Adsorption processes and systems utilizing step lift control of hydraulically actuated poppet valves

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11655910-B2
Application number	US-202017062252-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2020
Priority date	Oct 7, 2019
Publication date	May 23, 2023
Grant date	May 23, 2023

Abstract

A valve installation is provided, including a valve assembly having a valve, and a fluidized valve actuator coupled with the valve assembly. The actuator includes at least two cylinders and pistons positioned to communicate fluid to apply pressure to the valve assembly. Extension of each piston communicates pressure to the valve assembly and at least partially lifts the valve into an at least partially lifted and open position. The valve installation may be used to regulate fluid flow in various systems, including cyclical swing adsorption processes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A swing adsorption system, the system comprising:
at least two absorbent bed vessels arranged in parallel, wherein the at least two adsorption bed vessels share a common inlet header and are in fluid communication;
a valve installation including a valve assembly including a valve positioned to introduce fluid flow into one of said absorbent bed vessels, wherein the valve installation is characterized by a flow area response to valve lift over a range of valve lift; and
the valve installation further including a fluidized valve actuator, the actuator comprising:
a reservoir containing a fluid and having an outlet coupled with the valve assembly to communicate pressure thereto;
a first cylinder and a first piston positioned within the first cylinder, the first cylinder and first piston positioned to communicate a first volume of the fluid through the outlet and to the valve assembly, said first cylinder and first piston defining a first displacement volume; and
a second cylinder and a second piston positioned within the second cylinder, the second cylinder and second piston positioned to communicate a second volume of the fluid through the outlet and to the valve assembly, said second cylinder and second piston defining a second displacement volume;
wherein said first piston is independently operable of said second piston, and wherein said first and second displacement volumes at least partially define a system fluid volume to communicate pressure through said outlet and to said valve assembly;

characterized in that extension of each piston of the fluidized valve actuator communicates pressure to the valve assembly and at least partially lifts the valve into an at least partially lifted and open position.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said first displacement volume is smaller than said second displacement volume, and wherein said first piston and said second piston are operable in series.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said first cylinder and first piston are characterized by a travel-to-volume ratio that is larger than a travel-to-volume ratio by which the second cylinder and the second piston are characterized, and wherein said valve assembly is a poppet valve assembly and said valve is a poppet valve.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein said cylinders comprise hydraulic cylinders, and wherein said fluid is hydraulic fluid, and further comprising one or more valves positioned to regulate flow of the fluid from a fluid source into the cylinders.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a slider valve fluidically coupled with each cylinder, wherein each slider valve is movable between at least a first position and a second position;
wherein in the first position, the slider valve at least partially defines a first fluid pathway of the fluid into the cylinder to extend the piston of the cylinder; and
wherein in the second position, the slider valve at least partially defines a second fluid pathway of said fluid out of the cylinder to retract the piston of the cylinder.

6. The system of claim 1 , characterized in that extension of the first piston lifts the valve to a first percentage of lift, extension of the second piston lifts the valve to a second percentage of lift, wherein the first percentage of lift is less than the second percentage of lift, and the first percentage of lift is from 5 to 25%.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the valve installation further comprises a flow restriction aid positioned to define a restricted flow area over a discrete lift range of the valve, the restricted flow area being less than a restricted flow area defined, at least partly, by a disk of the valve over the discrete lift range.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein said flow restriction aid comprises at least one of:
a ledge with which the disk is seatable at 0% lift to close the orifice;
a plug coupled with or integral with a valve stem, the valve stem being disposed in a valve body, and wherein a clearance between the plug and the valve body defines the restricted flow area over the discrete lift range;
an annular restriction of the fluid bore, and wherein a clearance between the disk and the annular restriction defines the restricted flow area over the discrete lift range; and
serrations, slots, or flat surfaces.

9. A cyclical swing adsorption process for removing contaminants from a gaseous feed stream, said process comprising:
operating a system having at least two adsorption bed vessels sharing a common inlet header, the two adsorption bed vessels in fluid communication, whereby the absorbent bed vessels are operated simultaneously, with each vessel being cyclically operable through swing adsorption process cycles to produce a product stream from the feed stream;
wherein an inlet valve installation regulates fluid flow into at least one of the two adsorption bed vessels, the inlet valve installation comprising a poppet valve assembly comprising a poppet valve, and a fluidized valve actuator, the actuator comprising:
a reservoir containing a fluid and having an outlet coupled with the valve assembly to communicate pressure thereto;
a first cylinder and a first piston positioned within the first cylinder, the first cylinder and first piston positioned to communicate a first volume of the fluid through the outlet and to the valve assembly, said first cylinder and first piston defining a first displacement volume; and
a second cylinder and a second piston positioned within the second cylinder, the second cylinder and second piston positioned to communicate a second volume of the fluid through the outlet and to the valve assembly, said second cylinder and second piston defining a second displacement volume; wherein said first and second displacement volumes at least partially define a system fluid volume to communicate pressure through said outlet and to said valve assembly;
opening the valve from a closed position to a partially lifted position by applying a first pressure to the valve assembly extending the first piston, wherein, in response to the first pressure, the valve is lifted from the closed position to the partially lifted position wherein the valve is step lifted to a lift of greater than a 0% lift and less than a 100% lift of the valve; and
opening the valve from the partially lifted position to a further lifted position by applying a second pressure to the valve assembly extending the second piston, wherein, in response to the second pressure, the valve is lifted from the partially lifted position to the further lifted position wherein the valve is at a higher percentage of lift relative to the partially lifted position.

10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the opening of the valve from the closed position to the partially lifted position, and the opening of the valve from the partially lifted position to the further lifted position is performed during operation of the at least two adsorption bed vessels through respective adsorption process cycles, and during transitioning the first adsorption bed vessel of the at least two adsorption bed vessels from a first stage in the adsorption process cycle to a second stage in the adsorption process cycle, wherein, in said first stage said first adsorption bed vessel is fluidly isolated from the second adsorption bed vessel and the common inlet header by the inlet valve installation disposed in the closed position, while the gaseous feed stream is directed to the second adsorption bed vessel from the common inlet header; and
wherein said transitioning includes opening the inlet valve installation of the first adsorption bed vessel to direct at least a portion of the gaseous feed stream from the common inlet header into the fi

Assignees

• Exxonmobil Technology & Engineering Company

Inventors

• Fulton John W
• Yunker William N
• Marshall Bennett D
• Johnson Robert A
• Mischler Roland
• Aschwanden Stefan

Classifications

• B01D53/047

  Pressure swing adsorption · CPC title

• B01D2257/504

  Carbon dioxide · CPC title

• F16K31/1221

  one side of the piston being spring-loaded · CPC title

• B01D2253/116

  Molecular sieves other than zeolites · CPC title

• B01D2253/108

  Zeolites · CPC title