An ethylene oxide storage and handling apparatus
By introducing a central control room automatic control system and a multi-spherical tank design into ethylene oxide storage and transportation equipment, the problems of low efficiency and poor safety of manual operation have been solved, and efficient and safe ethylene oxide storage and transportation has been achieved.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- LEVIMA ADVANCED MATERIALS CORP
- Filing Date
- 2025-06-30
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-19
AI Technical Summary
The existing manual on-site operation of ethylene oxide storage and transportation equipment is inefficient and unsafe, making it difficult to meet the needs of modern production, and also poses risks of accidents and high labor costs.
The design incorporates an automated control system for the central control room, integrating multiple spherical tanks, heat exchangers, and a large circulating pump. Through pipeline design, it enables automatic control of valves and pumps, and utilizes temperature and level sensors for real-time monitoring and adjustment to ensure that ethylene oxide is stored and transported within a safe temperature range.
It improves the efficiency and safety of ethylene oxide storage and transportation equipment, reduces the need for manual operation, lowers the risk of accidents and labor costs, and meets the production needs of industrial scale.
Smart Images
Figure CN224376546U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This utility model belongs to the technical field of petrochemical storage and transportation equipment, and particularly relates to an ethylene oxide storage and transportation equipment. Background Technology
[0002] In traditional industrial storage and transportation systems, spherical tanks are widely used as key equipment for storing liquid or gaseous media. Taking ethylene oxide as an example, ethylene oxide spherical tanks are designed with inlet and outlet valves to meet the needs of feeding and discharging. Commonly, the inlet and outlet valves are opened and closed manually on-site. Operators must manually rotate the valve handwheel or pull the operating lever according to process instructions to complete the valve opening / closing or flow regulation.
[0003] In actual production, it has been found that the existing manual on-site operation methods have significant limitations in terms of efficiency, safety, and management. First, manual on-site operation requires personnel to frequently travel between the control room and the ethylene oxide spherical tank area. Especially in large industrial parks or under extreme weather conditions, valve switching is time-consuming and response is slow, making it difficult to meet the needs of modern production for rapid and precise control of ethylene oxide. Furthermore, in emergency situations (such as leakage or overpressure), operational delays may directly exacerbate the risk of accidents.
[0004] Secondly, ethylene oxide is a flammable, explosive, and toxic substance. Manual operation forces personnel to be exposed to a high-risk environment. Fatigue or misjudgment may lead to valve opening deviations, which can easily cause process accidents such as ethylene oxide backflow and overpressure, resulting in great pressure on safety management.
[0005] Furthermore, traditional manual operation lacks digital collaboration capabilities. Valve status data (such as opening and closing times and operator information) relies on manual record-keeping, which carries the risk of information omissions, tampering, or delays, making accident tracing difficult and hindering reliable basis for process optimization. At the same time, multi-spherical tank systems require a large workforce for daily operation and inspection, resulting in high labor costs and demanding high skill levels from operators, posing a long-term sustainability challenge.
[0006] Therefore, with the expansion of industrial scale and the improvement of safety management standards, the traditional labor-intensive operating mode has gradually become a bottleneck restricting production efficiency and safety upgrades. Under this practical difficulty, improving and optimizing ethylene oxide storage and transportation equipment has become an urgent problem to be solved. Utility Model Content
[0007] This utility model provides an ethylene oxide storage and transportation device that can meet the needs of industrial-scale production and is safe and efficient.
[0008] The technical solution of this utility model includes: an ethylene oxide storage and transportation device, comprising: two or more spherical tanks, each spherical tank being equipped with a spherical tank discharge pipeline and a spherical tank inlet pipeline; the spherical tank discharge pipeline being connected to a first spherical tank discharge branch pipe and a second spherical tank discharge branch pipe arranged in parallel; the first spherical tank discharge branch pipe being equipped with a spherical tank pump and a spherical tank pump inlet shut-off valve; heat exchangers, the number of heat exchangers being the same as the number of spherical tanks; the heat exchangers being connected to the first spherical tank discharge branch pipe; a heat exchanger connecting pipeline being provided between two of the heat exchangers; the heat exchanger connecting pipeline being equipped with a heat exchanger... Heat exchanger valve; large circulation pump, which is connected to a large circulation feed pipeline and a large circulation discharge pipeline. The large circulation feed pipeline is equipped with a large circulation pump feed shut-off valve and is connected to the second branch pipe of the spherical tank discharge. The large circulation discharge pipeline is connected to an external supply pipeline; feed pipeline, which is connected to a feed branch pipe. The feed branch pipe is equipped with a spherical tank feed shut-off valve and is connected to the spherical tank feed pipeline; central control room, which is connected to the spherical tank pump feed shut-off valve, heat exchanger valve, large circulation pump feed shut-off valve, spherical tank feed shut-off valve, and large circulation pump.
