Helium Process Cycle With Floating Pressure Load Management
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional cryogenic helium refrigeration and liquefaction process cycles are inefficient at reduced consumer loads, as they require maintaining design point operating pressures, leading to increased utility requirements and reduced operational efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A floating pressure process cycle with a warm recycle compressor set, warm consumer load return compressor, high pressure gas storage, warm end pre-cooler stage, and cold end cooler stage, allowing natural variation of pressure ratios and separate management of consumer load and recycle flows to maintain efficiency across varying capacities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If traditional helium process cycle designs maintain design point operating pressures at reduced consumer loads, then operating pressure stability is maintained, but utility requirements per unit of refrigeration and liquefaction significantly increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a floating pressure process cycle where operating pressures are allowed to vary dynamically based on consumer load conditions. The system transitions from static design-point pressure maintenance to dynamic pressure adaptation, enabling the cycle to operate efficiently across a range of loads by adjusting pressures to match actual demand rather than maintaining fixed design pressures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operating pressure parameters from fixed design-point values to variable values that float with load conditions. This parameter change allows the system to optimize efficiency at reduced loads by operating at lower pressures that are appropriate for the reduced refrigeration and liquefaction capacity, rather than maintaining high design pressures that waste energy at partial loads.
2Productivity
If pressure throttling valves are used to reduce plant capacity, then production is reduced, but plant efficiency significantly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the pressure throttling valves from the system, eliminating the need for artificial pressure restriction to reduce capacity. Instead of using throttling valves that create energy losses, the system directly operates at reduced pressures appropriate for the desired production level, thereby maintaining efficiency while achieving capacity reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables dynamic capacity adjustment by allowing the entire process cycle to operate at varying pressure levels matched to demand, rather than operating at fixed high pressures and using throttling to reduce effective capacity. This dynamic operation eliminates the energy waste associated with throttling while providing flexible production control.
3Productivity
If load is reduced using heaters and bypassing cold helium gas, then production capacity is reduced, but plant efficiency is only marginally maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional approach by instead of reducing load through heating and bypassing (which waste cold energy), the system directly operates at lower pressures and temperatures matched to the reduced demand. This inversion eliminates the need for energy-wasting load reduction mechanisms while achieving the same production control objective.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains continuous useful action by ensuring that all helium gas processed by the system performs useful refrigeration or liquefaction work at the appropriate pressure and temperature level for the current load. There is no bypassing or heating of cold gas, so all compression and cooling efforts contribute directly to productive output, maintaining high efficiency at reduced capacities.
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 solution enables high operational efficiency at both design and off-design capacities, reducing utility requirements and maintaining efficiency from full to reduced production levels, supporting loads from 100% to 30% of maximum capacity with minimal efficiency loss.
Implementation Method 1
High pressure gas delivered by the warm recycle compressor set is cooled by the warm end pre-cooler and cold end cooler
Implementation Method 2
Flow from the recycle sub-cooler is combined with the recycle return flow in the cold end cooler and warm end pre-cooler, so being warmed returns to the suction of the recycle compressor set
Data Source
AI summary
A unique process cycle and apparatus design separates the consumer (cryogenic) load return flow from most of the recycle return flow of a refrigerator and/or liquefier process cycle. The refrigerator and/or liquefier process recycle return flow is recompressed by a multi-stage compressor set and the consumer load return flow is recompressed by an independent consumer load compressor set that maintains a desirable constant suction pressure using a consumer load bypass control valve and the consumer load return pressure control valve that controls the consumer load compressor's suction pressure. The discharge pressure of this consumer load compressor is thereby allowed to float at the intermediate pressure in between the first and second stage recycle compressor sets. Utilizing the unique gas management valve regulation, the unique process cycle and apparatus design in which the consumer load return flow is separate from the recycle return flow, the pressure ratios of each recycle compressor stage and all main pressures associated with the recycle return flow are allowed to vary naturally, thus providing a naturally regulated and balanced floating pressure process cycle that maintains optimal efficiency at design and off-design process cycle capacity and conditions automatically.