end of the vaporizer. The high-purity liquid helium filtered by the filter enters the vaporizer through the liquid helium pump, and the liquid helium is converted into normal-temperature helium gas in the vaporizer and discharged through the output end of the vaporizer.

[0005] Further, the first end of the first pipeline enters the liquid helium tank from the upper part of the liquid helium tank and extends downward to the middle part of the liquid helium tank.

[0006] Further, a first regulating valve is provided at the part of the first pipeline close to the liquid helium tank to regulate the pressure and flow rate of the liquid helium.

[0007] Further, a second regulating valve is provided at the part of the first pipeline close to the input end of the liquid helium pump. A third pipeline is also included. The input end of the third pipeline is connected to the first pipeline, and the connection point is between the second regulating valve and the first regulating valve. The output end of the third pipeline is connected to the second pipeline, and the connection point is between the output end of the liquid helium pump and the input end of the vaporizer. A third regulating valve is provided on the third pipeline.

[0008] Furthermore, a fourth regulating valve is provided between the output end of the liquid helium pump and the output end of the third pipeline.

[0009] Furthermore, it further includes a high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle connected to the output end of the vaporizer, and a helium gas compressor is connected between the output end of the vaporizer and the input end of the high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle.

[0010] Furthermore, a fifth regulating valve is connected between the input end of the helium gas compressor and the output end of the vaporizer, and a sixth regulating valve is provided between the output end of the helium gas compressor and the input end of the high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle.

[0011] Furthermore, it further includes a fourth pipeline. The input end of the fourth pipeline is connected to the output end of the vaporizer, the output end of the fourth pipeline is connected to the input end of the high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle, and a seventh regulating valve is provided on the fourth pipeline.

[0012] Furthermore, it further includes a vacuum-insulated cold box. The liquid helium pump is arranged inside the vacuum-insulated cold box, the first pipeline and the second pipeline are arranged in the vacuum-insulated cold box, and the input end of the first pipeline and the output end of the second pipeline both extend to the outside of the vacuum-insulated cold box.

[0013] As can be seen from the above technical solutions, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: The filter can filter solid neon particles in the liquid helium, and the vaporizer vaporizes the filtered high-purity helium into normal-temperature helium gas, thereby reducing the neon gas content at the trace level in the high-purity helium gas. Description of the Drawings

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the high-purity helium gas production system provided by this application.

[0015] The descriptions of the reference numerals are as follows: 1. Liquid helium tank; 2. Filter; 3. Liquid helium pump; 4. First regulating valve; 5. Second regulating valve; 6. Third regulating valve; 7. Fourth regulating valve; 8. Fifth regulating valve; 9. Sixth regulating valve; 10. Seventh regulating valve; 11. Vaporizer; 12. Helium gas compressor; 13. High-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle. Detailed Embodiments

[0016] Typical embodiments embodying the features and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail in the following description. It should be understood that the present invention can have various changes in different embodiments, all of which do not depart from the scope of the present invention, and the descriptions and illustrations therein are essentially for illustrative purposes and not intended to limit the present invention.

[0017] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationships indicated by terms such as "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", etc. are based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the drawings. These are only for the convenience of describing the present application 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. Therefore, it should not be construed as a limitation to the present application. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the said features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise specifically defined.

[0018] To further illustrate the principle and structure of the present invention, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0019] Please refer to Figure 1 , a high-purity helium production system provided for this embodiment, includes a liquid helium tank 1, a filter 2, a liquid helium pump 3, and a vaporizer 11. Liquid helium is stored in the liquid helium tank 1. Through the low-temperature environment in the liquid helium tank 1, neon gas will turn into solid-phase neon particles, and the solid-phase neon particles remain at the bottom of the liquid helium tank 1. The filter 2 is arranged in the liquid helium tank 1 and immersed in the liquid helium, and is used to filter the solid-phase neon particles in the liquid helium. The liquid helium tank 1 transports the liquid helium without solid-phase neon particles to the vaporizer 11 under the action of the filter 2, and the vaporizer 11 converts the liquid helium into normal-temperature helium gas and discharges it through the output end of the vaporizer 11.

[0020] Specifically, a first pipeline is connected between the input end of the liquid helium tank 1 and the input end of the liquid helium pump 3. The input end of the first pipeline extends into the interior of the liquid helium tank 1 from the top of the liquid helium tank 1. The filter 2 is arranged at the inlet of the input end of the first pipeline. The output end of the first pipeline is connected to the input end of the liquid helium pump 3. A second pipeline is connected between the output end of the liquid helium pump 3 and the input end of the vaporizer 11. The liquid in the liquid helium tank 1 enters the liquid helium pump 3 through the first pipeline and then enters the vaporizer 11 through the second pipeline.

