Abstract:
A gas-liquid separation system and a method thereof are disclosed. The said system comprises a gas-liquid separation conduit and a drain pipe. The drain pipe is curled and one side of the drain pipe connects to the gas-liquid separation conduit and the other side connects to a sewage pipe. According to the U-Tube principle, the gas and the liquid which both are exhausted by a machinery can be separated in the said system and therefore the said system can prevent related processes causing exhaust piping jam.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention is related to improvements on exhaust pipes; in particular, to a gas-liquid separation system and a method for gas-liquid separation, for preventing reactions of exhaust gas and waste liquid that may cause pipe congestion due to crystallization. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    The exhaust gas and waste water released from current semiconductor processes are of acidity or alkalinity. For a general oven-pipe process (e.g. low-pressure chemical vapor deposition process; LPCVD process), during the process, the semiconductor substrate is placed in a LPCVD machinery for execution of required reactions, allowing a thin film to form there on the semiconductor substrate. 
         [0005]    NH 4 Cl by-product is generated in a process of wet oxidation of silicon and nitride for forming a thin layer of silicon nitride on a semiconductor substrate in a LPCVD machinery, which NH 4 Cl being generated in the form of vapor and exhausted through the LPCVD machinery (as shown); however, when upon exhaustion of such a NH 4 Cl by-product to a pipe  1   a  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ), wherein the arrow of dotted line indicates gas and the arrow of solid line indicates liquid, since the temperature of the pipe  1   a  is lower than the NH 4 Cl, thus liquid may be formed therein from vapor; furthermore the pipe  1   a  is not constructed in the form of a straight line, but having multiple turns  2   a.  As a result, the aforementioned two factors may let NH 4 Cl crystallize inside these turns  2   a  of the pipe la, resulting in jamming of NH 4 Cl crystals in the pipe  1   a  (as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 ), which makes NH 4 Cl fail to be successfully exhausted and causes pressure surge due to reduced space, thus negatively affecting the control over entire process pressure and leading to machinery shutdown. In order to re-run the machinery (not shown), engineers need to dissemble the pipe  1   a  to remove the NH 4 Cl crystals, thus significantly consuming valuable cost and time which is becoming a critical issue required to be addressed. 
         [0006]    Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention have considered the above-mentioned improvable defects, and, based on long-term professional experiences, together with thorough researches and observations, in conjunction with applications of fundamental theories, thus proposed the present invention having reasonable design and effectiveness in amelioration of the aforementioned disadvantages. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The objective of the present invention is to provide a gas-liquid separation system and a method for gas-liquid separation, which, through the pipeline structure of gas-liquid separation and the use thereof, enables separation of exhaust gas and waste water, preventing reactions of exhaust gas and waste water that may cause pipe congestion due to crystallization, leading to significant pressure change in the pipes and abnormality in relevant equipments, finally adversely affecting the yield. 
         [0008]    According to the aforementioned objectives, the present invention proposes a gas-liquid separation system, comprising: a gas-liquid separation conduit; and a drain pipe, in which the drain pipe bends as U-tubes, one end of the drain pipe is connected to one end of the gas-liquid separation conduit, and the other end of the drain pipe is connected to a waste water process pipe. 
         [0009]    Preferably, the gas-liquid separation conduit is of T-shaped, in which the gas-liquid separation conduit has a gas-liquid inlet, a gas outlet, and a liquid outlet, and the gas-liquid inlet, gas outlet, and liquid outlet are respectively located at three ends of the gas-liquid separation conduit. 
         [0010]    Preferably, the drain pipe has a pipe body, a water inlet, and a water outlet, in which the water inlet and the water outlet are respectively installed at the two ends of the pipe body, and the pipe body further bends in 360 degrees, allowing the water inlet and the water outlet to face each other in 180 degrees. The present invention alternatively proposes a gas-liquid separation system, comprising: a gas-liquid separation conduit; a valve component, wherein one end of the valve component is connected to the gas-liquid separation conduit; and a drain pipe, in which the drain pipe bends as U-tubes, and one end of the drain pipe is connected to the other end of the valve component, and the other end of the drain pipe is connected to a waste water process pipe. 
