JP7129969B2 - Vaporizer and vaporization system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to vaporizers and vaporization systems.

As a vaporization device for vaporizing a liquid material to generate a material gas, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, an inlet for introducing the liquid material is provided at one end and an outlet for leading the material gas is provided at the other end. A vaporization device is disclosed that includes a container to be provided, a vaporization part filled with a linear body provided in the container, and a heater provided on the outer periphery of the container.

However, in the vaporization apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the linear body is filled in the container, the residual liquid material, which is an index of the relationship between the supply speed and the vaporization speed of the liquid material in the container. There was a problem that the amount could not be confirmed.

JP 2001-239151

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is to enable confirmation of the remaining amount of liquid material in a container in a vaporization apparatus having a holding member for holding liquid material introduced into the container. .

That is, the vaporization apparatus according to the present invention comprises a container having an inlet for introducing a liquid material, a holding member for holding the liquid material introduced into the container through the inlet, and a holding member provided in the container. and a storage region for storing the liquid material flowing out from the holding member.

With such a structure, the liquid material released from the holding member in a liquid state or the liquid material re-liquefied after being released from the holding member in a gaseous state is stored in the storage area. Accordingly, by grasping in advance the capacity of the container and the ability of the holding member to hold the liquid material (hereinafter, also referred to as holding capacity), the amount of the liquid material stored in the storage area can be confirmed, and the container can be It is possible to accurately grasp the remaining amount of liquid material inside. Further, by keeping the liquid amount of the liquid material stored in the storage area constant, it is possible to prevent empty heating in the container and to keep the supply speed and the vaporization speed of the liquid material substantially balanced. The holding member has a large number of fine gaps and cavities in its interior, and the liquid material or material gas obtained by vaporizing the liquid material enters and exits the holding member through the gaps and cavities. It is constructed.

Further, in the vaporization device, the holding member may be provided on the introduction port side.

With such a configuration, the liquid material introduced from the introduction port once flows into the holding member, and the liquid material introduced from the introduction port does not directly flow into the storage area, so that the remaining amount of the liquid material in the container can be accurately determined. can be grasped. Further, even if the storage area is horizontally adjacent to the holding member and provided on the opposite side of the holding member from the introduction port side, the same effects can be obtained.

Further, any one of the vaporization devices may further include a detection device for detecting the amount of the liquid material stored in the storage area, and the detection device may It may be a liquid level sensor that detects the level of the liquid material that is stored.

With such a device, the liquid amount of the liquid material stored in the storage area can be grasped more accurately than in the case of checking, for example, through a viewing window or the like provided in the container.

Further, any one of the vaporization apparatuses described above further includes a heater provided at a portion of the outer wall of the container adjacent to the holding member or in the vicinity thereof to heat and vaporize the liquid material held by the holding member. can be anything.

With such a device, the liquid material held by the holding member can be efficiently heated. Further, since the liquid material is vaporized inside the holding member, bubbles generated during the vaporization do not grow large, thereby suppressing fluctuation of the liquid surface of the liquid material stored in the storage area. Further, if the holding member has a thermal conductivity such that the temperature at which the liquid material evaporates when heated by the heater, the liquid material is heated and vaporized not only by the heater but also by the holding member. Therefore, the area for heating the liquid material is increased, the heat exchange rate is improved, and the liquid material can be vaporized more efficiently.

In any one of the above vaporization apparatuses, a heater is provided at a portion of the outer wall of the container adjacent to the gas phase in the container or in the vicinity thereof, and heats the material gas obtained by vaporizing the liquid material. can be anything.

With such a structure, it is possible to prevent the liquid material from re-liquefying once it has been vaporized, and to prevent the liquefied material from flowing out from the outlet.

Further, any one of the vaporization apparatuses may further include a heater provided in the vapor phase of the container for heating at least one of the liquid material and the material gas. With such a device, the same effects as those of the heaters described above can be obtained.

In any one of the above vaporization apparatuses, the holding member may be a mesh, fibrous body, or granular body held in a predetermined shape, or a porous body.

In addition, the vaporization apparatus including the detection device further includes a liquid volume monitoring unit connected to the detection device, and the liquid volume monitoring unit detects the detected liquid volume detected by the detection device as a reference set in advance. A judging section for judging whether the detected liquid amount is within the range and a warning section for giving a warning when the detected liquid amount is outside the reference range may be provided.

With such a device, it is possible to quickly detect an abnormality in the amount of the liquid material contained in the container, and to prevent adverse effects on target equipment to which the material gas is supplied.