[0021] Optionally, the first pipeline is not limited to extending into the interior of the liquid helium tank 1 from the top of the liquid helium tank 1. The first pipeline can also enter the interior of the liquid helium tank 1 from the side wall of the upper part of the liquid helium tank 1. After the input end of the first pipeline enters the interior of the liquid helium tank 1, it extends downward to the middle of the liquid helium tank 1.

[0022] Further, a first regulating valve 4 is provided at a position of the first pipeline close to the liquid helium tank 1, and the first regulating valve 4 is used to regulate the pressure and flow rate of the liquid helium.

[0023] Further, a second regulating valve 5 is provided at a position of the first pipeline close to the input end of the liquid helium pump 3. A third pipeline is further included. The input end of the third pipeline is connected to the first pipeline through a pipeline, and the connection position is between the second regulating valve 5 and the first regulating valve 4. The output end of the third pipeline is connected to the second pipeline through a pipeline, and the connection position is between the output end of the liquid helium pump 3 and the input end of the vaporizer 11. A third regulating valve 6 is provided on the third pipeline. The second regulating valve 5 and the third regulating valve 6 are used to control the flow rate and pressure of the liquid nitrogen pump to ensure the stability of the entire system. Moreover, when all the liquid helium in the liquid helium tank 1 becomes gaseous, the second regulating valve 5 and the liquid helium pump 3 can be selected to be closed, and the third regulating valve 6 is opened. The low-temperature helium gas enters the vaporizer 11 through the third regulating valve 6.

[0024] Further, a fourth regulating valve 7 is provided between the output end of the liquid helium pump 3 and the output end of the third pipeline.

[0025] Further, a high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle 13 connected to the output end of the vaporizer 11 is further included. A helium gas compressor 12 is connected between the output end of the vaporizer 11 and the input end of the high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle 13. The helium gas compressor 12 pressurizes and conveys the normal-temperature helium gas discharged from the vaporizer 11 to the high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle 13.

[0026] Further, a fifth regulating valve 8 is connected between the input end of the helium gas compressor 12 and the output end of the vaporizer 11. A sixth regulating valve 9 is provided between the output end of the helium gas compressor 12 and the input end of the high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle 13. By controlling the second regulating valve 5 and the fourth regulating valve 7 on both sides of the liquid helium pump 3, and the fifth regulating valve 8 and the sixth regulating valve 9 on both sides of the helium gas compressor 12, the flow rate of the liquid nitrogen pump can be matched with the flow rate of the helium gas compressor 12.

[0027] Further, a fourth pipeline is further included. The input end of the fourth pipeline is connected to the output end of the vaporizer 11, and the output end of the fourth pipeline is connected to the input end of the high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle 13. A seventh regulating valve 10 is provided on the fourth pipeline. The seventh regulating valve 10 adjusts the operation of the compressor to balance the suction and discharge pressures of the compressor.

[0028] Further, a vacuum adiabatic cold box 14 is further included. The liquid helium pump 3 is arranged inside the vacuum adiabatic cold box 14. The first pipeline 4 and the second pipeline 5 are arranged in the vacuum adiabatic cold box 14. The input end of the first pipeline 4 and the output end of the second pipeline 5 both extend to the outside of the vacuum adiabatic cold box 14.

[0029] The basic content of the technical solution of the present invention

[0030] A high-purity helium gas production system according to the present invention includes a liquid helium tank 1, a filter 2, a plurality of regulating valves, a liquid helium pump 3, a vaporizer 11, a helium compressor 12, and a high-purity helium gas tube trailer 13.

[0031] The liquid helium in the liquid helium tank 1 enters the vaporizer 11 through the liquid helium pump 3. After being heated to normal-temperature helium gas in the vaporizer 11, it is pressurized by the helium compressor 12 and directly fills the high-purity helium gas tube trailer 13.

[0032] Figure 1 In the shown high-purity helium gas production system, a first pipeline is inserted into the middle of the liquid helium tank 1. A first regulating valve 4 is provided at the outlet of the liquid helium tank 1 and is connected to the liquid helium pump 3 through a pipeline. Regulating valves are provided at the inlet and outlet of the liquid helium pump 3 and on the bypass pipeline of the liquid helium pump 3 to control the start and stop of the liquid helium pump 3. The liquid helium pump 3 is connected to the liquid helium vaporizer 11 through a pipeline. All pipelines before the vaporizer 11 are preferably connected in a welded form. After the liquid helium passes through the vaporizer 11, it becomes normal-temperature helium gas, which is compressed by the helium compressor 12 and then enters the high-purity helium gas tube trailer 13.

