CONDENSER/EVAPORATOR

Abstract: The condenser/evaporator is of the type in which first fluid chambers and second fluid chambers are formed alternately by a large number of vertical partition plates and heat-exchanging is effected between a liq. medium in the first fluid chambers and a fluid in the second fluid chambers, multiple stages of heat transfer plates are disposed vertically in the first fluid chambers so as to define a number of liq. medium flow paths. One of the ends of each fluid path is open. A number of liq. reservoirs whose upper parts are open are disposed vertically and are connected to the other ends of the flow paths. While being supplied to the liq. reservoir of each stage, the liq. medium is introduced into the flow paths to effect heat-exchanging.

Description: The present invention relates to a condenser-evaporator as described in the preambel of claim 1. Such a condensor-evaporator is known from US-A- 4 606 745. Many condenser-evaporators for use in a double column rectifier of a cryogenic air separation plant, as disclosed in JP-A- 56-56592, are so-called plate fin type heat exchangers each employing many parallel partitions to vertically separate the condenser-evaporator into two types of chambers, namely oxygen chambers each as the first fluid chamber and nitrogen chambers each as the second fluid chamber, which are alternately provided adjoining to one another. In each oxygen chamber of such a plate fin type condenser-evaporator, many vertical evaporation passages are formed by vertically providing heat exchanger plates, each evaporation passage having top and bottom ends open, with the bottom opening serving as an inlet to introduce liquid oxygen and the top opening serving as an outlet to a mixture of an oxygen gas and liquid oxygen. As the overall condenser-evaporator is dipped in liquid oxygen retained in the bottom space in the upper column of a double column rectifier, it is filled with liquid oxygen and the liquid oxygen in this oxygen chamber is subjected to heat exchange with nitrogen gas in the adjoining nitrogen chamber, part of the liquid oxygen being vaporized to be bubbles of an oxygen gas and rising in the evaporation passage. The liquid oxygen forms a circulating flow inside and outside the condenser-evaporator by the rising force of the oxygen gas and by the density difference caused by the mixture of the gas and liquid. The nitrogen chamber is a chamber enclosed all around in which vertical heat exchanger plates are provided as in the oxygen chamber to form many vertical condensing passages, and it is connected to the lower column of the double column rectifier via headers provided at the upstream and downstream of the condensing passages. The nitrogen gas at the upper portion of the lower column is introduced as a downstream in the condensing passages from the upper header to be subjected to heat exchange with the liquid oxygen in the adjoining evaporation passage in the condensing passages, and the condensed liquid nitrogen is led out from the lower header. As the conventional condenser-evaporator is dipped in liquid oxygen at the lower portion of the space at the bottom of the upper column, the liquid head pressure raises the boiling point (about 1°C/m); the condenser-evaporator has a higher boiling point at the lower portion than at the higher portion, thus reducing the difference between the boiling temperature of oxygen and the condensation temperature of nitrogen accordingly. Normally, the difference between the temperature on the nitrogen side of the condenser-evaporator and that on the oxygen side is 1 to 2°C at the top of the condenser-evaporator, so that the mentioned rise in boiling point of the liquid oxygen causes a significant problem on the performance of the condenser-evaporator. In other words, to operate the lower column at 5 kgf/cm²G (kgf being a weight kg and G being a gauge pressure), it is necessary to set the condenser-evaporator about 2 m high or shorter to ensure the proper performance; since making the condenser-evaporator higher increases the liquid depth of the liquid oxygen and thus raises the boiling point, the operational pressure of the lower column should be increased in order to improve the performance, so that it is necessary to increase the number of condenser-evaporators to be sited by increasing the diameter of the upper column while leaving the height of each condenser-evaporator unchanged, thus making the construction of the double column rectifier troublesome. The rise in boiling point by the liquid depth of the liquid oxygen influences the operational pressure of the lower column. That is, the operational pressure of the lower column determines the condensation temperature of a saturated nitrogen gas at the top of this column; lowering this condensation temperature requires a reduction in temperature of the liquid oxygen. Since the power of an air separation plant is consumed mostly in compression of raw air or increasing the pressure to the level of the lower column, further lowering the pressure of the lower column if possible can reduce the power cost. With the conventional structure in which a condenser-evaporator is dipped in liquid oxygen, however, the reduction in pressure of the lower column should be restricted by an amount of the rise in boiling point of the liquid oxygen by a liquid head. Further, the performance of the condenser-evaporator cannot be fully shown unless liquid oxygen is reserved in the space at the bottom of the upper column where the condenser-evaporator is mounted. Until the condenser-evaporator is immersed in the liquid oxygen, therefore, the condensed liquid of the liquid nitrogen serving as a reflux liquid of the lower column and an ascending vapor of the upper column by evaporation of the liquid oxygen are not sufficiently generated. As a consequence, the rectifying operation does not start, requiring a wasted wait time (start up time) and resulting in a loss in power dissipation. Further, safety measures in case of emergency become a big issue. The liquid oxygen rising in the evaporation passage at the bottom portion of the oxygen chamber should be heated by convective heat transfer with a lower heat transfer coefficient to a boiling onset temperature, which reduces the heat transfer efficiency of that passage. As the nitrogen chamber on the condensing side has condensing passages formed vertically and nitrogen gas flows downward while being condensed, the amount of the liquid nitrogen increases at the downstream of these condensing passages and the condensed nitrogen becomes a thick liquid film to cover the heat transfer surface of the condensing passages. This film serves as a thermal resistance layer and this reduces the heat transfer performance. From US-A-4,606,745 a condensor-evaporator is already known in which first fluid chambers and second fluid chambers are alternately formed by multiple verticle partitions and a