US1015800A - Process of liquefying air and separating it into its elements. - Google Patents

Description

E. JKNBOKE.

PROCESS OF LIQUEFYING AIR AND SEPARATING IT INTO ITS ELEMENTS.

APPLIOATION FILED OUT. 27, 1909..

. 1 00 7 Patented Jan.,30,1912.

PATENT. OFF

Enns'r million, 025' HANOVER, amma.

PROCESS OF LI UEEYING AIR AND s rA Ari-Ne IT rirro rrs ELEMENrs.

, ject of the German Emperor, residing at 31 Ferdinand Wallbrech's'trasse, Hanover, many, have invented certain new and useful ,Improvements in Processes for a Continuous Reproduction of Fluid Air and for. a

Continuous i Separation of. the Same into edients, of which the following is a spec1 cation.

The invention relates to a process for liquefying air andseparating it into its elements.-

bject of the invention is, to provide a more satisfactory process for the purpose stated than any of the previously known processes; and, by a continuation offlthe rocess', to separate the elements of the iquid air inan economical and thoroughly practical manner.

The basic principle of the invention'is to direct cold compressed air into indirect contact with liquid (which is rich in oxygen) thereby causing the liquid to boil and the air to condense and liquefy.

In carrying the invention into effect, it 1s preferable to employ coils of pipe, or. the equivalent, wherebya suflicient length of the pi e may be contained in tanks or vessels 0 convenient and economical size and shape.

, When air, under a given heavy pressure is bein forced through suflicientl coldcoils of pipe, has been brought tothe oiling teml as perature of liquid airand oxygen, a relatively slight extra pressure vwill cause the air to liquefy. While thus being converted from the gaseous to a liquid state, the heat given off by compressed air, in passing from the aseous to the liquid state, will cause the liquid air in the vessel to boil, and part of such liquid airwill pass off as vapor. o nitrogen is lower gen than oxygen, sothat the ercenta' e of oxygen left n the boiling liquid air will 'be increased. The liquid air, having thus been obtained, passesfrom the pipes into decomosing a paratus, which will hereinafter e descri ed, for the purpose of elucidatein the process.

he relatively ments of the decomposed liquid air is utilized in reducing the temperature of the cbm- Gerlow temperature of theele- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J an. 30, 1912. Application filed October 27, 1909. Serial No. 524,998. 4

gases, used for cooling, be-

at which the air was introduced. I The liquid air thus obtained is almost the, same in lowing, and as lllustrated in the accompanyin}; drawing, in which the figure is a dia- Y grammatic vertical sectional view of the preferred form of apparatus. I The difierent partstof the apparatus Wlll aring onthe drawings; a being the boil- -1 ng vessel, containing liquid, rich in oxygen. 1& is a vesselcontaimng'almost pure oxygen. 1) is an outlet cock forcontrolling the communication between said vessels. Coils of pipe 9 and 2 act as vapor outlets forthe vessels at an a respectively; the first, com- -municating directly and the latter, indirectly through the portions of pipeh, h, coils f or f and the chamber 0 Through the coils q, 2 extend smaller pipes rf and a respective y. These pipes communicate with an air supply pipe t, and extend through the said vessel a and a in the form of coils r and '8 a portion of their length being coiled within the vessel. The end of each air supply pipe is connected to .a receiving vessel p, which communicates with a primary charging vessel p, through the pipe u, to which is fixed a' pressure age '0, and a pressure regulating cocl; b. y means of this cock 6 only a relatlvely small port, for the entr of liquid a1r 'mto the vessel p is provide and it may be adjusted accor ing to the pressure desired to be sustained in the ipes t and u. Theliquid air passes thr'oug the cock 1) into the vessel p'- under hi h pressure; the pressurebemg reduced in t e vessel p, a small portion of the liquid air is vaporlzed and passes oil throu h the coiled pipe w. The pipe 14 enters t e pipe 'w throug h'a side thereof, anti pressed air, as a preliminary step in. the process of liquefying the air. During this i tus at, approximately the same'temperature I preferabl I employ the apparatus described in the to .be referred to by reference characters apf enters through a portion of the coil thereof,

and thence out through the side of the pipe w and connects with the cock."-bland thence enters the vessel p. The pipes .14 and w, in the relation described, constitutesa heat exchanger, whereby the temperature; of the liquid air, entering the vessel p ifs' slightly lowered and the temperature of the gas,

