Systems and methods for reducing corrosion in a reactor system using electromagentic fields

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016167986-A1
Application number	US-201314905729-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 16, 2013
Priority date	Jul 16, 2013
Publication date	Jun 16, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for reducing corrosion of components of a reactor system, such as a supercritical water gasification system are described. A current carrying element may be arranged about the outside surface of a system component, such as a valve, conduit, heater, pre-heater, reactor vessel, and/or heat exchanger. The current carrying element may be in the form of a continuous solenoid, rings, tubes, or rods, including a conductive material, such as copper. A current may be applied to the current carrying element to generate an electromagnetic field within the system component. The current may generate an electromagnetic field within the system component. The electromagnetic field may force corrosive ions moving within a fluid flowing through the system component to move in pathways away from an inner surface of the system component.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A reactor system configured to reduce corrosion thereof, the system comprising:
at least one current carrying element arranged in proximity to a surface of at least a portion of the reactor system; at least one pump configured to force fluid having corrosive ions disposed therein through the at least a portion of the reactor system; and a current generator configured to pass a current through the at least one current carrying element to generate an electromagnetic field within the reactor system, wherein the electromagnetic field operates to reduce corrosion by forcing at least a portion of the corrosive ions away from an inner surface of the reactor system.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the reactor system is configured as a supercritical water reactor system.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the reactor system is configured as one of the following: a coal gasification system, a biomass gasification system, a waste oxidation system, a hydroprocessing reactor, and a pressurized water reactor.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid comprises one of the following: a coal slurry and a wet biomass.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element comprises a wire.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the wire comprises an insulated high current carrying wire.

7 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the wire comprises a Litz wire.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element comprises a plurality of current carrying rods.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of current carrying rods are arranged longitudinally around the at least a portion of the reactor system.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of current carrying rods carries current in the same direction.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element comprises at least one coil.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least a portion of the reactor system is tapered.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one coil is configured as a continuous solenoid.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the continuous solenoid is tapered.

15 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element comprises at least one ring arranged around the at least a portion of the reactor system.

16 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element comprises a plurality of rings of varying diameters arranged in order from a largest diameter to a smallest diameter.

17 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the reactor system comprises at least a portion of one of the following: a reactor vessel, a pre-heater, a valve, a conduit, and a heat exchanger.

18 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element is arranged around at least a portion of a pre-heater.

19 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element is arranged around at least a portion of a heat exchanger.

20 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element is arranged around at least a portion of a reactor vessel.

21 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element is arranged around at least a portion of a supercritical zone of a reactor vessel.

22 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element is arranged around at least a portion of a sub-critical zone of a reactor vessel.

23 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one current carrying element comprises a plurality of electromagnets.

24 . The system of claim 23 , wherein the plurality of electromagnets is arranged in at least one ring around the at least a portion of the reactor system.

25 . The system of claim 23 , wherein each of the plurality of electromagnets comprises at least one of the following: an iron core and a ferrite core.

26 . The system of claim 23 , wherein each of the plurality of electromagnets comprise a superconducting magnet.

27 . The system of claim 26 , where the superconducting magnet comprises at least one of the following: niobium-titanium and niobium-tin.

28 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic field is configured to force at least a portion of the corrosive ions away from the inner surface through Lorentz forces.

29 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic field is configured to force at least a portion of the corrosive ions away from the inner surface and into a centralized region of the at least a portion of the reactor system.

30 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the corrosive ions comprises anions.

31 . The system of claim 30 , wherein the anions comprise at least one of the following: chloride ions, fluoride ions, sulfide ions, sulfate ions, sulfite ions, phosphate ions, nitrate ions, carbonate ions, bicarbonate ions, hydroxide ions, oxide ions, and cyanide ions.

32 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the corrosive ions comprises anions and cations.

33 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the current comprises direct current.

34 . The system of claim 33 , wherein the electromagnetic field comprises a static magnetic field.

35 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the current comprises alternating current.

36 . The system of claim 35 , wherein the alternating current is about 100 kilohertz to about 500 kilohertz.

37 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic field is about 0.5 teslas to about 4 teslas.

38 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic field is about 2 teslas.

39 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the surface comprises a non-magnetizable material.

40 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the surface comprises at least one of the following: a nickel alloy, a chrome-molybdenum alloy, a non-magnetic iron-based alloy, and a ceramic.

41 . A corrosion reduction method for a reactor system, the method comprising:
providing a reactor system having at least one current carrying element in proximity to a surface of at least a portion of the reactor system; moving fluid having corrosive ions disposed therein through the at least a portion of the reactor system; and passing a current through the at least one current carrying element to generate an electromagnetic field within the at least a portion of the reactor system, whereby the electromagnetic field forces at least a portion of the corrosive ions away from an inner surface of the reactor system.

42 . The method of claim 41 , further comprising configuring the reactor system as a supercritical water reactor system.

43 . The method of claim 41 , further comprising configuring the reactor system as one of the following: a coal gasification system, a biomass gasification system, a waste oxidation system, a hydroprocessing reactor, and a pressurized water reactor.

44 . The method of claim 41 , wherein the fluid comprises a coal slurry of a coal gasification p

Assignees

• Empire Technology Dev Llc

Inventors

• Millar Benjamin William
• Barnes Benjamin Watson
• Peppou George Charles

Classifications

• B01J2219/0854

  employing electromagnets · CPC title

• B01J19/087

  employing electric or magnetic energy · CPC title

• B01J8/42

  with fluidised bed subjected to electric current or to radiations {this sub-group includes the fluidised bed subjected to electric or magnetic fields} · CPC title

• B01J3/008

  Processes carried out under supercritical conditions · CPC title

• C02F2201/483

  using coils · CPC title