Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D53/00—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols
  • B01D53/34—Chemical or biological purification of waste gases
  • B01D53/74—General processes for purification of waste gases; Apparatus or devices specially adapted therefor

Definitions

• a conventional purification assembly and one or more other fluid devices are linearly mounted on a surface of a long, narrow manifold installed in the tubing line.
• These other fluid devices may include a manual valve, a regulator, a transducer, a pressure valve, a flow meter, etc.
• Each fluid device may include an inlet port and an outlet port.
• the manifold may include a number of fluid conduits, each of which may be generally V-shaped to provide fluid communication between the inlet port of one fluid device and the outlet port of another fluid device, allowing the fluid to flow from one fluid device to the other fluid device.
• One of the problems associated with the conventional methods of installing fluid devices in the tubing line is that the fluid devices occupy a large segment of the tubing line and/or a large space envelope because the fluid devices are arranged linearly along a manifold installed in the tubing line. Thus, it may be difficult to accommodate a long manifold in the tubing line where the space requirement is stringent, such as in the manufacture of semiconductors.
• the block has a mounting surface arranged to receive the fluid device.
• the purification element is arranged to purify gases flowing to or from the fluid device.
• an assembly for processing gases includes a purification assembly, a fluid device, and a manifold.
• the purification assembly is disposed between the fluid device and the manifold.
• a method for purifying gas used in the manufacture of semiconductors includes directing gas through a purification element disposed in a block placed between a fluid device and a manifold.
• Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of a purification assembly according to the present invention.
• the pieces may each include one or more facing surfaces.
• a facing surface of one piece may be mounted to a facing surface of at least one other piece.
• each of the two pieces 50, 60 has a single facing surface 54, 64.
• the inlet flow path of the purification assembly provides fluid communication between the inlet port of the fluid device and a fluid conduit of the manifold
• the outlet flow path of the purification assembly provides fluid communication between the outlet port of the fluid device and another fluid conduit of the manifold.
• each of the inlet and outlet flow paths extends between the mounting surface facing the fluid device and the mounting surface facing the manifold.
• the inlet and outlet flow paths may be variously configured. In the exemplary embodiment 10 shown Figure 1, the inlet flow path
• the inlet or outlet flow path 22, 24 may have, for example, any other suitable configuration, such as an L-shaped or V-shaped configuration.
• the inlet and outlet flow paths may be placed at any suitable location while in other embodiments, the positions of the flow path openings on the mounting surfaces are preferably standardized to accommodate openings on the manifold and those on the fluid device.
• the cavity 30 is provided to contain the purification element and may have a configuration similar to that of the purification element. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, for example, the cavity 30, similar to the purification element 40, has a generally disk-shaped configuration.
• the cavity may have any suitable configuration, including an irregular configuration or a regular configuration, such as a cylindrical, elliptical, disk-shaped or boxy configuration.
• each of the flow path openings 29 may include a groove or recess 28 to accommodate a seal.
• the seals prevent leakage between the block and the fluid device and between the block and the manifold.
• the block may have any suitable configuration, including an irregular configuration or a regular configuration, such as a cylindrical, disk-shaped or boxy configuration.
• the block may comprise a single unitary or integral block, or it may comprise a plurality of pieces attachable to one another to form the block.
• the block 320 has a generally boxy configuration and includes a single unitary or integral piece.
• the inlet and outlet flow paths 322, 324 may be variously configured. In Figure 4, both the inlet and outlet flow paths 322, 324 have a straight-line configuration and are substantially parallel to each other. Alternatively, the inlet or outlet flow path may have, for example, a V-shaped or L-shaped configuration or any other suitable configuration.
• the purification element may have any suitable configuration.
• Any of these purification media can be formed of a co ⁇ osion resistant metal such as stainless steel or Hastelloy.
• a non-metallic purification element made of a polymer or a ceramic, for example, can also be employed provided that fluid compatibility and operating conditions are appropriate.
• the purification element can be constructed to have specified upstream and downstream surfaces, or it can be constructed such that either surface can be employed as an upstream or downstream surface.
• an asymmetric structure such as a structure having a woven wire mesh support layer on the downstream side of a sintered metal fiber medium and having no support layer or a lighter support layer on the upstream side.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Physical Or Chemical Processes And Apparatus (AREA)
• Filtering Of Dispersed Particles In Gases (AREA)

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Publications (1)

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Citations (2)

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• 1999
  • 1999-06-24 JP JP2000555686A patent/JP2002518167A/ja active Pending
  • 1999-06-24 WO PCT/US1999/014377 patent/WO1999067007A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1999-06-24 US US09/720,203 patent/US6514323B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (2)

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