Welded Personnel Access Provision for High-Purity Vessels
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in maintaining the purity of high-purity (HP) and ultra-high-purity (UHP) fluids during transportation and storage, as existing container designs and preparation methods fail to prevent contamination, especially in large, portable vessels, which are subject to mechanical stress and regulatory constraints, leading to potential leaks and contamination risks.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a welded personnel access provision, featuring a shell with a sleeve and a permanently connected cover, reducing leakage risks through airtight welds, eliminating the need for seals and gaskets, and allowing occasional human access without compromising container integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional personnel access provisions with seals and gaskets are used, then human access to the vessel interior is facilitated, but leakage and contamination risks increase during transportation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes seals and gaskets from the personnel access provision, extracting the contaminating elements from the system. The access provision is designed without any sealing components that could degrade or fail, eliminating the source of potential contamination while still allowing personnel entry through a permanently connected open structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The access provision is segmented into distinct functional zones: an access opening in the head, a permanently connected sleeve providing structural support, and an internal platform. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while maintaining overall integrity without requiring sealing between components.
2Productivity
If bulk delivery vessels are used to meet increasing demand for HP and UHP materials, then delivery efficiency improves, but contamination risks from mechanical stress and ambient air infiltration increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vessel is prepared in advance by implementing a permanently connected access provision design that prevents contamination before transportation begins. The welded construction and elimination of seal surfaces ensure the vessel is contamination-resistant from the outset, rather than requiring post-transport decontamination procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a permanent welded construction that eliminates the need for replaceable sealing components. Instead of using disposable or serviceable gaskets and seals that can degrade, the design accepts the access opening as a permanent feature with inherent contamination resistance through its simple welded structure.
3Reliability
If sealed access provisions are used to prevent contamination, then purity is maintained, but personnel access becomes more complex and requires frequent decontamination
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of trying to seal the access provision to prevent contamination, the patent inverts the approach by accepting the access opening as inherently open and using the permanently connected welded structure to provide contamination resistance. The simplicity of the open welded structure replaces the complexity of sealed systems.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of vessels include personnel access provisions having welded or otherwise permanent connections that substantially reduce the potential for leakage into or out of the vessels by way of the personnel access provisions.