Integrated Nitrogen Purification and Drying for 99.999% Purity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for obtaining high purity nitrogen gas fail to integrate a dryer unit with the nitrogen purifier unit, leading to inefficiencies in space usage and requiring separate units, and cannot effectively produce nitrogen gas with purities below 99.9% and 99.95%, necessitating a compact and efficient solution.
Innovation Solution
A system combining a nitrogen purifier unit and a dryer unit under a single canopy, utilizing a catalyst tank, hydrogen inlet, solenoid valve, and refrigerant type dryer unit to achieve high purity nitrogen gas (99.999%) from 99.5% and 99.9% purity nitrogen gas, with a dew point value <3°C, through a process involving reaction, cooling, water separation, and refrigerant compression.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate dryer unit is used after the nitrogen purifier unit, then the nitrogen gas can be dried effectively, but the system occupies more space and becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the dryer unit and nitrogen purifier unit into a single integrated system. The dryer unit includes a housing with a catalyst chamber and drying chamber arranged in sequence, eliminating the need for separate external dryer equipment while maintaining effective drying functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated unit performs multiple functions within a single device: oxygen removal through catalytic reaction, water condensation through cooling, and water separation through gravity. This multi-functional design reduces system complexity while maintaining reliability.
2Productivity
If nitrogen gas with purity below 99.9% and 99.95% is used as input, then cost savings and reduced air consumption are achieved, but the system cannot effectively produce high purity nitrogen gas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the purity parameter of input nitrogen gas to below 99.9% and 99.95%, demonstrating that high purity output can be achieved from lower purity input through the integrated purification and drying process, improving air consumption efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses a composite approach combining catalytic purification and refrigerant-based drying to achieve high purity nitrogen gas from lower purity input, enabling cost-effective production with reduced air consumption.
3Reliability
If the temperature in the nitrogen purifier unit increases to 50-80°C due to exothermic reaction, then oxygen removal is effective, but the dew point value increases to 25°C causing water accumulation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful effect of elevated temperature (which causes water accumulation) into a beneficial process by immediately cooling the gas in the drying chamber. The cooling condenses water vapor into liquid water that can be separated, thus converting the temperature-induced problem into an effective water removal mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling chamber acts as an intermediary between the catalytic reaction chamber and the output. It mediates the temperature transition by cooling the hot gas, causing water condensation that can then be separated, thus preventing water accumulation in the final nitrogen gas.
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 high purity nitrogen gas with reduced air consumption and cost savings by integrating the purifier and dryer units, ensuring efficient production and compact design, while maintaining a low dew point value.
Implementation Method 1
Obtaining high purity nitrogen gas by the nitrogen purifier unit is based on reacting the oxygen molecules contained in the nitrogen gas with the hydrogen molecules on the catalyst surface, obtaining water and thus reducing the oxygen content in the nitrogen gas below 10 ppm
Implementation Method 2
a refrigerant type dryer unit... cooling nitrogen gas obtained at the outlet of the catalyst tank (4)... condensing water contained in it
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a system developed for obtaining high purity (minimum 99.999%) nitrogen gas in nitrogen gas purification applications and drying obtained nitrogen gas before applying it on areas of use, and to an operating method of the system.