Anti-Sublimation Extraction Chambers for Stable Gas Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas separation systems for substances like CO2 in industrial processes face significant variations in refrigerant and gas flow rates, leading to energy losses and inefficient operation due to the discontinuous nature of icing and defrosting processes.
Innovation Solution
A system with 2N exchangers, where N is greater than or equal to 3, utilizing a cyclical process of icing, defrosting, recovery, and temperature reduction stages, with optimized sequencing to maintain constant flow rates and reduce energy inefficiencies by ensuring each exchanger performs one stage at a time, allowing for continuous operation and improved energy optimization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a single exchanger is used for icing and defrosting processes, then the equipment size is reduced, but the flow rates of refrigerant fluids and gas mixtures vary significantly causing energy losses
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the extraction process into multiple enclosures (at least three), each performing different stages of the cyclical process (icing, defrosting, recovery, temperature reduction). This segmentation allows continuous operation across the system while individual enclosures undergo discontinuous phase changes, thereby maintaining stable overall flow rates and reducing energy losses.
Solution Approach 2:
By implementing a cyclical process across multiple enclosures where one enclosure is always in the icing stage while others are in defrosting or recovery stages, the system ensures continuous useful action. The gas mixture continuously flows through the system without interruption, and refrigerant flow rates remain stable, eliminating the energy losses associated with start-stop operations in single-exchanger systems.
2Loss of energy
If multiple enclosures are used to maintain constant flow rates, then energy efficiency is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses multiple enclosures (at least three) that are structurally identical but operate in different phases of the cyclical process. This segmentation approach manages complexity by repeating a standardized module rather than designing a complex single-unit system, making the system more manageable while achieving continuous operation and energy efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Each enclosure undergoes periodic cycles through four distinct stages (icing, defrosting, recovery, temperature reduction), with valve configurations changing periodically according to the stage. This periodic action coordinated across multiple enclosures creates a balanced system where the complexity of individual enclosure operations is offset by the regular, predictable cycling pattern.
3Volume of moving object
If the icing and defrosting processes are performed discontinuously on a single exchanger, then the system size is minimized, but the productivity and operational efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The extraction system is segmented into multiple enclosures that operate in parallel at different stages of the process. This allows the system to maintain a continuous extraction workflow where gas mixture processing never stops, significantly improving productivity compared to a single exchanger that must stop and reverse between icing and defrosting operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system achieves continuous useful action by ensuring that while one enclosure is in the defrosting stage, another is in the icing stage, and a third is in the recovery or temperature reduction stage. This continuous operation maximizes productivity by eliminating idle time between cycles, while the modular enclosure design keeps the overall system volume manageable.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach stabilizes flow rates and reduces energy losses by ensuring continuous operation of refrigerant and gas flow, optimizing energy efficiency and maintaining consistent thermodynamic properties for compressors and exchangers.
Implementation Method 1
a icing step, carried out at a first exchanger temperature under a first enclosure pressure, allowing the direct passage of the substance from the gaseous state to the solid state, thus forming a solid deposit of the substance on the exchanger
Implementation Method 2
a defrosting step comprising closing the enclosure and allowing the direct passage of the solid deposit into the gaseous state then the direct passage of the solid deposit into the liquid state when the temperature of the exchanger and the pressure in the enclosure become respectively higher than the temperature and the pressure of the triple point of the substance
Implementation Method 3
allowing the direct passage of the solid deposit into the gaseous state then the direct passage of the solid deposit into the liquid state when the temperature of the exchanger and the pressure in the enclosure become respectively higher than the temperature and the pressure of the triple point of the substance
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a method and system for extracting a substance contained in a gaseous mixture, the extraction being cyclically carried out in 2N chambers (AA, BB, CC, DD), each being provided with an exchanger (A, B, C, D), N being an integer greater than or equal to three. Each chamber carries out a cycle comprising the following four consecutive steps: an icing step, a defrosting step, a step of recovering the liquid phase and the residual gaseous phase, and a step of reducing the temperature of the exchanger. Further, the sequencing of passing from one step to another in each of the chambers is such that the number of chambers during the icing step, as well as the total number of chambers during the defrosting, recovery, and temperature reduction steps, are both equal to N.