         [0011]    Preferably, the drain pipe bends in 360 degrees and presents a nearly circular shape. 
         [0012]    The present invention proposes a gas-liquid separation method for a gas-liquid separation system, wherein the gas-liquid separation system comprises a gas-liquid separation conduit and a drain pipe; herein the gas-liquid separation conduit is T-shaped, and one end thereof is connected to a machinery, the other end is connected to a gas exhaust pipe, the remaining end is connected to one end of the drain pipe, while the other end of the drain pipe is connected to a waste water process pipe. The gas-liquid separation method for the gas-liquid separation system comprises the following steps: (A) guiding the exhaust gas and waste water of the machinery to the gas-liquid separation conduit; (B) allowing the waste water to flow along the gas-liquid separation conduit and to be temporarily stored in the drain pipe, while the temporarily stored waste water blocks the drain pipe to prevent the exhaust gas from passing through the drain pipe; (C) furthermore, the blocking of the exhaust gas enables gas exhaustion to veer via a gas exhaust pipe to achieve gas-liquid separation; (D) upon accumulation of the waste water reaching to a certain amount, allowing the temporarily stored waste water to start flowing into the waste water process pipe coupled to the drain pipe. 
         [0013]    Accordingly, the gas-liquid separation system and a method thereof of the present invention provide the following beneficial effects: 
         [0014]    1. the gas-liquid separation system according to the present invention performs gas-liquid separation by means of structure design, preventing crystallization in the pipes which may cause congestion therein; 
         [0015]    2. the gas-liquid separation method for the gas-liquid separation system according to the present invention employs U-tube principle to use waste water as a gate (i.e. blocking means) for preventing exhaust gas from passing through; 
         [0016]    3. seeing that the gas-liquid separation system according to the present invention may achieve the purpose of gas-liquid separation, exhaust gas and waste liquid do not interact, thus avoiding creation of crystals, facilitating long-term clearance in pipes; 
         [0017]    4. Preventing generation of crystallization, thus eliminating possibility of significant pressure change which may undesirably lead to automatic machinery shutdown. 
         [0018]    In order to further understand the techniques, methods, and effects taken by the present invention to achieve the prescribed objectives, references are made to the subsequent detailed descriptions and append drawings related to the present invention, and it is believed that the objectives, characteristics, and features of the present invention can be thereby thoroughly and concretely appreciated. However, the appended diagrams hereunder are provided simply for the purpose of reference and illustration, rather than being used to restrict the scope of the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a schematic structural diagram of a prior art exhaust pipe system; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  is a picture of crystallization form in a pipe of the prior art exhaust pipe system; 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is a picture of pipeline congestion caused by crystallization of the prior art exhaust pipe system; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a gas-liquid separation system according to the present invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  is another schematic diagram of the gas-liquid separation system according to the present invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of a gas-liquid separation method for a gas-liquid separation system according to the present invention; 
           [0025]      FIG. 7A  is a schematic diagram for a gas-liquid separation system under service state according to the present invention; and 
           [0026]      FIG. 7B  is another schematic diagram for a gas-liquid separation system under service state according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0027]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a gas-liquid separation system according to the present invention comprises a gas-liquid separation conduit  1  and a drain pipe  2  connected to the gas-liquid separation conduit  1 , wherein the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  is a T-shaped pipe, and the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  is further connected to a machinery  3  and a gas exhaust pipe  4 , while the drain pipe  2  is further connected to an waste water process pipe  5 . It should be noted that the number of the machinery  3  can be plural, and the plurality of machineries  3  may be jointly connected to the gas-liquid separation conduit  1 . In the present embodiment, only one machinery  3  is shown. 
