Multistage bath condenser-reboiler and cryogenic air separation unit using the same
A multistage bath condenser-reboiler includes a heat exchange core including a heat exchange section formed by adjacently stacking an evaporation passage through which liquid to be evaporated flows, and which is partitioned into a plurality of stages, and a condensation passage through which gas is condensed by heat exchange with the liquid; a liquid reservoir which is configured to store liquid which is supplied into the evaporation passage or flowed out from the evaporation passage; and a liquid communication passage which is configured to flow the liquid in the liquid reservoir from an upper liquid reservoir into a lower liquid reservoir; and the liquid reservoir is provided for each evaporation passage partitioned into the plurality of stages on at least one side surface in a width direction of the heat exchanger core. The condensation passage is divided at least two stages.
1 . A multistage bath condenser-reboiler, comprising:
only a single heat exchange core comprising a heat exchange section formed by adjacently stacking an evaporation passage through which a liquid to be evaporated flows, which is partitioned into a plurality of stages, and formed by plates and fins, and a condensation passage through which a gas is condensed by heat exchange with the liquid, and formed by plates and fins;
a liquid reservoir configured to store the liquid which is supplied into each stage of the evaporation passage;
a liquid communication passage which is configured to flow the liquid from the liquid reservoir into a lower liquid reservoir;
wherein the liquid reservoir and the lower liquid reservoir are provided to respective stages of the evaporation passage on at least one side surface in a width direction of the heat exchanger core, which is orthogonal to a stacking direction of the condensation passage and the evaporation passage,
wherein the condensation passage is partitioned into at least first and second stages that are independent of one another,
wherein a first plurality of evaporation stages in which evaporated gas does not flow through each other are provided independently to a first stage of the condensation passage;
wherein a second plurality of evaporation stages in which evaporated gas does not flow through each other are provided independently to a second stage of the condensation passage;
wherein evaporated gases of the first plurality of evaporation stages and the second plurality of evaporation stages do not pass through each other such that there is no flow of evaporated gas between the first plurality of evaporation stages and the second plurality of evaporation stages; and
wherein the multistage bath condenser-reboiler further comprises:
a first gas header which is provided at the top of the first stage of the condensation passage to supply the gas into the first stage of the condensation passage;
a second gas header which is provided at the top of the second stage of the condensation passage to supply the gas into the second stage of the condensation passage;
first condensation inlet flow channels which introduce the gas supplied in the first gas header into the first stage of the condensation passage;
second condensation inlet flow channels which introduce the gas supplied in the second gas header into the second stage of the condensation passage;
a first liquid header which is provided at the bottom of the first stage of the condensation passage, and only collects a liquid generated by condensation of the gas in the first stage of the condensation passage,
a second liquid header which is provided at the bottom of the second stage of the condensation passage, and only collects a liquid generated by condensation of the gas in the second stage of the condensation passage,
first condensation outlet flow channels which flow out the liquid generated by condensation into the first liquid header; and
second condensation outlet flow channels which flow out the liquid generated by condensation into the second liquid header.
2 . The multistage bath condenser-reboiler according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid communication passage is provided on at least one side surface in a stacking direction of the heat exchange core.
3 . A cryogenic air separation unit comprising the multistage bath condenser-reboiler according to claim 1 .