liquid in said first fluid chambers is heat-exchanged with a fluid in said second fluid chambers. Said condenser-evaporator comprises a plurality of heat exchanger plates which are arranged in up-and-down multiple stages in said first fluid chambers to form a plurality of liquid passages having one end open, and a plurality of liquid reservoirs communicating with said liquid passages and provided in up-and-down multiple stages on a side of the other end of said liquid passages, said liquid reservoirs having a top open and a liquid is introduced in said liquid passages for heat exchange while being supplied to said liquid reservoirs in each stage. The condensor-evaporator disclosed in US-A-4,606,745 includes a condensor block soaked in liquid oxygen. Therefore, a large-sized cylindrical container is necessary to store a large amount of liquid sufficient to soak stage parts of said condensor block in liquid oxygen. A similar construction of a condensor-evaporator is known from JP-A-60/253 782. Also this condensor-evaporator requires a large amount of liquid to be stored in order to soak stage parts of the condensor block in liquid oxygen. It is an object of the invention to provide a condensor-evaporator having a considerably reduced circulated amount of liquid oxygen which flows down to the bottom portion of the column and to the oxygen pump or thermosyphon reboiler in order to reduce equipment costs and operational costs and to enhance the heat exchanging efficiency. The condenser-evaporator according to the invention is characterized in that a plurality of liquid receivers for receiving a liquid flowing down from said open ends of said liquid passages are provided separately from said liquid reservoirs in up-and-down multiple stages, and a liquid return passage is provided for returning a liquid in said liquid receivers to said liquid reservoirs. The condenser-evaporator according to the invention does not require a large amount of liquid into which stages of the condenser block are soaked, but provides separately a plurality of box-shaped liquid reservoirs and liquid receivers in up-and-down multiple stages on the both ends of the condensor block. Therefore, the condenser-evaporator of the invention requires much less amount of liquid stored in the liquid reservoirs and liquid receivers than those of the cited references. Embodiments of the invention are disclosed in sub-claims 2 to 14. The invention is more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a first embodiment of this invention, the former being a cross-sectional view of an oxygen chamber of a condenser-evaporator, and the latter a cross-sectional view along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an oxygen chamber of a condenser-evaporator according to a second embodiment; Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a third embodiment, the former being a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating an oxygen chamber and a liquid return chamber of a condenser-evaporator and the latter being a lateral cross-sectional view of the condenser-evaporator; Figs. 6 through 9 illustrate a fourth embodiment of a condenser-evaporator of this invention, the upper part of Fig. 6 being a cross section taken along the line 6-6 in Fig. 7, the lower part of Fig. 6 being a cross section taken along the line 7-7, Fig. 7 being a cross-sectional plan view of an oxygen chamber, Fig. 8 being a partly cutaway left side view, and Fig. 9 being a partly cutaway right side view; Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate a fifth embodiment of this invention, the former being a cross section of an oxygen chamber of an condenser-evaporator, and the latter being a side view of a condenser-evaporator block; Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate one example in which the condenser-evaporator of the fifth embodiment is assembled in a rectifier, the former being a cross-sectional plan view and the latter being a perspective view of the essential section; and Figs. 14 through 18 illustrate a sixth embodiment of a condenser-evaporator of this invention, Fig. 14 being a cross-sectional front view of an oxygen chamber of a condenser-evaporator, Fig. 15 being a cross-sectional front view of a nitrogen chamber, Fig. 16 being a partly cutaway side view, Fig. 17 being a partly cutaway front view, and Fig. 18 being a cross-sectional plan view. This invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and a case where a liquid to be evaporated is liquid oxygen and a fluid to be condensed is nitrogen gas. As the same reference numerals are affixed to identical elements in the individual embodiments of the following description in the drawings, their detailed description will be omitted. The flow of a liquid is indicated by a solid arrow and the flow of gas by a broken arrow. Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate the first embodiment of this invention, the former showing an oxygen chamber serving as a first fluid chamber and the latter being a cross section along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1. A condenser-evaporator 50 has multiple oxygen chambers 56 as first fluid chambers and multiple nitrogen chambers 57 as second fluid chambers alternately formed by multiple vertically parallel partitions 55 which are connected by top and bottom slant bars 51 and 52 and left and right side bars 53 and 54. An inlet header 58 for distributively introducing nitrogen gas GN into the nitrogen chambers 57 is provided at the top of the oxygen chambers 56 and nitrogen chambers 57, and an outlet header 59 for collectively discharging liquid nitrogen LN condensed in the cambers 57 is provided at the bottom of the chambers 56 and 57. The individual nitrogen chambers 57 are defined by partitions 55 and the side bars 53 and 54 located on the respective sides of the partitions. The individual oxygen chambers 56 are defined by the partitions 55 and upper and lower slant bars 51 and 52, and heat exchanger plates 60 are provided in up-and-down multiple stages inside each oxygen chamber 56 to form multiple liquid passages 61. Although the heat exchanger plates 60, which divide adjoining partitions 55 in up-and-down, may be used one sheet for each stage, a corrugated heat exchanger fin is normally used therefor. The liquid passages 61 are inclined to have an inclination rising from one end of each oxygen chamber 56 toward the other end. That is, the liquid passages 61 have an upward inclination going from one end of the side of the liquid reservoirs toward a tip of the other end on the open side. A plurality of liquid reservoirs 63 communicating with the liquid passages 61 are provided in up-and-down multiple stages on the side of an inlet 62 which exists at the down parts of the passages 61. Further, a plurality of liquid receivers 65 communicating with the liquid passages 61 are provided in up-and-down multiple stages on the side of an outlet 64 