         [0028]    The gas-liquid separation conduit  1  has a gas-liquid inlet  11 , a gas outlet  12 , and a liquid outlet  13 , and the gas-liquid inlet  11 , gas outlet  12 , and liquid outlet  13  are respectively installed at three ends of the gas-liquid separation conduit  1 , in which the gas-liquid inlet  11  is further connected to the machinery  3 , thereby allowing the exhaust gas and waste water from the machinery  3  to enter into the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  via the gas-liquid inlet  11  for gas-liquid separation; the gas outlet  12  is connected to the gas exhaust pipe  4 , and the liquid outlet  13  is connected to the drain pipe  2 . It should be noted that the solid line arrow indicates waste water, and dotted line arrow indicates exhaust gas. 
         [0029]    The drain pipe  2  further consists of a pipe body  21 , a water inlet  22 , and a water outlet  23 , in which the two ends of the pipe body  21  are respectively installed with the water inlet  22  and the water outlet  23 , and the pipe body  21  bends in 360 degrees and presents a nearly circular shape, allowing the water inlet  22  to be connected to the liquid outlet  13 ; the water outlet  23  is connected to the waste water process pipe  5 , allowing the water inlet  22  and the water outlet  23  to face each other at 180 degrees in an upside-down vertical fashion. 
         [0030]    By means of aforementioned design, exhaust gas can be guided into the gas exhaust pipe  4  through the gas outlet  12  of the gas-liquid separation conduit  1 , while waste water flows into the pipe body  21  through the water inlet  22  from the liquid outlet  13  of the gas-liquid separation conduit  1 , then entering into the waste water process pipe  5  via the water outlet  23 . It should be noted that the suitable materials for the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  and the drain pipe  2  may be plastic materials, such as Teflon, thus it is possible to prevent damage to the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  and the drain pipe  2 , in case that the exhaust gas and/or waste liquid are corrosive materials. 
         [0031]    Furthermore, refer to  FIG. 5 , to facilitate convenient cleanup of the gas exhaust pipe  4 , it is possible to further place a valve component  6  between the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  and the drain pipe  2 , wherein the valve component  6  has an inlet  61  and an outlet  62 , and the two sides thereof are respectively installed with the inlet  61  and the outlet  62 ; herein the inlet  61  is connected to the liquid outlet  13  of the gas-liquid separation conduit  1 , and the outlet  62  connected to the water inlet  22  of the drain pipe  2 . When it is required to clean up the gas exhaust pipe  4 , users need only to shut down the valve component  6  and let cleaning liquid (not shown) to flow into the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  by way of the gas-liquid inlet  11 ; due to blockage of the valve component  6 , the cleaning liquid (not shown) turns to enter into the gas exhaust pipe  4 , thereby washing off and removing contaminants attached on the interior sidewalls of the gas exhaust pipe  4 . 
         [0032]    Refer now to  FIG. 6 , the present invention provides a gas-liquid separation method for a gas-liquid separation system, comprising the following steps: 
         [0033]    (A) guiding the exhaust gas and waste water of the machinery  3  (please view  FIG. 6  in conjunction with  FIG. 4 ) to the gas-liquid separation conduit  1 ; 
         [0034]    (B) allowing the waste water flowing in the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  to further enter into the drain pipe  2  and to be temporarily stored in the drain pipe  2 , while the temporarily stored waste water blocks the drain pipe  2  thus acting as a gate to prevent the exhaust gas released by the machinery  3  from passing through the drain pipe  2 ; 
         [0035]    (C) subsequently, the blocking of the exhaust gas enables gas exhaustion to veer via the gas exhaust pipe  4  to achieve gas-liquid separation; 
         [0036]    (D) upon accumulation of the waste water reaching a certain amount due continuous exhaustion from the machinery  3 , allowing the temporarily stored waste water in the drain pipe  2  to start flowing into the waste water process pipe  5  along the drain pipe  2 . 
