US1328259A - Cooling-plate for continuous-rectification apparatus - Google Patents

Description

E. A. BARBET. COOLING PLATE FOR CONTINUOUS RECTIFICATION APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26. 19H. J

Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

2SHEETS-SHEET1- Fig.1

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E. Barbe?- lnmnIbr E. A BARBET. I COOLiNG PLATE FOR CONTINUOUS RECTIFICATION APPARATUS.

I APPLICATION HLIED MAR. 26. 1917. I I

Patented Jam 20, 1920..

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

To all whom it may concern: a s

' UNITED ATEs PATENT oFF oE.

EMILE AUGUSTIN BABBET, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

cooLme-1 LArE FOR conrmuous-nnc'rrncnrron ArrAaATUs;

Be it known that I, EMILE AUGUSTIN BARBET, a citizen of the French Republic, residing at No. 5 Rue de lEchelle, Paris, France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cooling-Plates for Continuous-Rectification A paratus, of, which the following is a speci cation.

This invention relatesto cooling plates for rectifying columns.

The' construction of employed in the continuous rectification of alcohols and :other industrial products presents certain difficulties. For instance, the

metallic plates on which the liquid rests, are I naturally ood conductors of heat, and there'- I fore the liquid which is being cooled is beplates which absorb heat fromthe vapor.

' tional difiiculties in the way of arranging. the cooling pipe coil through the narrowmg) reheated at the same rate, not by the bu bling upof the vapors as' desired, but simply owing to the conductivity of the existing under the. plate.

The result is a partial condensation of these vapors, just as if a cooling pipe coil were'located in the va or chamber .on the Cofl'ey system. The 0 ject-in view" is not vapor at a certain, temperature through a liquid, that-is at. a slightly lower temperature, is .not realized. 4

0n the 'other hand there are construcpassages of the hoods of which so many are located on each plate.

This last'difiiculty would be solved if rccourse were had to the old perforated plate, but although this last kind of plate is very suitable for 'use'in discontinuous rectifying apparatus, where it 1s. a necessity to discharge the impure liquid 'ofthe plates after each 0 eration, yet on the contrary, the perforate plate is contra-indicated in the case of continuous rectification, Ithas been found in practical work that in the latter case it is absolutely necessary-to useyonly unemptiable plates which hold. permanently aconstant quantity of liquid and which allow the operator to stop the rectifymetal cooling plates Specification of Letters Patent. Patented an. 20, 1920. Application filed March 26, 1917. Serial No. 157,578.

ing process for ashort time now and then without causing, for instance, the .good alcohol of the upper regionsto flow down suddenly or in bulk into the lower part of the apparatus which, should always remain increase the pressure in the colmun.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved cooling plate for recti The inventlon includes the provision of plates of the emptiable and unemptiable types, and particularly plates of the latter type which comprise a basin, a. erforated diaphragm, a central chimney, a ood over the chimney and an overflow.

Several embodiments of this invention are illhustlrated in the accompanying drawings in we 1c Figure 1 is a vertical section of the plate,

Fig. 2.is a plan thereof,

Figs. 3 and at are respectively a plan and a vertical section of a modification, and Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a further modification. v

As shown, the plate A is concave and comprises a. central chimney B, with an overflow C and from the 'overflow E. The chimney B is sura basin D for receiving the liquid mounted by a single central hood F the annular edge of which is extended in the form of a horizontal perforated diaphragm G extending up to the circumference of the plate.

By this means the alcohol vapor instead ofv emerging immediately from the hood in the form of very coarse bubbles, is now on the contrary subdivided into thousands of very fine bubbles issuing from each of the .holes of the diaphragm, exactly as in the old perforated plates. The space comprised between A and G is full of vapor, and'the pressure of this vapor maintainsthe liqu d above the diaphragm G up to a level that.1s...;;

regulated by the level of the overflow If the heating of the apparatus should be stopped, the whole of the liquid passing I through the diaphragm G will be accommodated on the plate A, and since the top of the chimney 'B of the central hood is higher. than the overflow C, no part of the liquid can fall back on to the lower plate. The plate istherefore unemptiable. a

As soon as the lower part of the rectifier is again heated, the pressure of the vapor issuing'from underneath the hood F, will force'the liquid back toward the periphery, and will empty the space between A and G of liquid, and it will compel the liquid to remain entirely on top of the 'horizontal I; diaphragm as it was at the beginning of the stoppage.

