Vertical heat exchanger configuration for LNG facility
원문보기
IPC분류정보
국가/구분
United States(US) Patent
등록
국제특허분류(IPC7판)
F25J-001/00
F28D-007/10
출원번호
US-0972821
(2004-10-25)
등록번호
US-7266976
(2007-09-11)
발명자
/ 주소
Eaton,Anthony P.
Martinez,Bobby D.
Christian,Michael
출원인 / 주소
ConocoPhillips Company
대리인 / 주소
Hovey Williams LLP
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
9인용 특허 :
11
초록▼
LNG facility employing one or more vertical core-in-kettle heat exchangers to cool natural gas via indirect heat exchange with a refrigerant. The vertical core-in-kettle heat exchangers save plot space and can be use to reduce the size of cold boxes employed in the LNG facility. In addition, vertic
LNG facility employing one or more vertical core-in-kettle heat exchangers to cool natural gas via indirect heat exchange with a refrigerant. The vertical core-in-kettle heat exchangers save plot space and can be use to reduce the size of cold boxes employed in the LNG facility. In addition, vertical core-in-kettle heat exchangers can exhibit enhanced heat transfer efficiency due to improved refrigerant access to the core, improved refrigerant circulation around the core, and/or improved vapor/liquid disengagement above the core.
대표청구항▼
What is claimed is: 1. A method of transferring heat from a refrigerant to a cooled fluid, said method comprising: (a) introducing the refrigerant into an internal volume defined within a shell, said internal volume having a height-to-width ratio greater than 1; (b) introducing the cooled fluid int
What is claimed is: 1. A method of transferring heat from a refrigerant to a cooled fluid, said method comprising: (a) introducing the refrigerant into an internal volume defined within a shell, said internal volume having a height-to-width ratio greater than 1; (b) introducing the cooled fluid into a plate-fin core disposed within the internal volume of the shell; (c) transferring heat from the cooled fluid in the core to the refrigerant in the shell via indirect heat exchange; and (d) withdrawing a predominantly liquid stream of the refrigerant from a liquid outlet defined in the shell at a lower elevation than the bottom of the core, wherein the ratio of the vertical distance between the bottom of the core and the liquid outlet to the maximum height of the internal volume is greater than about 0.15, said core being spaced from the top and bottom of the shell, said core defining a plurality of generally upwardly extending shell-side flow passageways for receiving said refrigerant, each of said passageways defining a downwardly facing lower refrigerant inlet and an upwardly facing upper refrigerant outlet. 2. The method according to claim 1, said height-to-width ratio being at least about 1.25. 3. The method according to claim 1, step (c) including vaporizing at least a portion of said refrigerant in said shell-side passageways. 4. The method according to claim 3, said vaporizing of step (c) causing a thermosiphon effect in the core. 5. The method according to claim 1; and (e) maintaining the level of liquid-phase refrigerant in said shell at an elevation where at least 50% of the height of the core is submerged in the liquid-phase refrigerant. 6. The method according to claim 5, step (e) including maintaining the level of liquid-phase refrigerant in the shell at an elevation where 75-95% of the height of the core is submerged in the liquid-phase refrigerant. 7. The method according to claim 6, step (a) including introducing said refrigerant into the internal volume at a location above the level of liquid-phase refrigerant in the shell. 8. The method according to claim 1; and (f) removing a gas-phase refrigerant from an upper outlet of the shell. 9. The method according to claim 1, said shell including a substantially cylindrical sidewall extending along a central sidewall axis, said sidewall axis being substantially upright. 10. The method according to claim 9, said height-to-width ratio being at least about 1.25. 11. The method according to claim 9, said core defining a plurality of core-side passageways for receiving the cooled fluid, said core defining a plurality of shell-side passageways for receiving the refrigerant, each of said shell-side passageways extending generally upwardly between a lower refiigerant inlet and an upper refrigerant outlet. 12. The method according to claim 11, step (c) including vaporizing at least a portion of the refrigerant in the shell-side passageways. 13. The method according to claim 12, said vaporizing causing natural upward convection of the refrigerant through the shell-side passageways. 14. The method according to claim 1, said core being spaced from the sides of the shell. 15. The method according to claim 1, said internal volume having a maximum height (H), said core being spaced from the bottom of the internal volume by at least 0.2 H, said core being spaced from the top of the internal volume by at least 0.2 H. 16. The method according to claim 1, said cooled fluid comprising predominantly methane, said refrigerant comprising predominantly propane, propylene, ethane, ethylene, methane, or carbon dioxide. 