[0009] Preferably, the heat exchanger is equipped with a first temperature sensor, and the central control room adjusts the opening degree of the heat exchanger valve according to the temperature value provided by the first temperature sensor.
[0010] Preferably, the outlet end of the heat exchanger is connected to the feed pipeline of the spherical tank via a pipeline.
[0011] Preferably, the large circulation discharge pipeline is connected to a return material pipeline, and the returned material enters the large circulation discharge pipeline through the return material pipeline.
[0012] Preferably, the large circulation discharge pipeline is connected to a large circulation return branch pipe, the large circulation return branch pipe is connected to the spherical tank feed pipeline, the large circulation return branch pipe is equipped with a branch pipe valve, and the branch pipe valve is connected to the central control room.
[0013] Preferably, the spherical tank is equipped with a level gauge. When the measured value of the level gauge exceeds a set value, the central control room controls the spherical tank feed shut-off valve, the spherical tank pump feed shut-off valve, and the large circulation pump feed shut-off valve to close, and outputs an alarm prompt.
[0014] Preferably, the spherical tank is equipped with a second temperature sensor, and the central control room adjusts the opening degree of the heat exchanger valve according to the temperature value of the second temperature sensor of different spherical tanks.
[0015] Preferably, the number of spherical tanks and heat exchangers is four, with the first branch pipe of the spherical tank outlet connected to one of the heat exchangers.
[0016] The beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows: First, by designing a central control room, the valves and pumps in the equipment can be automatically controlled, avoiding the problems of low efficiency and safety caused by relying on manual handling. Second, the equipment is designed with multiple spherical tanks, and spherical tank pipelines and large circulation pipelines are designed in conjunction with these tanks. The use of multiple spherical tanks can not only meet the needs of industrial-scale production, but also ensure the safe and efficient operation of the entire equipment by coordinating the design of the spherical tanks and large circulation pipelines. Third, the design of heat exchangers maintains the ethylene oxide in the spherical tanks within a safe temperature range, and the design of heat exchanger connecting pipelines between the heat exchangers allows the refrigerant in other heat exchangers to be used to cool the ethylene oxide in a certain spherical tank if the temperature is too high and cooling is required, thereby improving the heat exchange efficiency. Attached Figure Description
[0017] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this utility model, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.
[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of an embodiment.
[0019] in:
[0020] 1. Spherical tank; 10. Spherical tank discharge pipeline; 11. Spherical tank first discharge branch pipe; 111. Spherical tank pump inlet shut-off valve; 112. Spherical tank pump; 12. Spherical tank second discharge branch pipe; 20. Spherical tank inlet pipeline.
[0021] 2. Heat exchanger; 21. Heat exchanger connecting pipeline; 22. Heat exchanger valve;
[0022] 100. Large circulation pump; 101. Large circulation feed pipeline; 102. Large circulation discharge pipeline; 103. Large circulation pump feed shut-off valve; 104. Large circulation return branch pipe.
[0023] 200. Feeding pipeline; 201. Feeding branch pipe; 202. Spherical tank feed shut-off valve. Detailed Implementation
[0024] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.
[0025] In this document, terms such as "above," "below," "left," "right," "inner," and "outer" are established based on the positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings. Depending on the drawings, these positional relationships may change; therefore, they should not be construed as absolute limitations on the scope of protection. Furthermore, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are merely used to distinguish one component from another with the same name, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these components. In addition, in embodiments of this utility model, "above," "below," etc., include the stated number.
[0026] The ethylene oxide storage and transportation equipment in this embodiment mainly addresses the various drawbacks of manual on-site operation in ethylene oxide storage and transportation, proposing improvements and optimizations. Furthermore, the improvements and optimizations of the ethylene oxide storage and transportation equipment in this embodiment focus on its efficient and safe operation in industrial-scale production.
[0027] Reference Figure 1 The ethylene oxide storage and transportation equipment in this embodiment includes a spherical tank 1, a heat exchanger 2, a large circulation pump 100, a feed pipeline 200, and a central control room (not shown in the figure).
