Compliant Composite Heat Exchanger for Cryogenic Gas Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current heat exchangers face challenges in maintaining flexibility at low temperatures, leading to rapid plugging and fouling when processing gas streams that contain water and carbon dioxide, which are common in hydrocarbon recovery and LNG production, as existing flexible materials lose flexibility below their glass transition temperature.
Innovation Solution
Compliant composite heat exchangers with flexible layers made of thin substructures, such as polymers or metals, that maintain flexibility at cryogenic temperatures, coupled with a rigid layer to prevent ice adhesion and fouling, allowing for efficient separation of components like water and carbon dioxide without defrost cycling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flexible polymer materials are used for heat exchanger surfaces to reduce ice adhesion, then ice adhesion is lessened, but the materials lose flexibility at low temperatures below their glass transition temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the structural parameters of the flexible layer by using thin substructures (thickness less than 100 micrometers, preferably less than 50 micrometers) to maintain flexibility at low temperatures. This parameter change allows the material to remain compliant below its glass transition temperature while preserving icephobic properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite structure with a flexible layer (icephobic material) coupled to a rigid support structure. This composite approach combines the ice adhesion resistance of flexible materials with the structural stability of rigid supports, resolving the contradiction between flexibility and low-temperature performance.
2Productivity
If conventional heat exchangers are used to chill gas streams, then water and carbon dioxide can be removed, but frozen material plugs or damages the heat exchanger
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible layer made of thin substructures as the process surface of the heat exchanger. This flexible surface prevents ice plugging by remaining compliant at low temperatures, allowing the heat exchanger to maintain productivity while avoiding damage from frozen material accumulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of ice formation into a beneficial one by using the flexible surface to accommodate ice accumulation without plugging. The flexibility allows the surface to deform and prevent ice adhesion, turning the potential harm of freezing into a self-cleaning mechanism.
3Productivity
If heat exchangers operate at cryogenic temperatures to remove carbon dioxide, then carbon dioxide separation is achieved, but the process requires temperatures below −78° C. which exceeds polymer flexibility limits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thickness parameter of the flexible layer to less than 100 micrometers, which allows the material to maintain flexibility at cryogenic temperatures below −78° C. This parameter change enables the heat exchanger to operate at the required low temperatures for carbon dioxide removal while the flexible layer remains compliant.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the heat exchanger structure into a flexible layer (for icephobic properties) and a rigid support structure (for mechanical strength). This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function: the thin flexible layer maintains compliance at cryogenic temperatures while the rigid support provides structural integrity.
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
The compliant composite heat exchangers remain robust and scalable at cryogenic temperatures, reducing plugging and fouling, enabling efficient separation of gas stream components like water and carbon dioxide, and are suitable for hydrocarbon processing and carbon dioxide capture.
Implementation Method 1
compliant composite heat transfer walls that maintain process surface flexibility at low temperatures (e.g., below a glass transition temperature of a material of the process surface)
Implementation Method 2
A gas stream may be chilled (e.g., with a heat exchanger) to remove water and/or carbon dioxide therefrom
Implementation Method 3
chilling the gas stream below the freezing temperature of the water (0° C. for pure water at atmospheric pressure) or the carbon dioxide (−78° C. for pure carbon dioxide at atmospheric pressure)
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for separating a separation component from a gas stream. One exemplary method includes: flowing the gas stream across a process surface of a compliant composite heat transfer wall, wherein: the gas stream has an initial concentration of the separation component, and the gas stream has a gas temperature; flowing a cooling fluid across a cooling surface of the wall, wherein: the cooling fluid has a fluid temperature, and the fluid temperature is less than the gas temperature; and producing an output gas stream, wherein: the output gas stream has an output concentration of the separation component, and the output concentration is less than the initial concentration. Another exemplary method includes separating at least a portion of the separation component from the gas stream by: accumulating the portion proximate the process surface; and delaminating the portion from the process surface with a flow of the gas stream.