which exists at the upper parts of the liquid passages 61 in association with the liquid reservoirs 63, except for the last stage liquid passage 61. The liquid reservoirs 63 are shaped in box having its top open, and communicating with the oxygen chambers 56 in its open side, so that a plurality of up-and-down liquid passages 61 communicate with one liquid reservoir 63. Connected to each liquid reservoir 63 in liquid distributing means 68 comprising a communication conduit 66 and a manifold 67; liquid oxygen LO is supplied to each liquid reservoir 63 from this liquid distributing means 68. As each liquid reservoir 63 has its top open, pressure is released on the gas side of the associated oxygen chamber 56 and the depth of the liquid in each liquid reservoir 63 is shallow, thus reducing the influence of the liquid head pressure of the liquid oxygen LO. This can prevent the boiling point from rising due to the liquid head pressure at the liquid depth of the liquid oxygen LO, lower the condensation temperature of nitrogen gas GN to reduce the operational pressure of the lower column, and significantly can reduce the power consumption of the raw air compressor. The liquid receivers 65, almost like the liquid reservoirs 63, are shaped into a box having its top open. The liquid receivers 65 have that side open to the oxygen chambers 56 so that up-and-down multiple liquid passages 61 communicate with one liquid receiver 65. The liquid receivers 65 and the liquid reservoirs 63 are each provided for multiple liquid passages 61 as one block. The liquid receiver 65 communicates with the corresponding liquid reservoirs 63 at a stage lower by one block via a liquid return conduit 69 which connects the bottom portions of both. The liquid oxygen LO, which has flowed through the liquid passage 61 from the liquid reservoir 63 located above and have not been evaporated in that liquid passage 61, returns via this conduit 69 to the liquid reservoir 63 at one lower stage. The liquid oxygen LO to be introduced into the thus formed oxygen chambers 56 is supplied to the individual liquid reservoirs 63 via the manifold 67. The liquid oxygen LO in each liquid reservoir 63 flows in the associated liquid passage 61 and is subjected to heat exchange with nitrogen gas Gn flowing through the adjoining nitrogen chamber 57 via the heat exchanger plates 60 and partitions 55. As a result, part of the liquid oxygen is evaporated to be bubbles of oxygen gas GO. After these bubbles rise in the liquid passage 61 together with the liquid oxygen LO in the passage, they separate from the liquid oxygen LO at the outlet 64 and rise. Meanwhile, the liquid oxygen LO which has not been vaporized in the liquid passage 61, drops from the outlet 64 to be received at the liquid receiver 65 and flows downward to the liquid reservoir 63 located lower by one block via the liquid return conduit 69. The amount of the liquid oxygen LO flowing through the liquid passages 61 is said to be six times or greater than the amount of evaporation of liquid oxygen to prevent a concentration and precipitation of acetylene. The liquid oxygen LO flows in the individual liquid passages 61 while sequentially flowing down via the liquid return conduits 69 for the lower liquid reservoirs 63 from the liquid receivers 65, and flows downward repeating the evaporation and down flow. The liquid oxygen LO which have not yet been evaporated in the lowermost liquid passage 61 flows downstream of the condenser-evaporator 50 from the outlet 64 and remains in the liquid reservoir at the bottom portion of the upper column of the double column rectifier. Part of the liquid oxygen LO is extracted as a product as needed, the remaining portion is moved up by a liquid oxygen pump or thermosiphon reboiler or the like, and is again supplied, circulating, to each liquid reservoir 63 from the liquid distributing means 68 after concentrated acetylene is removed through an acetylene adsorber. The circulating liquid oxygen LO is part of excess liquid oxygen LO that is supplied to the oxygen chambers 56 to prevent precipitation of a hydrocarbon such as acetylene into each passage. Since the amount of this liquid oxygen is only that of the liquid oxygen LO flowing down from the lower most liquid passage 61 of the oxygen chamber 56, as mentioned above, the above circulating amount needs to be very small. The angle of inclination of each liquid passage 61 is properly selected according to the depth of the liquid reservoir 63 to be connected and the length of that liquid passage 61. Although the liquid passage 61 may be horizontally provided, inclining the liquid passage 61 facilitates the flowing out of the bubbles of the oxygen gas GO originated from evaporation due to the floating force and can enhance the heat transfer rate by progressing the flow of the liquid oxygen LO. The vertical pitch of the individual liquid passages 61 is set properly so that the oxygen gas GO is accompanied with the liquid oxygen LO; if this pitch is too large, it is difficult for the floating force of the oxygen gas GO to cause the accompanying of the liquid oxygen LO. As in the above embodiment, forming the liquid passages 61 with an inclination permits the floating force of the bubbles of the evaporated oxygen gas GO to cause the movement of the liquid oxygen LO and discharge the gas from the outlet 64. Accordingly, the liquid oxygen LO is effectively evaporated, and the evaporated oxygen gas GO does not remain, so that the heat exchanging efficiency of the condenser-evaporator 50 can be improved. The amount of the liquid oxygen LO flowing in each liquid passage 61 can be set by controlling the liquid depth in the liquid reservoirs 63, or controlling the length, inclination or opening cross-section area of the liquid passage 61. The liquid return conduits 69 may be formed in a gutter shape with an open top, and a plurality of them may be provided depending on the amount of the liquid. Further, by providing a nitrogen chamber on either outside of the condenser-evaporator 50, and providing a gutter-shaped liquid return conduit in close contact with the outside wall of the nitrogen chamber, the nitrogen gas can be heat-exchanged with the liquid oxygen at this portion to evaporate the latter. The liquid distributing means 68 may be constituted by providing an overflow conduit or weir with the proper height to each liquid reservoir 63 so as to cause the liquid oxygen LO to sequentially flow in the liquid reservoirs 63 at lower stages from the overflow conduit or weir, instead of providing the manifold 67 and the communicating conduits 66. Alternately, the manifold 67 and the liquid reservoirs 63 may be constituted integrally, with a communicating hole having a predetermined diameter to provide communication between the manifold 67 and each liquid reservoir 63, so that the liquid oxygen LO can be supplied to each liquid reservoir from the communicating hole. Further, a