Further, a vaporization system according to the present invention includes any one of the vaporization devices described above, a liquid material supply device that supplies the liquid material to the vaporization device, and a liquid material supply device that supplies the liquid material to the vaporization device. and a control device for controlling the supply amount of the liquid material.

With such a device, the amount of liquid material to be supplied to the vaporizer can be automatically controlled by referring to the liquid amount of the liquid material stored in the storage area. It becomes easier to keep the supply speed and the vaporization speed in balance.

According to the present invention configured as described above, it is possible to check the remaining amount of the liquid material in the container in the vaporization device provided with the holding member for holding the liquid material introduced into the container.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a vaporization system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the state of the vaporization device according to Embodiment 1 viewed from the horizontal direction; 1 is a cross-sectional view along line AA showing the vaporization device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a vaporization device according to Embodiment 2;

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Vaporizer X Liquid material 10 Container W Holding member 20 Detecting device 30a Liquid heating heater 30b Gas heating heater R Storage region P1 Inlet P2 Outlet 11 Side wall 12 Top wall 13 Bottom wall 14 Partition wall

A vaporization system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The vaporization system Z according to the present invention supplies the material gas generated by vaporizing the liquid material Z by the vaporization device 100 to target equipment as a supply destination. The chambers and the like used may include, but are not limited to.

<Embodiment 1>
The vaporization system Z according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. , is equipped with An on-off valve V1 is connected to the introduction path L1, and one end on the upstream side thereof is connected to the liquid material supply device 200. As shown in FIG. In addition, the on-off valve V2 and the flow control device MFC are connected to the lead-out path L2 in order from the upstream side, and one end on the downstream side thereof is connected to the target device. A differential pressure type or thermal type mass flow controller can be used as the flow control device MFC, and the flow rate of the material gas flowing through the lead-out path L2 can be controlled to a predetermined flow rate. Note that the on-off valve V2 does not necessarily need to be provided because it can be substituted by a control valve provided in the flow control device MFC.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the vaporization device 100 includes a container 10 for containing the liquid material X, a holding member W for holding the liquid material X, and a liquid for heating the liquid material X held by the holding member W. A heating heater 30a, a gas heating heater 30b for heating a material gas formed by vaporizing the liquid material X, a storage region R for storing the liquid material X flowing out from the holding member W, and the liquid material stored in the storage region R and a detection device 20 for detecting the amount of X liquid. In addition, in FIG.2 and FIG.3, the liquid level of the liquid material X is shown with the dashed-dotted line.

The container 10 has a housing shape and is of a horizontally long horizontal type. The container 10 is provided with an inlet P1 connected to the inlet path L1 and an outlet P2 connected to the outlet path L2. The inlet P<b>1 is provided at the bottom of the container 10 and connected to the vaporization chamber S of the container 10 . In addition, the outlet P2 is provided at the top of the container 10, and is connected to the vaporization chamber S of the container 10, specifically, the gas phase (upper side in FIG. 2) in which the material gas in the container 10 stays. there is Both the inlet P1 and the outlet P2 are arranged vertically with respect to the same side wall 11 of the container 10 .

Further, the container 10 is provided with a partition wall 14 that horizontally extends the gas phase in the vaporization chamber S. As shown in FIG. That is, the partition wall 14 is provided so as to partition the gas phase into a plurality of parts. The partition wall 14 extends from one side wall 11a between the inlet P1 and the inlet P2 toward the other side wall 11b facing the one side wall 11a, and has a length not reaching the other side wall 11b. ing. As a result, a gap is formed between the other side wall 11b and the partition wall 14, and the upper side and the lower side of the gas phase partitioned by the partition wall 14 are connected by this gap.

The holding member W is installed at the bottom inside the container 10 . Specifically, it is installed adjacent to the inlet P1 in the container 10 and filled between the bottom wall 12 and the partition wall 14 . The holding member W is filled on the one side wall 11a side and not filled on the other side wall 11b side. In other words, the holding member W is installed on the bottom wall 12 on the inlet P1 side, and is not installed on the bottom wall 12 on the other side wall 11b side. Thereby, a region in which the holding member W is not filled is formed in the lower portion of the container 10 .

The holding member W has at least one or both of gaps and/or cavities through which the liquid material X and material gas obtained by vaporizing the liquid material X can pass, and can hold the liquid material X inside. It does not matter whether the holding ability is high or low. Specifically, the holding member W can be a linear body, a mesh body, a fibrous body, or a granular body (including powder) held in a predetermined shape, or a porous body having a predetermined shape.