[0028] The system includes two or more spherical tanks (1), employing multiple tanks (1) to meet industrial-scale application requirements. Specifically, each spherical tank (1) is identical, facilitating modular replication and management of components and pipelines, thereby improving efficiency and reducing production costs.
[0029] Taking a spherical tank 1 as an example, the spherical tank 1 is equipped with a spherical tank discharge pipeline 10 and a spherical tank inlet pipeline 20. The spherical tank discharge pipeline 10 is connected to a first spherical tank discharge branch pipe 11 and a second spherical tank discharge branch pipe 12 arranged in parallel. The first spherical tank discharge branch pipe 11 is equipped with a spherical tank pump 112 and a spherical tank pump inlet shut-off valve 111. That is, ethylene oxide is added into the spherical tank 1 through the spherical tank inlet pipeline 20. When the ethylene oxide in the spherical tank 1 needs to be discharged, it is first discharged to the spherical tank discharge pipeline 10, and then enters the first spherical tank discharge branch pipe 11 and the second spherical tank discharge branch pipe 12 as needed.
[0030] The number of heat exchangers 2 is the same as the number of spherical tanks 1, and each heat exchanger 2 is identical. Taking one heat exchanger 2 as an example, this heat exchanger 2 is connected to the first branch pipe 11 of the spherical tank's discharge. That is, the ethylene oxide entering the first branch pipe 11 of the spherical tank's discharge enters the heat exchanger 2 for cooling, so as to keep the ethylene oxide in the spherical tank 1 within a safe temperature range and ensure the safety of ethylene oxide storage and transportation.
[0031] A heat exchanger connecting pipeline 21 is provided between the two heat exchangers 2. This pipeline 21 is equipped with a heat exchanger valve 22, allowing the refrigerant in the two heat exchangers 2 to be connected via the connecting pipeline 21, enabling flexible distribution of the refrigerant between the heat exchangers 2. For example, if the temperature of ethylene oxide in only one of the spherical tanks 1 is higher than the safe value and needs to be cooled in the heat exchanger 2, the ethylene oxide in that tank 1 enters its associated heat exchanger 2 through the first branch pipe 11. Meanwhile, the refrigerant in the other heat exchangers 2 can enter that heat exchanger 2 through the connecting pipeline 21. This increases the amount of refrigerant in that heat exchanger 2, thereby improving its cooling efficiency for the ethylene oxide and quickly cooling it to a safe temperature range, ensuring safety and high efficiency.
[0032] The large circulation pump 100 is connected to a large circulation feed pipeline 101 and a large circulation discharge pipeline 102. The large circulation feed pipeline 101 is equipped with a large circulation pump feed shut-off valve 103 and is connected to the second branch pipe 12 of the spherical tank discharge. The large circulation discharge pipeline 102 is connected to an external supply pipeline. That is, ethylene oxide discharged from the spherical tank 1 enters the large circulation feed pipeline 101 through the second branch pipe 12 of the spherical tank discharge, and is discharged from the large circulation discharge pipeline 102 to the external supply pipeline under the drive of the large circulation pump 100. Through the external supply pipeline, ethylene oxide is supplied to the required equipment or transport vehicles.
[0033] The feed line 200 is connected to a feed branch pipe 201, which is equipped with a spherical tank inlet shut-off valve 202 and connected to the spherical tank inlet line 20. In this way, ethylene oxide enters the feed branch pipe 201 of each corresponding spherical tank 1 through the feed line 200, and then enters the corresponding spherical tank 1 for storage through the feed branch pipe 201.
[0034] The central control room is connected to the aforementioned spherical tank pump inlet shut-off valve 111, heat exchanger valve 22, large circulation pump inlet shut-off valve 103, spherical tank inlet shut-off valve 202, and large circulation pump 100. Thus, the central control room controls these valves and pumps. For example, by controlling the opening, closing, or adjusting the opening degree of spherical tank pump inlet shut-off valve 111 and spherical tank inlet shut-off valve 202, the central control room controls the feeding and discharging of materials into spherical tank 1; by controlling heat exchanger valve 22, the central control room adjusts the amount of refrigerant between the two heat exchangers 2. In this way, by controlling the valves and pumps in the equipment through the central control room, the inconvenience of relying on operators to perform on-site operations in the ethylene oxide tank area can be avoided. This allows for rapid response to various needs, reduces the time personnel spend in the ethylene oxide tank area, and lowers safety risks. Furthermore, in this embodiment, through the coordinated design of multiple spherical tanks 1 and large circulating pump 100, combined with the heat exchanger connecting pipeline 21 of the heat exchanger 2 configured with spherical tanks 1, ethylene oxide can be quickly and continuously stored within a safe temperature range, meeting the needs of industrial scale, and is highly efficient and safe.