predetermined amount of liquid oxygen LO may be supplied to each liquid reservoir 63 by providing a flow regulating mechanism at the upper portion of the manifold 67, or adjusting the diameter or location of the communicating conduit 66, or the communicating hole or the overflow conduit, and further adjusting the height of the overflow conduit or weir. As described above, the liquid oxygen LO which has not been evaporated in the liquid passage 61 is received in the liquid receiver 65 provided at the outlet 64 of this liquid passage without flowing downward of the condenser-evaporator 50 as it is from the outlet 64, and it is then returned to the liquid reservoir 63 at the inlet 62 from the liquid receiver 65, thus significantly reducing the amount of liquid oxygen flowing downward. That is, to prevent precipitation of acetylene, more excessive liquid oxygen LO than has been evaporated should be supplied to the liquid reservoir 63 or liquid receiver 65 at that stage and be permitted to flow downward. Accordingly, it is possible to make compact the raising means such as a liquid oxygen pump or thermosiphon reboiler to move the liquid oxygen LO above the condenser-evaporator 50 from the bottom of the upper column of the rectifier, which can considerably reduce the operational power cost by lowering the compressing pressure of the raw air compressor as well as reduce the cost of the equipment and operational power of the ascending means. Fig. 3 illustrates the second embodiment of this invention. An oxygen chamber 56 of this condenser-evaporator 70, as per the above embodiment, has a plurality of liquid passages 61 formed in up-and-down multiple stages, liquid reservoirs63 and liquid receivers 65 are provided in multiple stage at two ends of each liquid passage 61. Further, a liquid reservoir 71 and a liquid receiver 72 for supplying liquid oxygen LO are provided in the block of the liquid passage 61 at the uppermost stage. The liquid receiver 65 at each stage below the liquid receiver 72 has its bottom 65a communicating with the liquid passage 61, which communicates with the top portion of the liquid reservoir 63 lower than that liquid reservoir 63 which introduces into the liquid passage 61 the liquid oxygen LO flowing downward to that liquid receiver 65. Further, a liquid return conduit 69 connects the liquid receiver 65 with the liquid reservoir 63 together which correspond to the block of each liquid passage 61. Accordingly, the liquid oxygen LO flowing downward from the rectifier section of the upper column of the double column rectifier or the liquid oxygen LO supplied from the bottom of the upper column in circulation by the liquid oxygen pump or thermosiphon reboiler, etc. is first supplied to the uppermost liquid receiver 72, then it flows down the block of the uppermost liquid passage 61 to the uppermost liquid reservoir 71. Meanwhile the oxygen gas GO which has been evaporated while flowing down through the liquid passage 61 rises against the liquid flow along that liquid passage 61 from the liquid receiver 72, or flows down together with the liquid to the liquid reservoir 71 is separated to rise, from this liquid reservoir 71. the liquid oxygen LO in the uppermost liquid reservoir 71 flows down to the lower liquid reservoirs 63 via the manifold 67 and communicating conduit 66, and enters the respective liquid passages 61. The liquid oxygen LO, which has not been evaporated in the liquid passages 61, is received in each liquid receiver 65 at the outlet 64, and part of the liquid oxygen flows into the liquid passage 61 communicating with the top of the lower liquid reservoir 63 from that liquid receiver 65 and flows down due to the inclination of this passage 61 to enter the lower liquid reservoir 63. The oxygen gas GO, which has been evaporated during the downward flow, flows down together with the liquid oxygen LO to the liquid reservoir 63 and is separated to rise therefrom. A part of the liquid oxygen LO received at the liquid receiver 65 flows into the liquid passage 61 to be introduced to the lower liquid reservoir 63 and the others are returned to the original liquid reservoir 63 via the liquid return conduit 69 for circulation. The liquid oxygen LO between the liquid reservoir 63 and liquid receiver 65 corresponding to the block of the lowermost liquid passage 61 circulates in a path going from the liquid reservoir 63 and returning thereto through the liquid passage 61, liquid receiver 65 and liquid return conduit 69 while part of it is being evaporated. The liquid oxygen LO excessively supplied to prevent precipitation of acetylene overflows from this lowermost stage liquid reservoir 63 or liquid receiver 65 and flows to the bottom of the upper column. By introducing part of the liquid oxygen LO, returning to the liquid reservoir 63 from the liquid receiver 65, into the liquid passage 61 that communicates with the top of the lower liquid reservoir 63, it is possible to prevent acetylene precipitation with a less amount of excess liquid oxygen, in addition to the effect of the above embodiment. In other words, if the liquid receiver 65 is not provided, the liquid oxygen LO will flow into each liquid passage 61 communicating with the liquid reservoir 63 in depending on the liquid level in the liquid reservoir 63, so that only a slight amount of liquid oxygen LO flows in the liquid passage 61 communicating with the upper part of the liquid reservoir 63. This may cause the bubbles of oxygen gas GO to flow backward, without rising together with the liquid through the liquid passage 61 toward the outlet 64. When this counter flow phenomenon occurs, the liquid oxygen LO may not reach the outlet 64 of the liquid passage 61, thus forming a dry region in the passage; acetylene may be precipitated there. At this time, by making the bottom of the liquid receiver 65 to communicate with the liquid passage 61 at the top of the lower stage liquid reservoir 63 as in this embodiment, liquid oxygen LO can be introduced in the liquid passage 61 which may form the dry region so as to prevent drying of the interior of the liquid passage 61, i.e., precipitation of acetylene. Further, with this structure, this liquid passage 61 serves the same function as that of the liquid return conduit 69 to sequentially supply the liquid oxygen LO to lower stages, thus eliminating the need to separately provide the liquid return conduit 69. The number of liquid passages used for returning a liquid can properly be set according to the amount of processing or the like. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the third embodiment in which a liquid return chamber serving as a liquid return passage is formed adjacent to an oxygen chamber. The oxygen chamber 56 of this condenser-evaporator 80, as in both of the above embodiments, has heat exchanger plates 60 provided in multiple stages to form a plurality of liquid passages 61 in a chamber defined by partitions 55 and slant bars 51 and 52, with liquid reservoirs 63 with their open top on the side of an inlet 62 and liquid receivers 65 with their open top on the side of an outlet 64 being provided in multiple stages at both ends of each liquid passage 61. At the heat exchanger plate portion where a bottom plate 63a of the liquid reservoir 63 and a bottom plate 65a of the liquid receiver 65 are connected, the plate thicker than the ordinary heat exchanger plate or a partition rod 81 is located to improve the connectability between both bottom plates 63a and 65a and reduces liquid leak from the connected section. A side plate 82 is further provided outside the outermost oxygen chamber 56, and a liquid return chamber 83 is formed between the side plate 82 and the partitions 55 which define the oxygen chamber 56. As shown in the lower half of Fig. 4, this liquid return chamber 83 has a plurality of partition rods 84 provided which connect the bottom plate 63a of the liquid reservoir 63 and the bottom plate 65a of the liquid receiver 65 in association with each block. The upper and lower partition rods 84 and the side plate 82 and the partitions 55 define liquid return passages 85 corresponding to the liquid reservoir 63 and liquid receiver 65. The thus constituted liquid return passage 85, like the liquid return conduit 69 of the previous embodiment, serves to permit the liquid oxygen LO to flow toward the liquid reservoir 63 from the liquid receiver 65, and should preferably be provided not adjoining the nitrogen chamber 57 in order not to cause the liquid oxygen LO to be evaporated in the liquid return passage 85 to hinder the flow of the liquid, due to the aforementioned problem of precipitation of a hydrocarbon particularly in the case of the liquid oxygen LO. As given in the description of this embodiment, therefore, it is preferable that the liquid return chamber 83 be formed outward of the oxygen chamber 56 at the outermost location or between the oxygen chambers 56; for example, if the nitrogen chamber 57 at the position indicated by "A" in Fig. 5 is served as the thus formed liquid return chamber, the oxygen chambers 56 are preferable to be located at both sides of the liquid return chamber. The liquid return chamber 83 may be provided adjacent to the nitrogen chamber 57. In this case, the width of the passage should be set in view of the flow resistance by the bubbles of evaporated oxygen gas GO. Although it is preferable that arranging anything which may become a flow resistance in the liquid return conduit 85 should be avoided as much as possible, a corrugation fin or spacer which has a lower flow resistance may be provided in order to improve the structural strength. A plurality of liquid return chambers 83 may be provided in accordance with the flow rate of the liquid oxygen LO, for example, at both sides and at the center, and may be combined with the mentioned liquid return conduits or the like. According to this embodiment, the both ends of the side plates 82 located at both sides of the condenser-evaporator 80 extend to constitute both side walls of the liquid reservoir 63 and liquid receiver 65, and on the side of the liquid reservoir 63 of one side plate 82, a liquid supply conduit 86 as the liquid distributing means is disposed adjacent and a communicating hole 87 corresponding to each liquid reservoir 63 is bored there. The liquid supply conduit 86 and the communicating hole 87 may be provided on the side of the liquid receiver 65 to supply liquid oxygen LO to each liquid receiver 65. A weir 88 is cut in the side wall of the end portion of the liquid receiver 65, so as to permit a given amount of liquid oxygen LO to flow downward to prevent precipitation of a hydrocarbon such as acetylene as well as to control the amount of liquid in each block constant. As the condenser-evaporator 80 is constituted in the above manner, the individual fluid chambers 56 and 57 or the liquid return passage 85 and the liquid reservoir 63 or the liquid receiver 65 can easily and integrally be produced by, for example, aluminum brazing, which prevents conduits, gutters or the like from being exposed. It is therefore easy to handle. A condenser-evaporator 90 shown in Figs. 6 to 9 has an oxygen chamber 56 in which a first liquid passage 61a inclining upward from one side of the condenser-evaporator to the other side and a second liquid passage 61b inclining in the opposite direction to the first liquid passage 61a, upward from the other side of the condenser-evaporator to said one side, are formed. The first liquid passages 61a rising rightward in Fig. 6 are collectively located at one side (upper half in Fig. 7) of the condenser-evaporator 90 in the width direction (upward direction in Fig. 7), and the second liquid passages 61b rising leftward in Fig. 6 are collectively located at the other side (lower half in Fig. 7). These liquid passages 61a and 61b are normally formed by inclining a corrugated heat exchanger fin. Partition rods 81 slightly thicker than the heat exchanger plate are placed at the proper intervals at part of the liquid passages 61a and 61b to define passage blocks. A plurality of liquid reservoirs 63 and liquid receivers 65 communicating with the liquid passages 61a and 61b are provided in up-and-down multiple stages at the end portion of the thus constituted oxygen chamber 56. The liquid reservoirs 63 and liquid receivers 65 are provided for a plurality of liquid passages 61a and 61b in the vertical direction as one passage block, and are formed by a single bottom plate 91 bent to be disposed at a given location and a wall plate 92 provided to enclose the three sides of the bottom plate 91. The liquid reservoirs 63 and liquid receivers 65 communicate with each other at the upper surface of the bottom plate 91, with that attaching level of the plate 91 which corresponds to the liquid receiver 65 being set higher than that level corresponding to the liquid reservoir 63 so as to permit the liquid oxygen LO flowing in the liquid receiver 65 to flow down to the liquid reservoir 63 at the same stage. The liquid oxygen LO to be introduced to the thus constituted oxygen chamber 56 is supplied through the communicating hole 87 to the liquid reservoir 63 on the side of the first liquid passage 61a from the liquid supply conduit 86, and flows in this passage 61a to be subjected to heat exchange with nitrogen gas GN in the adjoining nitrogen chamber 57, so that part of the liquid oxygen is evaporated to be oxygen gas GO. The liquid oxygen LO which has not been evaporated flows out, accompanied with the oxygen gas GO, from the outlet of the first liquid passage 61a, and flows into the liquid receiver 65 at the end portion of this passage 61a. The liquid oxygen flowed in the liquid receiver 65 flows over the bottom plate 91 and down to the liquid reservoir 63 of the adjoining second liquid passage 61b to be introduced in this passage 61b from the