To describe the holding member W in more detail, examples of holding the linear bodies in a predetermined shape include those in which the linear bodies are three-dimensionally bonded. Examples of a mesh-like body that holds a predetermined shape include a stack of a plurality of mesh-like bodies that are combined together. , wire rods woven or knitted into a net shape, and the like. Examples of the fibrous material that holds the fibrous material in a predetermined shape include a hardened fibrous material, a laminate of a plurality of nonwoven fabrics made of the fibrous material, and a laminate of a plurality of woven or knitted fabrics made of the fibrous material. . The granules held in a predetermined shape include a combination of granules and a cartridge filled with the granules. Examples of the granules include spheres and powders. These materials are preferably made of metal, and if they are made of metal, they can be bonded by sintering, and a material with high thermal conductivity can be selected. For example, it is preferable to use steel wool, which is a metal fiber that can be easily filled in the container 10, or SUS316L, which is stainless steel with excellent corrosion resistance.

In addition, as the porous body, it is possible to use a porous structure obtained by processing a non-porous material such as metal into a honeycomb structure or the like. structure may be used.

A storage region R is a region in the lower portion of the container 10 where the holding member 10 is not filled. Therefore, the storage area R is arranged so as to be horizontally adjacent to the holding member 40 . In addition, the storage region R is arranged on the side of the holding member W opposite to the introduction port P1 side. With this configuration, the liquid material X introduced from the inlet P1 once flows into the holding member W, and then the liquid material X flowing out from the holding member W is stored in the storage region R, and the inlet The liquid material X introduced from P1 does not directly flow into the storage region R.

Then, when the liquid material X is supplied into the container 10, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the holding member W is sequentially filled with the liquid material X from the lower side to hold the liquid material X. The liquid material X that cannot be retained by the retaining member W and has flowed out is retained in the retaining region R. When the holding ability of the holding member W is high, the area filled with the liquid material X of the holding member W increases. Conversely, when the holding ability of the holding member W is low, the area filled with the liquid material X decreases. Therefore, by grasping the holding capacity of the holding member W in advance, the liquid amount of the liquid material X in the container 10 can be more accurately grasped from the liquid amount of the liquid material X stored in the storage region R. .

The detection device 20 is a liquid level sensor, and more specifically, a contact-type liquid level sensor that detects the liquid level by bringing the sensor portion 20a into contact with the liquid material X. As shown in FIG. The liquid level sensor is installed by inserting the sensor portion 20a through an insertion hole provided in the upper wall 13 of the container 10, and the sensor portion 20a extends toward the storage region R. The liquid level sensor includes a temperature measuring resistor such as a thermistor, and is configured to detect the liquid level by utilizing the difference in heat dissipation constant between the liquid phase and the gas phase.

The liquid heating heater 30a is provided in the lower part of the container 10, and is installed in a portion of the outer wall of the container 10 adjacent to the holding member W. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the liquid heaters 30a are installed separately on the bottom wall 12 and the one side wall 11a, which are the outer walls of the container 10, respectively. As a result, the liquid material X held by the holding member W is efficiently heated by the liquid heater 30a.

The gas heater 30b is provided in the upper part of the container 10, and is installed in the partition wall 14 and the portion of the outer wall of the container 10 that contacts the gas phase. In this embodiment, the gas heaters 30b are separately installed on the upper wall 13 and the partition wall 14, which are the outer walls of the container 10. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the partition wall 14 itself is used as the gas heater 30b. As a result, it is possible to prevent the material gas from being heated by the gas heating heater 30b, cooled again, and re-liquefied. Since the partition wall 14 is in contact with the upper surface of the holding member W, the gas heater 30b of the partition wall 14 also serves as the liquid heater 30a.

The heaters 30a and 30b installed on the respective outer walls of the container 10 may be separate heaters 30a and 30b as in the present embodiment, or the heaters 30a and 30b installed on the adjacent outer walls. 30b may be integrated. Further, in the present embodiment, heaters 30a and 30b are provided for the other side wall 11b and both side walls 11c and 11d (see FIG. 3) that are interposed between the one side wall 11a and the other side wall 11b and face each other. Although not shown, the gas heater 30b may be provided on the other side wall 11b, or the heaters 30a and 30b may be provided on both side walls 11c and 11d. However, when the gas heater 30b is provided on the other side wall 11b, it is preferably provided on the upper wall 13 side away from the storage area R. is preferably provided on the one side wall 11a side away from the storage region R. In this embodiment, the heaters 30a and 30b are embedded inside the outer wall of the container 10, but they may be attached to the inner or outer surface of the outer wall of the container 10. As long as the heat is sufficiently transmitted to the container 10 and the heaters 30a and 30b can play their roles, they may be provided apart from the outer wall.