17. The method according to claim 1, said cooled fluid being a natural gas stream, said refrigerant comprising predominantly propane or ethylene. 18. A process for liquefying a natural gas stream, said process comprising: (a) cooling the natural gas stream via indirect heat exchange with a first refrigerant comprising predominantly propane or propylene; and (b) further cooling the natural gas stream via indirect heat exchange with a second refrigerant comprising predominantly ethane or ethylene, at least a portion of said cooling of steps (a) and/or (b) being carried out in at least one vertical core-in-kettle heat exchanger, said heat exchanger comprising a shell defining a kettle volume and a plate-fin core disposed in said kettle volume, said core being spaced from the top and bottom of said shell, said core defining a plurality of generally upwardly extending shell-side passageways, each of said passageways defining a downwardly facing lower inlet and an upwardly facing upper outlet, said shell defining a liquid outlet at a lower elevation than the bottom of the core, wherein the ratio of the vertical distance between the bottom of the core and the liquid outlet to the maximum height of the kettle volume is greater than about 0.15. 19. The process according to claim 18, said shell comprising a substantially cylindrical sidewall extending along a central sidewall axis, said heat exchanger being positioned so that the sidewall axis has a substantially upright orientation. 20. The process according to claim 19, said core defining a plurality of generally upwardly extending core-side passageways, said natural gas stream being received in the core-side passageways, said first or second refrigerant being received in the shell-side passageways. 21. The process according to claim 20, said core defining alternating core-side and shell-side passageways. 22. The process according to claim 20, said cooling of steps (a) and/or (b) including causing at least a portion of the first refrigerant in the shell-side passageways to vaporize, thereby providing a thermosiphon effect. 23. The process according to claim 19, said shell defining an internal volume having a maximum height (H), said core being spaced from the top of the internal volume by at least 0.2 H, said core being spaced from the bottom of the internal volume by at least 0.2 H. 24. The process according to claim 23, said core being spaced from the sidewall of the shell. 25. The process according to claim 18; and (c) further cooling the natural gas stream via indirect heat exchange with a third refrigerant comprising predominantly methane. 26. The process according to claim 25; and (d) flashing at least a portion of the natural gas stream to thereby provide gas-phase natural gas, step (c) including using at least a portion of the gas-phase natural gas as the third refrigerant. 27. The process according to claim 26, said first refrigerant comprising predominantly propane, said second refrigerant comprising predominantly ethylene. 28. The process according to claim 18; and (e) vaporizing liquefied natural gas produced by the process of steps (a) and (b). 29. A heat exchanger comprising: a shell defining an internal volume; and at least one core disposed in the internal volume, said shell comprising a substantially cylindrical sidewall, a normally-upper end cap, and a normally-lower end cap, said upper and lower end caps being disposed on generally opposite ends of the sidewall, said sidewall defining a fluid inlet for receiving a shell-side fluid into the internal volume, said normally-upper end cap defining a vapor outlet for discharging gas-phase shell-side fluid from the internal volume, said normally-lower end cap defining a liquid outlet for discharging liquid-phase shell-side fluid from the internal volume. 30. The heat exchanger according to claim 29, said core being a plate-fin core. 31. The heat exchanger according to claim 29, said internal volume having a maximum height (H) and a maximum width (W), said internal volume having a H/W ratio greater than 1. 32. The heat exchanger according to claim 31, said core being spaced from the top and bottom of said internal volume by at least 0.2 H. 33. The heat exchanger according to claim 31, said fluid inlet being spaced from the top and bottom of said internal volume by at least 0.3 H. 34. The heat exchanger according to claim 31, said core having a maximum height (h), said core and shell having a h/H ratio of less than 0.75. 35. The heat exchanger according to claim 34, said h/H ratio being 0.25-0.5. 36. The heat exchanger according to claim 31, said core having a minimum width (w), said core and shell having a w/W ratio less than 0.95. 