liquid reservoir 63. At this time, part of the liquid oxygen LO overflows the weir 88 down to the liquid reservoir 63 or liquid receiver 65 at a lower stage or to the lower portion of t the condenser-evaporator 90. That is, the liquid oxygen LO supplied to the liquid reservoir 63 from the liquid supply conduit 86 is introduced to the first liquid passage 61a from the liquid reservoir 63, reaches the liquid receiver 65 while partly being evaporated, flows down from the liquid receiver 65 to the liquid reservoir 63 of the second liquid passage 61b to be introduced into the passage 61b, then returns to the original liquid reservoir 63 from the liquid receiver 65 of the second liquid passage 61b, and circulates in this path. Accordingly, that amount of liquid oxygen LO which equals the amount evaporated in individual passages 61a and 61b and the amount overflowing from the weir 88, is supplemented to the liquid reservoir 63 from the liquid supply conduit 86. As the liquid oxygen LO circulates the liquid passages 61a and 61b at the same stage through the liquid receiver 65 and liquid reservoir 63 while being partly evaporated in the passages 61a and 61b, it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of liquid oxygen flowing downward of the condenser-evaporator 90. Although, according to this embodiment, the individual upper and lower liquid reservoirs 63 and liquid receivers 65 are of the same size and adjoining liquid reservoir 63 and liquid receiver 65 communicate with each other over the bottom plate 91, the sizes of the liquid reservoirs 63 and liquid receivers 65 may be changed along to up-and-down direction or the liquid reservoirs 63 and liquid receivers 65 may be shaped into independent boxes, both being connected by gutters or conduits which serve as communicating passages for liquid supply. Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate the fifth embodiment in which multiple condenser-evaporator blocks are integrally arranged to constitute a condenser-evaporator. A plurality of liquid reservoirs 63 are provided in up-and-down multiple stages between the individual condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d of this condenser-evaporator 100. In Fig. 10, this liquid reservoir 63 serves as a liquid supplying liquid reservoir for the condenser-evaporator block located on the left side of the liquid reservoir 63, and serves as a liquid receiver for the condenser-evaporator block located on its right side as well as serves as a liquid supply passage. To each liquid reservoir 63 is connected a manifold 67 through a communicating conduit 66, so that liquid oxygen LO retained in a liquid oxygen receiver 101 provided at the upper portion of the condenser-evaporator 100 is supplied to each liquid reservoir 63 via the communicating with conduit 66. The liquid oxygen LO to be introduced to the thus formed oxygen chamber 56 is supplied to each liquid reservoir 63 from the manifold 67 and flows into each liquid passage 61. The liquid oxygen LO which has not been evaporated in the liquid passage 61 flows out from the associated outlet 64, accompanied by the oxygen gas GO, and flows down to the liquid reservoirs 63 provided between the adjoining condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d at the next stage. Most of the liquid oxygen LO flowed down to the liquid reservoirs 63 flows together with the liquid oxygen LO supplied from the manifold 67 into the liquid passage 61 of the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d at the next stage, though part of it overflows downward of the condenser-evaporator 100. As described above, while being partly evaporated in the liquid passages 61 of the individual condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d, the liquid oxygen LO flows into the individual liquid passages 61 of the condenser-evaporator block at the next stage. If the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d are linearly arranged, the liquid oxygen LO going out from the liquid passages 61 of the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d at the last stage can be returned and recycled to the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d of the first stage by providing gutters or conduits between the liquid receivers provided at the outlets 64 of the individual liquid passages 61 of the last stage condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d and the liquid reservoirs of the first stage condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d. Accordingly, as described above, excess liquid oxygen LO supplied to each liquid passage 61 and flowing out from the passage is sequentially supplied to the adjoining liquid passages 61 of the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d at the same stage, thus significantly reducing the amount of liquid oxygen flowing downward of the condenser-evaporator 100. By dividing the condenser-evaporator 100 into a plurality of condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d to shorten each liquid passage 61, separation of evaporated oxygen gas GO and liquid oxygen LO can be efficiently executed, thus improving the heat exchanging efficiency. Although, according to this embodiment, the liquid reservoirs 63 of the individual condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d have the same level and the same size and a liquid is sequentially supplied to the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d at the next stage, the vertical levels or sizes of the individual liquid reservoirs 63 may be changed. More specifically as shown in Fig. 11, if the weirs of the upper liquid reservoirs 63 overhang the lower liquid reservoirs 63 to cause the overflowed liquid oxygen LO from the weir to flow down directly to the bottom of the upper column, concentration of acetylene can be decreased. Further, liquid reservoirs and liquid receivers may be provided at both sides of each of the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d, and be connected together by gutters or conduits serving as liquid supply passages. Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate one example in which the condenser-evaporator 100 with the above structure is assembled into a cylindrical vessel, for example, a rectifier bottom. In this condenser-evaporator 100, four condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d constituted in substantially the same manner as is done in the above embodiment, are arranged on the same circumference in an upper column 102 of the rectifier, and are connected by wide gutters 103 serving as liquid supply passages. The liquid oxygen LO flowed out from the outlet 64 of the liquid passage 61 of each of the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d is received at the liquid receiver 65, then is guided by the gutter 103 to the liquid reservoir 63 of each of the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d at the next stage. A weir 88 is cut in the side wall of the liquid reservoir 63, so that excess liquid oxygen LO supplied to the liquid reservoir flows down to the liquid reservoir 63 at the next stage from this weir 88. Therefore, the liquid oxygen LO supplied through a communicating conduit 66 from a manifold 67 flows counterclockwise in Fig. 12 while being partly evaporated in the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d, and partly flows as liquid oxygen for preventing precipitation of a hydrocarbon sequentially downward of the condenser-evaporator 100 via lower liquid reservoirs 63. The nitrogen gas GN for heat exchange with the liquid oxygen LO is introduced to the nitrogen chamber 57 from a nitrogen gas elevating conduit 104 and distributing conduit 105 provided at the center portion of the upper column 102 through an inlet header 58 provided at the top of each of the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d, and is condensed and led out from an outlet header (not shown). Arranging the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d on the same circumference can facilitate circulation of liquid oxygen LO. Further, since the condenser-evaporator blocks 100a, 100b, 100c and 100d having the same structure can be arranged, assembling can be easily done. Figs. 14 through 18 illustrate the sixth embodiment of this invention. This condenser-evaporator 110 has a preferable structure such that heat exchanger plates 60 are arranged up-and-down in multiple stages as described earlier to form liquid passages 61 and a nitrogen chamber 57 is formed through partitions 55 adjacent to an oxygen chamber 56 designed to introduce liquid oxygen LO to the passages 61 from liquid reservoirs 63 located at one side thereof. Each nitrogen chamber 57 is closed all around by slant bars 51 and 52 and side bars 53 and 54, and has heat exchanger plates 111 such as corrugation fins disposed therein to define many condensing passages 112 as gas passages open at both ends, with a gas guide passage 113 and discharge passage 114 being provided at respective sides of the condensing passages 112. In order to lead out liquid nitrogen LN condensed in the condensing passage 112, the passage 112 has a proper downward inclination with respect to the horizontal direction extending from the gas guide passage 113 to the discharge passage 114. An inlet header 58 and an outlet header 59 are coupled respectively to the gas guide passage 113 and discharge passage 114 at both sides of the nitrogen chamber 57 to introduce nitrogen gas GN into the chamber 57 and discharge liquid nitrogen LN condensed in the condensing passage 112. The nitrogen gas GN is introduced to the individual condensing passages 112 through the inlet header 58 and gas guide passage 113. The nitrogen gas GN led to the condensing passages 112 is heat-exchanged with liquid oxygen LO in the adjoining oxygen chamber 56 and is condensed to be liquid nitrogen LN. This liquid nitrogen LN then flows down toward the discharge passage 114 due to the downward inclination of the condensing passages 112, and is discharged through the outlet header 59 from the discharge passage 114. Non-condensed gas GX in the nitrogen gas GN is discharged from a purge nozzle 115 provided at the top of the discharge passage 114. As many condensing passages 112 inclined downward are formed in the nitrogen chamber 57 to lead nitrogen gas GN from one end of each condensing passage 112 and discharge it from the other end, the amounts of nitrogen gas to be introduced into each condensing passage 112 arranged in the up-and-down direction in the nitrogen chamber 57 can be made the same and the amounts of nitrogen to be condensed in the passages 112 can be made substantially the same from the uppermost to the lowermost condensing passage 112. The film heat transfer coefficients in the vertical direction of the condenser-evaporator 110 can therefore be made substantially the same anywhere. Accordingly, sufficient heat exchange with the liquid oxygen LO at the lower portion of the oxygen chamber 56 is possible, thus providing the maximum heat exchanging performance by condensation/evaporation. Particularly, in a large and tall condenser-evaporator, the condensing passage 112 can be shorten significantly as compared with the prior art, and the liquid film of liquid nitrogen LN formed in each condensing passage 112 close to the discharge passage 114 can be made thinner, thus minimizing a reduction in heat exchanging performance. In addition, since the cross section and the opening area of the condensing passage 112 can be increased, the amount of condensation and fluid resistance per area of the condensing passage decrease, thereby further improving the heat exchanging efficiency. Also, if a liquid dropper which is a protruding portion of the heat exchanger plate 111 is provided at part of the open end of the condensing passage 112 open to the discharge passage 114, the liquid nitrogen LN flowing down from the upper condensing passage 112 can be guided to the discharge passage 114, thereby preventing the open end of the lower condensing passage 112 from being sealed by a liquid film. The gas guide passage 113 and discharge passage 114 may be provided with a reinforcing member as needed for improving the withstand pressure characteristic; the material and the location should be selected in consideration of providing a lower gas or liquid flow resistance, uniform distribution of gas, liquid discharging property, etc. The oxygen chamber 56 may have a structure similar to those of the previous embodiments, and the liquid supplying mechanism and liquid return mechanism are not restricted to those shown in Figs. 14 through 18, but may be replaced with those employed in the previous embodiments. Constituting the oxygen chamber 56 and nitrogen chamber 57 in the above manner can minimize a boiling point elevation of liquid oxygen LO due to liquid head pressure on the side of the oxygen chamber 56 as well as a reduction in heat exchanging characteristic due to an increase in the liquid film thickness on the side of the nitrogen chamber 57. Accordingly, the entire heat exchanging area of the condenser-evaporator 110 can be utilized for boiling and condensation of heat transfer with a high heat exchange characteristic. Since the heat exchanging characteristic in the up-and-down direction can be set substantially the same, the height of the condenser-evaporator 10 can be freely set, so that the performance can be increased by increasing the height, thus assuring a large double column rectifier without increasing the diameter of the vessel in which the condenser-evaporator is arranged. Further, since improving the heat exchanging characteristic can decrease the temperature difference between the fluid on the condensation side and the fluid on the evaporation side, thus reducing the pressure of a lower column or the consumption of power of a compressor for compressing a raw gas.