By arranging the heaters 30a and 30b as described above, the storage region R in the container 10 becomes a region away from the heaters 30a and 30b and having a small amount of heat transfer, and the liquid stored in the storage region R Material X is no longer actively vaporized. On the other hand, the holding area where the holding member W is installed in the container 10 is close to the liquid heating heater 30a and has a large amount of heat transfer, and the liquid material X held in the holding area is actively vaporized. Further, the gas phase region in the container 10 is also a region near the gas heater 30b where the amount of heat transfer is large, and the material gas staying in the gas phase region is actively heated.

As the heaters 30a and 30b, cartridge heaters, electric heating wire heaters, rubber heaters, or the like can be used.

Further, the vaporization system Z includes a control device (not shown) that opens and closes the on-off valve V1 connected to the lead-in path L1 and the on-off valve V2 connected to the lead-out path L2 according to the situation. Based on the detection signal detected by the detection device 20 of 10, the opening degree of the on-off valve V1 provided in the introduction path L1 is adjusted, and the amount of liquid material X supplied to the vaporization device 100 can be controlled. . By opening and closing the on-off valves V1 and V2, the control device can select one of a state in which only the on-off valve V1 is open, a state in which only the on-off valve V2 is open, and a state in which both the on-off valves V1 and V2 are open. It is also possible to switch selectively.

According to the vaporization system Z configured in this way, the liquid material X introduced from the inlet P1 of the container 10 in the vaporization device 100 once flows into the holding member W, and then the liquid material X is discharged from the holding member W. is stored in the storage area R, the liquid amount of the surplus liquid material X that is not retained by the holding member W can be accurately detected in the storage area R. Then, by detecting the amount of liquid stored in the storage region R and controlling the amount of liquid material X supplied to vaporization device 100 based on the detected amount of liquid, the amount of liquid material X in container 10 can be reduced. The amount of liquid can be kept constant, and dry heating due to a decrease in the liquid material X in the container 10 and an inflow of the liquid material X to the lead-out path L2 due to an increase in the liquid material X in the container 10 can be prevented. can be done.

In addition, since the heaters 30a and 30b are installed separately from the storage area R, the liquid material X stored in the storage area R is not actively heated and the generation of air bubbles is suppressed. It is possible to more accurately detect the liquid level by the liquid level sensor, more specifically, to detect the liquid level by the liquid level sensor.

In addition, since the liquid material X is vaporized inside the holding member W, bubbles generated during the vaporization do not grow large, thereby suppressing fluctuation of the liquid surface of the liquid material X stored in the storage region R. . Furthermore, since most of the liquid material X is vaporized within the holding member W, the droplets that are scattered when the bubbles generated during the vaporization burst are retained within the holding member W and are prevented from scattering to the gas phase side. can.

In addition, if the holding member W is made of a material having a high thermal conductivity, the heat of the liquid heater 30a is also transmitted to the holding member W. The liquid material X in contact with the member W is also vaporized, increasing the heating contact area of the liquid material X and improving the heat exchange efficiency.

In addition, since the partition wall 14 is provided between the outlet P2 and the holding member W, the droplets generated by bursting bubbles generated when the liquid material X is vaporized are blocked by the partition wall 14 and directly flow out from the outlet P2. can prevent you from doing it.

In addition, since the material gas generated by the holding member W flows from the storage region R side to the upper side of the partition wall 14 and is led out to the outlet P2, it is heated by the gas heater 30b provided in the partition wall 14, Re-liquefaction upon cooling is prevented.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the vaporization device 100 further includes a storage unit that stores a reference range for determining whether the amount of liquid stored in the storage area R is abnormal, and a detection A liquid volume monitoring unit may be provided that includes a determination unit that determines whether the liquid volume is within the reference range and a warning unit that issues a warning when the detected liquid volume is outside the reference range. With such a configuration, it is possible to quickly detect an abnormality in the amount of liquid in the container 10 . Note that the warning unit may issue a warning by means of display means or sound means. Also, the liquid volume monitoring unit may be provided as part of the control device.

<Embodiment 2>
This embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, is a modification of the vaporization device 100 of the first embodiment. 4(a) is a cross-sectional view of the vaporization device according to the present embodiment viewed from the horizontal direction, and FIG. 4(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 4(a). . The vaporization device 100 according to this embodiment differs in configuration from the container 10 according to the first embodiment in the following points. First, the partition wall 14 is not provided in the vaporization chamber S, so that the upper side of the holding member W is in the vapor phase. A gas heater 30b is installed to extend from the upper wall 13 to the side wall 11b.

