Method and apparatus for purifying a substance
US5735141A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 10, 1997 |
| Grant date | Apr 7, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 10, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S62/905
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A method and apparatus for purifying a substance in which the substance is rectified within first and second distillation columns to produce a tower overhead in the second distillation column, lean in both heavy and light impurities. The column bottoms produced within the second distillation columns is boiled to provide boil-up within the second distillation column, thereby to initiate formation of an ascending vapor phase. A vapor stream in removed from the second distillation and then fed into a bottom region of the first distillation column to initiate formation of the ascending vapor phase therein. The vapor stream removed from the second distillation column is formed from the ascending vapor phase produced within the second distillation column. The second distillation column is reboiled by a reboiler that can include a reservoir containing a heat exchange fluid that condenses against boiling the column bottoms provided in the second distillation column. The type of heat exchange fluid utilized is selected to have a condensation temperature above bubble point temperature of the column bottoms of the second distillation column.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.