Claims: A condenser-evaporator in which first fluid chambers (56) and second fluid chambers (57) are alternately formed by multiple vertical partitions (55) and a liquid in said first fluid chambers (56) is heat-exchanged with a fluid in said second fluid chambers (57), comprising a plurality of heat exchanger plates (60) which are arranged in up-and-down multiple stages in said first fluid chambers (56) to form a plurality of liquid passages (61) having one end (64) open, and a plurality of liquid reservoirs (63) communicating with said liquid passages (61) and provided in up-and-down multiple stages on a side of the other end of said liquid passages (61), said liquid reservoirs (63) having a top open and a liquid is introduced into said liquid passages (61) for heat exchange while being supplied to said liquid reservoirs (63) in each stage, characterized in that a plurality of liquid receivers (65) for receiving a liquid flowing down from said open ends (64) of said liquid passages (61) are provided separately from said liquid reservoirs (63) in up-and-down multiple stages, and a liquid return passage (69, 85, 103) is provided for returning a liquid in said liquid receivers (65) to said liquid reservoirs (63). The condenser-evaporator according to claim 1, characterized in that said liquid passages (61) have an upward inclination going from one end of the side of said liquid reservoirs (63) towards a tip of the other end on the open side. The condenser-evaporator according to claim 2, characterized in that said liquid reservoirs (63) and receivers (65) are provided for a plurality of liquid passages (61) sequentially provided in an up-and-down direction as one passage block. The condenser-evaporator according to claims 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that a plurality of partition rods (81) are provided in parallel to said heat exchanger plates (60) for predetermined intervals of said heat exchanger plates (60) disposed in said first fluid chambers (56) to separate said liquid passages (61) into passage blocks including a plurality of passages (61) in a vertical direction, liquid reservoirs (63) and/or liquid receivers (65) are provided for each of said passage blocks, and bottom plates (63a, 65a) of said liquid reservoirs (63) and/or liquid receivers (65) are connected to end portions of said partition rods (81). The condenser-evaporator according to claims 3 or 4, characterized in that a liquid passage 69 located at an upper portion in said each passage block serves as a return passage for returning a liquid from said liquid receivers (65) to said liquid reservoirs (63). The condenser-evaporator according to claim 5, characterized in that said return passage is a conduit (69) or a gutter (103) with a part open upward for connecting said liquid receivers (65) and said liquid reservoirs (63). The condenser-evaporator according to one of the claims 5 and 6, characterized in that said return passage is formed between said first fluid chambers (56) or in a chamber formed adjacent to an outside of an outermost one of said first fluid chambers (56), by a passage defined by disposing a partition rod (81) for providing communication between the bottom plate (65a) of said liquid receiver (65) and that (63a) of said liquid reservoir (63). The condenser-evaporator according to one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a liquid supply conduit (86) is disposed along said liquid reservoirs (63) and/or liquid receivers (65) provided in up-and-down multiple stages, and said liquid supply conduit (86) communicates with said liquid reservoirs (63) and/or said liquid receivers (65) through liquid supply holes (87) formed in side walls of said liquid reservoirs (63) and/or liquid receivers (65). The condenser-evaporator according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of heat exchanger plates (60) are arranged in up-and-down multiple stages in said first fluid chambers (56) to form first liquid passages (61a) having an upward inclination from one end of said condenser-evaporator to the other end thereof and second liquid passages (61b) having an inclination rising from said other end of said condenser-evaporator to said one end thereof in an opposite direction to that of said inclination of said first liquid passages (61a), a plurality of liquid reservoirs (63) communicating with individual liquid passages and having a top open are provided in up-and-down multiple stages at lower ends of said first and second liquid passages (61a, 61b), a plurality of liquid receivers (65) communicating with individual liquid passages and having a top open are provided in up-and-down multiple stages at upper ends of said first and second liquid passages (61a, 61b), and a liquid flowing down in said liquid receivers (65) from one end of said liquid passages (61a, 61b) is supplied to said liquid reservoir (63) of the other liquid passages (61a, 61b). The condenser-evaporator according to claim 9, characterized in that said first liquid passages (61a) and said second liquid passages (61b) are grouped into a first liquid passage group and a second liquid passage group. The condenser-evaporator as claimed in claim 1, characterized by a plurality of condenser-evaporator blocks (100a-100d) for introducing a liquid in said liquid passages (61) while supplying said liquids to said liquid reservoirs (63) at individual stages to be heat-exchanged with a fluid in said second fluid chambers; a plurality of liquid receivers (63) for each block communicating with individual liquid passages (61) and provided in up-and-down multiple stages at the other end side of said liquid passages (61), for receiving a liquid flowing down from one end of said liquid passages (61); and a liquid supply passage for permitting a liquid to flow from said liquid receivers (63) of one block to said liquid reservoirs (63) of another condenser-evaporator block (100a-100d). The condenser-evaporator according to claim 11, characterized in that said condenser-evaporator blocks (100a-100d) are arranged on the same circumference. The condenser-evaporator as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of heat exchanger plates are disposed in said second fluid chambers (57) in such a way as to have a downward inclination with respect to a flowing direction of a gas fluid to thereby form a plurality of gas passages, and a gas guide passage is provided close to an inlet side of said gas passages, and a discharge passage is provided close to an outlet side of said gas passages. The condenser-evaporator according to claim 1, characterized in that discharge passages for evaporation gas and non-evaporated liquid are provided close to an outlet end (64) of said liquid passages (61) on said open side.

Inventors: FUJITA, IKUO,JAPAN OXYGEN CO., LTD., ISHII, HIROSHI,JAPAN OXYGEN CO., LTD., KANEKO, TERUJI,JAPAN OXYGEN CO., LTD.,4-320, KURA, TOMIO,JAPAN OXYGEN CO., LTD., MATSUOKA, TAKASHI,JAPAN OXYGEN CO., LTD., OHKUBO, YOSHITOYO,JAPAN OXYGEN CO., LTD., TSUCHIYA, HIROO,JAPAN OXYGEN CO., LTD.
Applicants: JAPAN OXYGEN CO. LTD.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: F28D9
IPC codes: F25J3, B01D5, B01D1