[0035] Specifically, heat exchanger 2 is equipped with a first temperature sensor. The central control room adjusts the opening of heat exchanger valve 22 based on the temperature value provided by the first temperature sensor. The first temperature sensor detects the temperature of the ethylene oxide entering heat exchanger 2. If the temperature is too high, the central control room can increase the opening of heat exchanger valve 22 to provide more refrigerant from other heat exchangers 2 into this heat exchanger 2, improving the cooling efficiency of the ethylene oxide. If the temperature is too low, the central control room can decrease or even close heat exchanger valve 22 to achieve precise real-time temperature control of the ethylene oxide. Specifically, the central control room in this embodiment can adopt a distributed control system (DCS).
[0036] Reference Figure 1 The outlet of heat exchanger 2 is connected to the feed line 20 of the spherical tank via a pipeline. The first branch pipe 11 of the spherical tank discharge is equipped with a spherical tank pump 112. Thus, ethylene oxide cooled to a safe temperature in heat exchanger 2 enters the feed line 20 of the spherical tank via the pipeline, and then enters the spherical tank 1. This simplifies the system's piping setup, allowing the cooled ethylene oxide to share a portion of the pipeline with the feed line. Only one feed port needs to be designed in spherical tank 1 to connect to the feed line 20. This simplifies the piping setup and reduces the number of pipeline interfaces on spherical tank 1, thereby reducing the risk of leakage. Furthermore, the spherical tank pump 112, designed in the first branch pipe 11 of the spherical tank discharge, drives the ethylene oxide into heat exchanger 2, improving the flowability of ethylene oxide between containers and avoiding the safety hazards of residual ethylene oxide in the pipeline.
[0037] The main circulation discharge pipeline 102 is connected to a return pipeline, through which the returned material enters the main circulation discharge pipeline 102. Thus, ethylene oxide return material from other external equipment can enter the main circulation discharge pipeline 102 through this return pipeline, and then be stored in the storage and transportation equipment of this embodiment.
[0038] Specifically, the large circulation discharge pipeline 102 is connected to a large circulation return branch pipe 104, which is connected to the spherical tank inlet pipeline 20. The large circulation return branch pipe 104 is equipped with a branch valve, which is connected to the central control room. By connecting the large circulation discharge pipeline 102 to the large circulation return branch pipes 104 configured in each spherical tank 1, if too much ethylene oxide enters the large circulation inlet pipeline 101, it can be added back into the spherical tank inlet pipeline 20 through the large circulation discharge pipeline 102 and the large circulation return branch pipe 104, and then stored again in the spherical tank 1.
[0039] The spherical tank 1 is equipped with a level gauge (not shown in the figure). When the measured value of this level gauge exceeds the set value, the central control room controls the spherical tank feed shut-off valve 202, the spherical tank pump feed shut-off valve 111, and the large circulation pump feed shut-off valve 103 to close, and outputs an alarm notification. In this way, when an abnormality occurs in the ethylene oxide inside the spherical tank 1, the central control room can control the valves to close them in a timely manner, avoiding the risk of leakage and improving equipment safety. Furthermore, alarm notifications, such as audible and visual alarms, are output to remind personnel to pay attention and handle the situation.
[0040] Specifically, the spherical tank 1 is equipped with a second temperature sensor (not shown in the figure). The central control room adjusts the opening of the heat exchanger valve 22 according to the temperature values of the second temperature sensor in different spherical tanks 1. For example, if the ethylene oxide temperature measured by the second temperature sensor in a certain spherical tank 1 is too high, exceeding the ethylene oxide temperature in other spherical tanks 1, the opening of the heat exchanger valve 22 connected to the heat exchanger 2 that is matched with that spherical tank 1 is increased to prioritize the cooling of the ethylene oxide in that spherical tank 1.
[0041] Reference Figure 1 There are four spherical tanks 1 and heat exchangers 2. The first branch pipe 11 of the spherical tank 1 is connected to one heat exchanger 2 to achieve a one-to-one configuration of spherical tank 1 and heat exchanger 2.