[0033] The first pipeline in the above-mentioned liquid helium tank 1 is inserted into the middle of the tank. The bottom of the first pipeline is in the form of an inclined cut. The filter 2 can be provided at the inlet or at a position close to the inlet. The filter 2 should be immersed in the liquid helium to avoid neon particles entering the pipeline and affecting the purity of the high-purity helium gas. A first regulating valve 4 is provided at the outlet of the liquid helium tank 1. This valve needs to withstand the liquid helium temperature of 4.2K and can be a manual valve or an electric valve.

[0034] The flow rate of the liquid helium pump 3 must match the flow rate of the helium compressor 12. All connecting pipelines must be made of 304 or 316L stainless steel pipes. The above-mentioned first pipeline, second pipeline, and third pipeline are Dewar pipes with multi-layer thermal insulation. If in a region with a dry climate environment, single-layer pipes can be used, but a water receiving device must be provided below the pipeline. If the vaporizer 11 is indoors, a water receiving and drainage device must also be provided below the vaporizer 11. The pipeline after the vaporizer 11 can be a single-layer stainless steel pipe.

[0035] Although the present invention has been described with reference to several exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the terms used are illustrative and exemplary, rather than restrictive. Since the present invention can be embodied in many forms without departing from the spirit or essence of the invention, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited to any of the foregoing details, but should be broadly construed within the spirit and scope defined by the appended claims. Therefore, all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the claims or their equivalents should be covered by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A high-purity helium gas production system, characterized in that, It includes a liquid helium tank, a liquid helium pump and a vaporizer. A first pipeline is connected between the input end of the liquid helium tank and the input end of the liquid helium pump. The input end of the first pipeline extends into the interior of the liquid helium tank and a filter is provided at the inlet. The filter is used to filter solid-phase neon in the liquid helium. The filter is always immersed in the liquid helium. The output end of the first pipeline is connected to the input end of the liquid helium pump. A second pipeline is connected between the output end of the liquid helium pump and the input end of the vaporizer. The high-purity liquid helium filtered by the filter enters the vaporizer through the liquid helium pump. After the liquid helium is converted into normal-temperature helium gas in the vaporizer, it is discharged through the output end of the vaporizer.

2. The high-purity helium gas production system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first end of the first pipeline enters the interior of the liquid helium tank from the upper part of the liquid helium tank and extends downward to the middle part of the liquid helium tank.

3. The high-purity helium gas production system according to claim 2, characterized in that, A first regulating valve is provided at the part of the first pipeline close to the liquid helium tank to regulate the pressure and flow rate of the liquid helium.

4. The high-purity helium gas production system according to claim 3, wherein A second regulating valve is provided at the part of the first pipeline close to the input end of the liquid helium pump. It further includes a third pipeline. The input end of the third pipeline is connected to the pipeline of the first pipeline and the connection point is between the second regulating valve and the first regulating valve. The output end of the third pipeline is connected to the pipeline of the second pipeline and the connection point is between the output end of the liquid helium pump and the input end of the vaporizer. A third regulating valve is provided on the third pipeline.

5. The high-purity helium production system according to claim 4, wherein, A fourth regulating valve is provided between the output end of the liquid helium pump and the output end of the third pipeline.

6. The high-purity helium gas production system according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, It further includes a high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle connected to the output end of the vaporizer. A helium gas compressor is connected between the output end of the vaporizer and the input end of the high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle.

7. The high-purity helium production system according to claim 6, wherein A fifth regulating valve is connected between the input end of the helium gas compressor and the output end of the vaporizer. A sixth regulating valve is provided between the output end of the helium gas compressor and the input end of the high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle.

8. The high-purity helium gas production system according to claim 7, wherein, It further includes a fourth pipeline. The input end of the fourth pipeline is connected to the output end of the vaporizer. The output end of the fourth pipeline is connected to the input end of the high-purity helium gas pipeline vehicle. A seventh regulating valve is provided on the fourth pipeline.

9. The high-purity helium gas production system according to claim 1, characterized in that It further includes a vacuum adiabatic cold box. The liquid helium pump is arranged inside the vacuum adiabatic cold box. The first pipeline and the second pipeline are arranged in the vacuum adiabatic cold box. The input end of the first pipeline and the output end of the second pipeline both extend to the outside of the vacuum adiabatic cold box.

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