Further, in the vaporization device 100 according to the second embodiment, the liquid heater 30a is provided in the portions of the side walls 11a, 11c, and 11d adjacent to the upper portion of the holding member W so as to heat only the upper portion of the holding member W. . With such a configuration, the lower portion of the holding member W adjacent to the liquid material X stored in the storage area R is not actively heated, and air bubbles are generated from the liquid material X held in the lower portion of the holding member W. Since it becomes difficult, the fluctuation of the liquid level in the storage region R can be suppressed.

Further, in the vaporization device 100 according to the second embodiment, the inlet P1 and the outlet P2 are provided in different side walls 11. As shown in FIG. Specifically, an inlet P1 is provided on one side wall 11a, and an outlet P2 is provided on the other side wall 11b. In this case, the outlet P2 is arranged above the storage area R, the liquid material X is not actively vaporized in the storage area R, and droplets due to air bubbles are less likely to flow into the outlet P2.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the storage region R is provided between the holding member W and the side wall 11b farthest from the inlet P1. 11d, the storage region R may be provided between any of the side walls 11b, 11c, and 11d, or the storage region R may be provided between two or more side walls.

In each of the above-described embodiments, a liquid level sensor is used as the detection device 20, but it is not limited to this, and any device capable of detecting the liquid amount of the liquid material X stored in the storage region R can be used. Other sensors may be used. In each of the above embodiments, a contact type sensor is used as the liquid level sensor, but a non-contact type sensor or a float type sensor may be used. However, in the case of the float type, which has a mechanically movable portion, particles may be generated at the movable portion.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the liquid amount of the liquid material X stored in the storage region R is detected by the detection device 20. For example, a viewing window is provided in a portion corresponding to the storage region R of the container 10. , may be visually confirmed.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the heaters 30a and 30b are installed on the outer wall adjacent to the storage region R of the container 10 so that the liquid material X stored in the storage region R does not vaporize and generate bubbles. The heaters 30a and 30b may be installed on the outer wall adjacent to the storage area R, although not shown. In this case, the liquid material X stored in the storage region R is heated to such an extent that it does not vaporize and generate bubbles.

In the second embodiment, the liquid heating heater 30a is placed adjacent to the upper part of the side surface of the holding member W to actively heat only the upper part of the holding member W. A temperature gradient may be provided so that the temperature rises from the lower side to the upper side of each liquid heating heater 30a. Also in this case, the liquid material X held on the upper part of the holding member W is actively heated, and the same effects as those of the vaporizer 100 according to the second embodiment can be obtained.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the horizontal type container 10 is used, but the vertically long type container 10 may be used.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to check the remaining amount of the liquid material in the container in the vaporization device provided with the holding member that holds the liquid material introduced into the container.

Claims (10)

A vaporization device for vaporizing a liquid material to generate a material gas,
a container having an inlet for introducing the liquid material and an outlet for leading the material gas ;
a holding member provided in the container and holding the liquid material introduced from the introduction port;
a storage area formed in the container for storing the liquid material released from the holding member ;
The storage area is a space formed around the holding member in the container by installing the holding member in the container,
A vaporization device , wherein a space in which the material gas flows is formed above the holding member or the storage area in the container, and the outlet is connected to the space . 2. The vaporization device according to claim 1, wherein said holding member is provided on said inlet side. 3. The vaporization device according to claim 1, further comprising a detection device for detecting the amount of said liquid material stored in said storage area. 4. The vaporization device according to claim 3, wherein said detection device is a liquid level sensor for detecting the liquid level of said liquid material stored in said storage area. 5. The liquid material according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a heater provided at a portion of the outer wall of the container adjacent to or in the vicinity of the holding member for heating and vaporizing the liquid material held by the holding member. vaporizer. 6. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a heater provided at a portion of the outer wall of the container adjacent to or in the vicinity of the gas phase in the container, for heating material gas obtained by vaporizing the liquid material. vaporizer. 7. The vaporization apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a heater provided in the gas phase of the container and heating at least one of the liquid material and the material gas. 8. The vaporization device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the holding member is a linear body, a mesh body, a fibrous body or a granular body held in a predetermined shape, or a porous body. Further comprising a liquid volume monitoring unit connected to the detection device,
The liquid volume monitoring unit
a determination unit that determines whether the amount of liquid detected by the detection device is within a preset reference range;
9. The vaporization device according to any one of claims 4 to 8, further comprising a warning unit that warns when the detected liquid amount is outside the reference range. a vaporization device according to any one of claims 1 to 9;
a liquid material supply device that supplies the liquid material to the vaporization device;
and a control device for controlling the supply amount of the liquid material to the vaporization device based on the detection signal of the detection device.

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