.whence it is admitted through the stop-cock 6, into the vessel a The vessels In and 10 have vapor outlet pipes oand 0 which con-' nect with the suction two-way valve 6 It is obvious that by reversing the posi= tions of the valves 12 and b, the priming liquid-gravitates through the cooling vessel 70' instead. of through the vessel is. These vessels is and k are provided with pressure gages'mand with floats e" which constitute depth gages. I

It may be well to consider the operation of the apparatus in connection with the process. Let it be assumed-that, as an initial step, the. apparatus has been primed, through thepipe w, the valves 6* and b being in the opposite positions to those shown pipe 0 through the in the drawing, each of the vessels is and 10 being partiall filled with liquid air, and that as a secon ary step in the operation, their positions have been reversed to the positions shown. Atmospheric air is next mtroduced, under pressure, throu h the pipe 2, and suction means (not shown is applied to the pipe 0 for a purpose hereinafter explained. Thecompressed air from the pipe t, in passin through the pipes r and s and coilsn" an 8", causes the liquid in the vessels a and a to boil; and the oxygen gas from the vessel a passes out through the pipe 9 which surrounds the pi e 8 and by its contact therewith, lowers t e temperature of the air therein and pre ares it for the lower temperature of the liquid in the vessel at, The li uid, surrounding the coil of pipe as causes t e compressed air therein to condense, liquefy and precipitate in'the vessel p whence it is elevated through the pipe u and cock 5 and enters the vessel.

and thereby continuall adds to the primary working charge 0 the apparatus; the elevation of the liquid being effected by means of the air pressure through the pipes t and r and s. The relatively high temperature of the air, being conducted through the coil 7, causes the liquid in thevessel a to boil the more.

By reason of the partial eva oration which takes place in vessels is an k, the

condensation of the gases an in the liquid. This vapor, as. it passes through the coil f or 1" will tend to con-.

dense, owin to "the very low temperature of the liqui air in vessel is and k which is being evaporated at low ressure. The vapor liquefied in coil f or 2 falls'into the trap 72., where, owing to the higher temperature, some of the liquid is again evaporated and passes ofi through the pipe k coil g and pipe t; but the major portion of the liquid reenters the boiling vessel a, through the chamber 0 while the nitrous gas rises in the chamber h and passes out through the pipe 72. and g; and in passing through this coil g it lowers the temperature of the air in the pipe r, by its contact the pipe 1*, and its precipitation into the ing'the'liquidis greater than in atmospheric vessel fp whence it continually passes (as ore hereto explained), into the vessel 12' and thence to the cooling vessel k. From this vessel it is admitted into the vessel a.

through the two-way valve 6', this valve being so regulated that the quantity of liquid leaving the vessel is is less than the quantity entering it. Therefore, the quantity of liquid continually increases in the vessel is while it continually decreases inthe vessel k cons uent to evaporation caused by the suction t rough the pipes 0 and 0. The object of this suction is to relieve ressure on, and reduce the temperature 0 the liquid in the vessel k thereb assisting the (i precipitation of the liquid in the 'coils f When the liqu-id in the'two cooling vessels is and 70 has reached the respective levels shown in the drawing, itbecomes necessary to reverse the positions of the two-wa valves, and there'- by divertthe flow o gases and liquid, whereupon, the gases passing through the pipe at will enter the coil f instead of the coil 7; and the li uid from the vessel p will enter the cooling vessel k instead of la. The process will thus be interrupted only during the operation of reversing the valves and will then be resumed in substantially the same rotation as described in the foregoing.

I'claim- A process of liquefying air and separatquantity of the liquid air so produced into Y ing a part of said liquid air to evaporate at In testimony whereof, I aflix my signaindirect thermal contact with the vapors .tial condensation of the vap to F given ofi by the liquid rich in oxygen, caus- 'uid rich in oxygen.- 10

less than atmospheric pressure, thus 'caustllre in' he presence of two witnesses.

' ing a part of the vaporsgiven ofi by the ERNST JANECKE.

liquid rich in oxygen to re1iquefy,- and then Witnesses: adding the part of the liquid air not evap- E. T. HUTQHINGS, orated'and the liquid obtained by the parv R. M.-J. THOMPSON.

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