37. The heat exchanger according to claim 29, said sidewall extending along a central sidewall axis said core providing for counter-current heat exchange between two fluids flowing substantially parallel to the direction of extension of the central sidewall axis. 38. The heat exchanger according to claim 37, said core defining a plurality of core-side passageways and a plurality of shell-side passageways, said core-side and shell-side passageways being fluidly isolated from one another, said shell-side passageways presenting a normally-lower inlet and a normally-upper outlet, said shell-side passageways extending from the normally-lower inlet to the normally-upper outlet. 39. The heat exchanger according to claim 38, said core-side and shell-side passageways extending substantially parallel to the direction of extension of the sidewall axis. 40. The heat exchanger according to claim 29, said core being a brazed-aluminum, plate-fin core. 41. A heat exchanger comprising: a shell defining an internal volume, said shell comprising a substantially cylindrical sidewall extending along a central sidewall axis and a normally-lower end cap coupled to a normally-lower end of said sidewall; and a core disposed in the shell, said core defining a plurality of core-side passageways and a plurality of shell-side passageways, said core-side passageways being fluidly isolated from the internal volume of the shell, said shell-side passageways presenting opposite open ends that provide fluid communication with the internal volume of the shell, said shell-side passageways extending in a direction that is substantially parallel to the direction of extension of the sidewall axis so that a thermosiphon effect can be created in the shell-side passageways when the heat exchanger is positioned with the sidewall axis in a substantially upright orientation, said shell including an inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet, each communicating with the internal volume of the shell, said first and second outlets being spaced from one another along the sidewall axis, said first and second outlets being disposed on generally opposite ends of the shell, said second outlet being defined in said normally-lower end cap. 42. The heat exchanger according to claim 41, said plurality of shell-side passageways being open only at the ends so that any fluid entering the shell-side passageways must enter through one of the ends. 43. The heat exchanger according to claim 41, said core being a plate-fin core. 44. The heat exchanger according to claim 41, said core being a brazed-aluminum, plate-fin core. 45. The heat exchanger according to claim 41, said internal volume having a maximum height (H) measured along the sidewall axis and a maximum width (W) measured perpendicular to the sidewall axis, said internal volume having a H/W ratio greater than 1. 46. The heat exchanger according to claim 45, said shell including a normally-upper end cap, said maximum height (H) being measured between the normally-upper and the normally-lower end caps, said core presenting a normally-upper end that is spaced from the normally-upper end cap by a first maximum distance of at least 0.2 H, said core presenting a normally-lower end that is spaced from the normally-lower end cap by a second maximum distance of at least 0.2 H, said first and second maximum distances being measured substantially parallel to the direction of extension of the sidewall axis. 47. The heat exchanger according to claim 46, said first and second maximum distances being at least 2 feet. 48. The heat exchanger according to claim 45, said core having a maximum height (h) measured along the sidewall axis, said core and shell having a h/H ratio less than 0.75. 49. The heat exchanger according to claim 41, said inlet being formed in the sidewall. 50. A core-in-kettle heat exchanger system comprising: a shell comprising a substantially cylindrical sidewall extending along a central sidewall axis and a normally-lower end cap coupled to a normally-lower end of said sidewall; a plate-fin core disposed in the shell; and a support structure configured to support the shell in a vertical configuration where the sidewall axis is substantially upright, said shell including an inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet, each communicating with the internal volume of the shell, said first and second outlets being spaced from one another along the sidewall axis, said first and second outlets being disposed on generally opposite ends of the shell, said second outlet being defined in said normally-lower end cap. 51. The system according to claim 50, said core being a brazed-aluminum, plate-fin core. 52. The system according to claim 50, said shell defining an internal volume within which the core is disposed, said internal volume having a maximum height (H) measured along the sidewall axis and a maximum width (W) measured perpendicular to the sidewall axis, said internal volume having a H/W ratio greater than 1. 