Cryogenic distillation comprising vacuum insulation panel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10775103-B2
Application number	US-201816193256-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2018
Priority date	Jun 27, 2006
Publication date	Sep 15, 2020
Grant date	Sep 15, 2020

Abstract

A cryogenic installation unit comprises at least one item of equipment to be thermally insulated, a structure for containing the at least one item of equipment, a main insulation contained in the structure and, associated with this main insulation, a secondary insulation of lower thermal conductivity than the main insulation, said secondary insulation consisting of a vacuum insulation panel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cryogenic distillation apparatus comprising:
a structure comprising a ceiling, a floor and a plurality of side walls, wherein the structure is a cold box having a parallelepipedal shape or a circular cross section;
at least one item of equipment disposed within the structure, the at least one item of equipment selected from the group consisting of a phase separator, a column, a heat exchanger, a pump, a turbine, and combinations thereof, wherein each item of equipment has a side periphery, and the side periphery is made up of a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being the portion of the side periphery that is located at a distance from an outer surface of the closest side wall below a given threshold, the second portion being the remaining portion of the side periphery;
a main insulation contained in the space between the equipment and the structure, wherein said main insulation comprises a perlite insulation; and
a secondary insulation having a lower thermal conductivity than the main insulation, wherein said secondary insulation comprises at least one vacuum insulation panel, wherein the secondary insulation is installed such that the secondary insulation is configured to reduce the thermal flux experienced by the first portion of the side periphery of the at least one item of equipment attributable to the outside atmosphere,
wherein the secondary insulation is selectively installed such that there is an absence of the secondary insulation between the second portion of the side periphery of the at least one item of equipment and a point on the outer surface of the structure located closest to the second portion of the side periphery of the at least one of equipment.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , in which the thermal conductivity of said secondary insulation is one half or less than that of said main insulation.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , in which said secondary insulation is installed on the first portion of the side periphery of the at least one item of equipment, and wherein there is an absence of secondary insulation installed on the second portion of the side periphery of the equipment to be insulated.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , in which said structure comprises an outer side case and an inner side case, and wherein said secondary insulation is placed on the outer side case, the inner side case, or both the outer side case and the inner side case of said structure.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 , in which said secondary insulation is incorporated into the outer side case, the inner side case of the structure, or any combination thereof.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4 , in which said secondary insulation is located between the first portion of the side periphery of the at least one item of equipment and said outer side case of the structure.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , in which said equipment to be thermally insulated is at a distance x from the closest point on said structure, which constitutes a first point, and a second point on said structure is separated from the equipment to be thermally insulated by a distance nx, n being greater than 2, and the space between the second point and the equipment comprises an absence of the secondary insulation.

8. The apparatus according to claim 4 , in which said secondary insulation is on the outside of said outer side case of the structure.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , in which the secondary insulation is only installed on the first portion of the side periphery of the at least one item of equipment and/or on at least one region of the structure lying at a distance from the first portion of the side periphery of the at least one item of equipment, such that there is an absence of secondary insulation installed on the second portion of the side periphery of the at least one item of equipment and an absence of secondary insulation installed on a region of the structure that is closest to the second portion of the side periphery of the at least one item of equipment.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the secondary insulation is disposed on the equipment to be insulated but is not in contact with the structure, wherein the space between the structure and the secondary insulation is filled by the main insulation.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each side wall further comprises an outer side case and an inner side case, wherein the secondary insulation is disposed on the outer side case of the structure, and is not in contact with any equipment, the space between the structure and any equipment being filled by the main insulation.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each side wall further comprises an outer side case and an inner side case, wherein the secondary insulation is disposed on the inner side case of the structure, but is not in contact with any equipment, and the space between the secondary insulation and any equipment being filled by the main insulation.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the secondary insulation is disposed between the equipment and the structure but is not in contact with either thereof, the space between the secondary insulation and the equipment being filled by the main insulation, and the space between the secondary insulation and structure being filled by the main insulation.

14. An arrangement of insulation within a structure having at least one piece of equipment disposed within an inner volume of the structure and designed to operate at a cryogenic temperature, said arrangement of insulation comprising:
a secondary insulation layer disposed within the structure, wherein the secondary insulation is disposed between the at least one piece of equipment and the structure, the secondary insulation layer having a thermal conductivity lower than that of a bulk insulation;
the bulk insulation filling a remaining inner volume of the structure; and
a first exterior region of the at least one piece of equipment located opposite to a sidewall of the structure and situated closer to the sidewall of the structure than remaining exterior regions of the at least one piece of equipment,
wherein the secondary insulation layer is situated only between the first exterior region of the at least one piece of equipment and an opposite structure wall region formed by part of the sidewall, located opposite to the first exterior region, and sized to only insulate the first exterior region of the at least one piece of equipment from heat leakage from the opposite structure wall region to the first exterior region of the at least one piece of equipment.

15. The arrangement of insulation of claim 14 , wherein the secondary insulation layer is a vacuum insulated panel.

16. The arrangement of insulation of claim 14 , wherein the secondary insulation layer is located on an outer surface of the at least one piece of equipment.

17. The arrangement of insulation of claim 14 , wherein the secondary insulation layer is disposed over an opening in the sidewall of the structure.

18. The arrangement of insulation of claim 14 , wherein:
the structure and the at least one piece of equipment is of cylindrical configuration;
the at least one piece of equipment is not centered within the structure so that the first exterior region of the at least one piece of equipment is an outer segment of an outer cylindrical surface of the at least one piece of equipment and the opposite wall region is an inner segment of an inner cylindrical surface of the sidewall of

Assignees

• Air Liquide
• Air Liquide

Inventors

• Clodic Denis
• Delcorso Fabrice
• Tranier Jean-Pierre
• Zick Golo

Classifications

• F16L59/141 Primary

  in which the temperature of the medium is below that of the ambient temperature · CPC title

• F25J3/04945

  Details of internal structure; insulation and housing of the cold box · CPC title

• F25J3/00 Primary

  Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous {or liquefied gaseous} mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification · CPC title