By the combination of this-unemptiable perforated plate having a smooth surface, there is no longer any difficulty in locating a cooling pipe coil, and in increasing the number of the convolutions of said coil to any desired extent. Since the thickness of the layer-of liquid is small, it is advisable to flatten the pipe J to an elliptical shape in order that it maybe immersed. The said pipe is held at a suitable fixed heightby means of supports S. The pipe J is connected at one end to the collector 1C which supplies cold water;.'the warmed water flows ofl" through the collector L. I

In operation, the liquid is far from presenting a smooth surface. On the contrary it is in a state of very intense ebullition, so that the liquid is renewed very rapidly at the contact with the pipe coil, and it loses by that contact some fractions of a degree of temperature.

Traveling thence to the right and-to the left the liquid'is traversed by the small bubbles of vapor issuing from the diaphragm G, the result being the bubbling of the vapor, in a liquid which has been slightly cooled at that very moment; this is the realization of the obj ect in View.

v In certain cases it may be very diflicult to arrange pipe coils covering the entire surface of the platefin order to' effect 'a good cooling of the liquid. In this case. it is suflicient to perforate the'diaphragm D only in those parts thereof which are adjacent to the cooling coil. By setting the holes closer together it would be possible to rovide the number of holes which has en found necessary by calculation.

Further, and especially in apparatus large sizes, it has been found that these plates do not work uniformly throughout the entire surface of the perforated part. The perforations at the periphery allow only a small quantity of vapor to pass through, whereas a much greater quantity passes n'tl fi gh' he perforations situated nearthe center, that"isto say, Laround and close to,

the hood. "The result of this is thatthe .fulness of a part of the perforations in the operation is greatly reduced, and m order to obtain a complete utilization of the holes for the passage of the vapor it is necessary to increase the pressure in the column.

Consequently recourse is hadto the following construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4,

" which is employed more particularly the A flat horizontal diaphragm G of an- I nular A v Its outer diameter is equal to the diameter of the concavity of the bottom A and its 1 inner diameter is equal to that of the hood.

This diaphragm is fixed in any suitable manner to the body A and to the hood F. Y It is provided throughout its surface with perforations, the number and diameter of whichare determined by calculation so that the total section of the perforations shall be suflicient for the the column. D

This perforated diaphragm Gr is moreover provided at its per1phery with a certain shape is located above the bottom work required to be done by r preferably of elon number of holes H of much larger diameter than the other holes; the use of these holes is hereinafter described.

I are upstanding baflles located on the flat part of the bottom A, for the. purpose of compelling the liquid to flow over the perforated plate. I

The cooling pipes J are arranged and operated as'in the preceding construction, but it no longer necessary for them to have a complicated curvature.v As the perforated diaphragm is circular, the pipes are arranged in a spiral, and the whole of the perforated'diaphragm thus receives the cooling effect in the uniform manner. They may be also arranged in any other suitable manner. 7 The'operation of, this modification is the same as in the preceding example, but at the start, the liquid driven by the vapor coming from B flows on top of the diaphragrnGr through the orifices, H, and the 1 liquid .which has some difficulty in passing through the ordinary perforations of G will .on' the contrary pass very readily through the orifices H; this facilitates the 4 lar diaphragm is entirely perforated without any residual solid portion, the work of perforation can be effected economically by machinery.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5, the perforated diaphragm instead of being fiat, is made slightly dish-shaped as shown at G .This construction facilitates the arrival of the vapors up to the periphery of the perforated diaphragm.

Further, the large orifices H are omitted; but in order to provide an equivalent and thereby obtain the same facility of starting, instead. of the diaphragm Gr being located directly upon the bottom A, small wedges are interposed between those two parts, and the annular slit thus provided erforms the same function as the orifices The hereinbefore described constructions I of plates may be employed in all apparatus for distilling or refining, with oiwithout the addition of cooling pipes according to requirements. 7

What I claim is: 1. A cooling plate structure-for rectifying columns comprising a dished bottom plate,

an upstanding chimney arranged therein, a

hoodsurrounding the said chimney, a substantially horizontal perforated diaphragm surmounting the said .dished plate for caus- I ing the Vapors passing through the liquid on the diaphragm to be broken up into small bubbles and a cooling coil associated with the said device, such cooling coil being located below the normal liquid level of the reflux liquid supported -on said perforated diaphra m, the perforations in said diaphragm eing located only close to the said cooling coil.

2. A cooling device for rectifying columns as specified in claim 1, in which the bottom plate comprises a concave basin, the chimney therein in central position and an overflow; In testimony whereof I have signed my name-to this specification.

' EMILE AUGUSTIN BARBET.

' Witnesses: I

LUCIEN PAILLARD, CHAS. P. PRESSLY.

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