53. The system according to claim 52, said shell including a normally-upper end cap, said maximum height (H) being measured between the normally-upper and the normally-lower end caps, said core presenting a normally-upper end that is spaced from the normally-upper end cap by a first maximum distance of at least 0.2 H, said core presenting a normally-lower end that is spaced from the normally-lower end cap by a second maximum distance of at least 0.2 H, said first and second maximum distances being measured substantially parallel to the direction of extension of the sidewall axis. 54. A system according to claim 53, said first and second maximum distances being at least 2 feet. 55. A system according to claim 52, said core having a maximum height (h) measured along the sidewall axis, said core and shell having a h/H ratio less than 0.75. 56. A system according to claim 50, said inlet being formed in the sidewall. 57. An apparatus comprising: a cold box defining an internal volume; and a plurality of vertical core-in-kettle heat exchangers disposed in the internal volume, said cold box defining a purge gas inlet and a purge gas outlet, said cold box being substantially fluid-tight except for the purge gas inlet and outlet. 58. The apparatus according to claim 57; and a substantially loose insulation material disposed in the internal volume of the cold box and substantially surrounding the core-in-kettle heat exchangers. 59. The apparatus according to claim 58; and said insulation material comprising perlite. 60. The apparatus according to claim 57; and a hydrocarbon monitor operable to detect the presence of hydrocarbons, said hydrocarbon monitor being disposed in fluid communication with the purged gas outlet. 61. A liquefied natural gas facility for cooling a natural gas feed stream by indirect heat exchange with one or more refrigerants, said liquefied natural gas facility comprising: a first refrigeration cycle for cooling the natural gas stream via indirect heat exchange with a first refrigerant, said first refrigeration cycle comprising a first vertical core-in-kettle heat exchanger, said first vertical core-in-kettle heat exchanger defining a kettle-side volume and a core-side volume fluidly isolated from one another, said kettle-side volume being configured to receive the first refrigerant, said core-side volume being configured to receive the natural gas stream, said kettle-side volume being defined within a shell comprising a normally-lower end cap, said shell including an inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet, each communicating with the internal volume of the shell, said first and second outlets being spaced from one another along the sidewall axis, said first and second outlets being disposed on generally opposite ends of the shell, said second outlet being defined in said normally-lower end cap. 62. The facility according to claim 61, said first refrigerant comprising predominantly propane, propylene, ethane, ethylene, or carbon dioxide. 63. The facility according to claim 61, said first refrigerant comprising predominantly ethylene. 64. The facility according to claim 61, said first refrigeration cycle employing a plurality of vertical core-in-kettle heat exchangers to sequentially cool the natural gas stream via indirect heat exchange with the first refrigerant. 65. The facility according to claim 64, said first refrigeration cycle comprising a cold box receiving said plurality of vertical core-in-kettle heat exchangers. 66. The facility according to claim 61; and a second refrigeration cycle for cooling the natural gas stream via indirect heat exchange with a second refrigerant of different composition than the first refrigerant. 67. The facility according to claim 66, said second refrigerant comprising predominantly propane, propylene, ethane, ethylene, or carbon dioxide. 68. The facility according to claim 66, said first refrigerant comprising predominantly ethylene, said second refrigerant comprising predominantly propane. 69. The facility according to claim 68, said second refrigeration cycle being located upstream of the first refrigeration cycle. 70. The facility according to claim 66, said second refrigeration cycle comprising a second vertical core-in-kettle heat exchanger. 71. The facility according to claim 66, and an open methane refrigeration cycle disposed downstream of the first and second refrigeration cycles. 72. The heat exchanger according to claim 29, said liquid outlet being in fluid communication with a pressure reducer. 73. The heat exchanger according to claim 41, said second outlet being in fluid communication with a pressure reducer. 74. A system according to claim 50, said second outlet being in fluid communication with a pressure reducer. 75. The facility according to claim 61, said second outlet being in fluid communication with a pressure reducer. 76. The method according to claim 1, (g) maintaining the level of liquid phase refrigerant in the shell at an elevation where the core is partially submerged in the liquid phase refrigerant during said transferring of step (c). 77. The process according to claim 18, said kettle volume receiving said refrigerant and maintaining at least a portion of said refrigerant in said liquid phase, said core being partially submerged in said liquid phase of said refrigerant during said cooling.
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