Gas Purifier With Porous Membrane For Media Migration Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current gas purification systems face challenges in achieving high purity levels, particularly in removing moisture and oxygen from gases like hydrogen and nitrogen, especially under sub-atmospheric pressures, while maintaining low pressure drop and cost-effectiveness, and preventing media migration between purification layers.
Innovation Solution
A gas purifier design featuring a bed of alkali metal zeolite X molecular sieves and a nickel catalyst on a support, with a porous membrane separating the beds to prevent particle migration, achieving high purity and stability by using smaller particle sizes and optimizing the ratio of catalyst to desiccant and oxygen scavenger volumes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a gas purifier uses multiple purification media beds (catalyst and molecular sieves) to achieve high purity levels, then the purification effectiveness improves, but the risk of media particle migration between beds increases
Solution Approach 1:
A porous membrane is introduced as an intermediary component between the catalyst bed and molecular sieve bed. The membrane acts as a physical barrier that prevents media particle migration while maintaining gas flow, thus resolving the contradiction between purification effectiveness and media stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a porous membrane with specific pore size characteristics that allow gas molecules to pass through while blocking larger purification media particles. This porous structure enables the membrane to simultaneously maintain gas flow for purification and prevent media migration.
2Productivity
If the purifier uses smaller particle sizes for molecular sieves to increase surface area and purification capacity, then the purification speed and efficiency improve, but the pressure drop across the bed increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the particle size parameter of molecular sieves to achieve a balance between surface area (purification capacity) and pressure drop. By selecting specific particle size ranges, the system maximizes purification efficiency while minimizing excessive pressure loss.
3Reliability
If the purifier bed uses a dense structure to prevent media migration, then media stability improves, but the gas flow rate and purification throughput decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The porous membrane provides a stable barrier against media migration while its porous structure allows free gas flow. The membrane's porosity ensures that gas throughput is not significantly reduced while maintaining media stability in the purifier beds.
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 system achieves outlet purities of less than 50 parts per trillion moisture and 400 parts per billion oxygen, with improved stability and dynamic range, suitable for extreme ultraviolet lithography and other vacuum-based applications, while maintaining low pressure drop and cost efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
contacting the inert gas including minute quantities of an impurity selected from the group consisting of CO, CO2, O2, H2, H2O and mixtures thereof with a particulate material comprised of nickel
Implementation Method 2
a second bed of purification media downstream of the first bed of purification media, the second purification media comprising molecular sieves
Implementation Method 3
a media-retaining, porous, gas-permeable membrane separating the first bed of purification media and the second bed of purification media, wherein the media-retaining membrane has a pore size to prevent particles of purification media from passing therethrough
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3A~3C
AI summary
The invention relates to a gas purifier that removes moisture and oxygen from inert gases and reducing gases, for example, at sub-atmospheric pressures. The purifier can remove part per million levels of moisture in a gas stream to less than 100 parts per trillion by volume, and has a low pressure drop and a sharp breakthrough curve.