         [0037]    To enable better understanding and implementation of the present invention for those skilled in the art, the details of the method according to the present invention will be described at length. Referring to  FIG. 6  conjunctively with  FIG. 4 , it is noted that the solid line arrow indicates waste water, and dotted line arrow indicates exhaust gas. Initially, the machinery  3  releases exhaust gas and waste water after completion of processes (i.e. LPCVD), and the exhaust gas and waste water are jointly emitted into the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  for further gas-liquid separation. 
         [0038]    The waste water injected into the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  flows along the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  downward due to gravity, passing through the switch  13  of the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  and entering into the water inlet  22  of the drain pipe  2 , then going to the drain pipe  2 . 
         [0039]    As shown in  FIG. 7A , since the drain pipe  2  presents a nearly circular shape in a 360-degree turn, waste water flowing in the drain pipe  2  will be temporarily stored in the drain pipe  2 ; because of U-tube principle, it allows the temporarily stored waste water to block the drain pipe  2 , thus such stored waste water further acts as a gate (i.e. block means) to shut down the drain pipe  2 , preventing forward movement of the exhaust gas, as a result, the exhaust gas will not enter into the drain pipe  2  but veered toward the gas outlet  12  of the gas-liquid separation conduit  1  and into the gas exhaust pipe  4 , thereby achieving the objective of gas-liquid separation, preventing possible reaction between the exhaust gas and waste water to crystallize and result in undesirable pipe congestion. 
         [0040]    Refer now to  FIG. 7B , when the waste water continues to flow into the drain pipe  2  and accumulates to a certain prescribed level (previously referred to as amount), the temporarily stored waste water starts to flow; that is, when the waste water released from the machinery  3  enters into the drain pipe  2 , because of the U-Tube design in the drain pipe  2 , it is possible to allow the liquid surfaces of waste water temporarily stored in the drain pipe  2  to be identical (as shown in  FIG. 7A ), wherein the identical liquid surfaces indicating zero pressure difference; hence the waste water is still temporarily stored in the drain pipe  2 , but as the machinery  3  continues to release waste water into the drain pipe  2 , the liquid surface of the continuously accumulated waste water exceeds the liquid surface of the waste water temporarily stored in the drain pipe  2 . At this moment, there occurs a height difference D between the two liquid surfaces, wherein the height difference D indicating the occurrence of pressure difference, and the pressure at the side with higher liquid surface is greater than the pressure on the other end with lower liquid surface, allowing the waste water to flow from higher pressure end to lower pressure end, causing the waste water temporarily stored in the drain pipe  2  to start flowing into the waste water process pipe  5 . Therefore, such a prescribed extent indicates the liquid surface of the continuously accumulated waste water exceeds the liquid surface of waste water temporarily stored in the drain pipe  2 ; upon appearance of a difference in height, the temporarily stored waste water then starts flowing into the waste water process pipe  5  for further process. 
         [0041]    The gas-liquid separation system and a method thereof according to the present invention provide the following beneficial effects: 
         [0042]    1. the gas-liquid separation system according to the present invention performs gas-liquid separation by means of structure design, preventing crystallization in the pipes which may cause congestion therein; 
         [0043]    2. the gas-liquid separation method for the gas-liquid separation system according to the present invention employs U-tube principle to use waste water as a gate (i.e. blocking means) for preventing exhaust gas from passing through; 
         [0044]    3. seeing that the gas-liquid separation system according to the present invention may achieve the purpose of gas-liquid separation, exhaust gas and waste liquid do not interact, thus avoiding creation of crystals, facilitating long-term clearance in pipes; 
         [0045]    4. Preventing generation of crystallization, thus eliminating possibility of significant pressure change which may undesirably lead to automatic machinery shutdown. 
         [0046]    The drawings and detailed descriptions set forth supra simply illustrate the embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art may make various changes or improvements based on the aforementioned disclosure, and all such changes or improvements are deemed to conform to the spirit of the present invention and accordingly should be included in the scope of the present invention delineated by the claimed attached hereunder.