[0042] The ethylene oxide storage and transportation equipment in this embodiment utilizes a central control room for automatic control of valves and pumps, avoiding the inefficiencies and safety issues caused by manual handling. Furthermore, the design incorporates multiple spherical tanks, along with corresponding tank pipelines and a large circulation pipeline, meeting industrial-scale production needs while ensuring the safe and efficient operation of the entire system. Additionally, heat exchangers are designed to maintain the ethylene oxide within the tanks within a safe temperature range, and interconnecting pipelines connect these heat exchangers. If the ethylene oxide temperature in one tank becomes too high and requires cooling, these interconnecting pipelines allow the refrigerant from other heat exchangers to be used for further cooling, improving heat exchange efficiency. This ensures that the storage and transportation equipment in this embodiment meets industrial-scale requirements and operates safely and efficiently.
[0043] Where the embodiments do not contradict each other, at least some of the technical solutions in each embodiment can be recombine to form the essential technical solution of this utility model. Of course, the embodiments can also reference or include each other. Furthermore, it should be noted that adaptive adjustments and modifications made by those skilled in the art when recombinating the technical means described in the embodiments will also fall within the protection scope of this utility model.
[0044] The technical principles of this utility model have been described above in conjunction with specific embodiments. However, it should be noted that these descriptions are merely for explaining the principles of this utility model and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of this utility model in any way. Based on this explanation, other specific embodiments or equivalent substitutions of this utility model that can be conceived by those skilled in the art without creative effort will all fall within the scope of protection of this utility model.
Claims
1. An ethylene oxide storage and handling facility characterized by, include: Two or more spherical tanks, wherein each spherical tank is provided with a spherical tank discharge pipeline and a spherical tank inlet pipeline, the spherical tank discharge pipeline is connected to a spherical tank discharge first branch pipe and a spherical tank discharge second branch pipe arranged in parallel, and the spherical tank discharge first branch pipe is provided with a spherical tank pump and a spherical tank pump inlet shut-off valve; The heat exchangers are the same number as the spherical tanks. The heat exchangers are connected to the first branch pipe of the spherical tank discharge. A heat exchanger connecting pipeline is provided between two of the heat exchangers. The heat exchanger connecting pipeline is equipped with a heat exchanger valve. A large circulation pump is connected to a large circulation feed pipeline and a large circulation discharge pipeline. The large circulation feed pipeline is equipped with a large circulation pump feed shut-off valve and is connected to the second branch pipe of the spherical tank discharge. The large circulation discharge pipeline is connected to an external supply pipeline. A feed pipeline, wherein the feed pipeline is connected to a feed branch pipe, and the feed branch pipe is equipped with a spherical tank inlet shut-off valve and is connected to the spherical tank inlet pipeline; The central control room is connected to the spherical tank pump feed shut-off valve, the heat exchanger valve, the large circulation pump feed shut-off valve, the spherical tank feed shut-off valve, and the large circulation pump.
2. An ethylene oxide storage and handling facility as claimed in claim 1 wherein: The heat exchanger is equipped with a first temperature sensor, and the central control room adjusts the opening degree of the heat exchanger valve according to the temperature value provided by the first temperature sensor.
3. An ethylene oxide storage and handling facility as claimed in claim 2 wherein: The outlet end of the heat exchanger is connected to the feed pipeline of the spherical tank via a pipeline.
4. An ethylene oxide storage and transfer apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein: The large circulation discharge pipeline is connected to a return pipeline, through which the returned material enters the large circulation discharge pipeline.
5. An ethylene oxide storage and handling facility as claimed in claim 4 wherein: The large circulation discharge pipeline is connected to a large circulation return branch pipe, which is connected to the spherical tank feed pipeline. The large circulation return branch pipe is equipped with a branch pipe valve, which is connected to the central control room.
6. The ethylene oxide storage and transportation equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spherical tank is equipped with a level gauge. When the measured value of the level gauge exceeds the set value, the central control room controls the spherical tank feed shut-off valve, the spherical tank pump feed shut-off valve, and the large circulation pump feed shut-off valve to close and output an alarm prompt.
7. An ethylene oxide storage and transportation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spherical tank is equipped with a second temperature sensor, and the central control room adjusts the opening degree of the heat exchanger valve according to the temperature value of the second temperature sensor of different spherical tanks.
8. An ethylene oxide storage and transportation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of spherical tanks and heat exchangers is four, with the first branch pipe of the spherical tank outlet connected to one of the heat exchangers.