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EP-4739963-A1 - INSTALLATION AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A CRYOGENIC FLUID

EP4739963A1EP 4739963 A1EP4739963 A1EP 4739963A1EP-4739963-A1

Abstract

An installation for producing a cryogenic fluid comprises, arranged in at least one cold box (3, 4), a set of heat exchangers (5, 6, 7) in a heat-exchange relationship with the hydrogen circuit (2) for the hydrogen that is to be cooled, the installation (1) comprising a pre-cooling device (8) configured to pre-cool the gas circuit (2) for the gas that is to be cooled to a first determined temperature, the device comprising two thermosiphons (42, 42A) connected in parallel and arranged in two different cold boxes (3, 3A).

Inventors

  • KHALIL-PAILLIER, Yasmin
  • LE LARGE, Dominique
  • SZAMLEWSKI, CHRISTOPHE

Assignees

  • L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240702

Claims (14)

  1. Installation for producing a cooled, or even cryogenic, fluid (22, 23), in particular liquefied hydrogen, comprising a circuit (2) of gas to be cooled having an upstream end (21) intended to be connected to a gas source and a downstream end (22) intended to be connected to at least one receiving system, for example cryogenic storage, the installation (1) comprising a first set of heat exchangers (5, 6, 7) in heat exchange with the circuit (2) of gas to be cooled, the installation (1) comprising a pre-cooling device (8) in heat exchange with at least a first part (5, 6) of the first set of heat exchangers and configured to pre-cool the circuit (2) of gas to be cooled to a first determined temperature, the installation (1) optionally further comprising a cryogenic cooling device (4) in heat exchange with at least a second part (7) of the first set of heat exchanger(s) and configured to cool the circuit (2) of gas to be cooled to a second determined temperature lower than the first temperature, the pre-cooling device (8) comprising a refrigerator with a closed circuit (18) of pre-cooling fluid, the closed circuit (18) comprising a device (28) for compressing the pre-cooling fluid, a device (38) for expanding the pre-cooling fluid, at least one first and one second separate thermosyphon (48, 48A) of the pre-cooling fluid arranged in parallel in the pre-cooling fluid circuit (18), said circuit (18) comprising one or more heat exchange portions with at least one of the first part (5, 6) of the heat exchanger(s) assembly, a refrigerator with a refrigeration cycle of a cycle gas in a working circuit (19), the cycle gas comprising at least one of: hydrogen, helium, neon, the working circuit (19) of the refrigerator (9) comprising a member (29) for compressing the cycle gas, a member (15, 16, 7) for cooling the compressed cycle gas, a member (39) for expanding the compressed and cooled cycle gas and a member (7, 15) for reheating the expanded cycle gas, in which the member (15, 16, 7) for cooling the cycle gas and/or the member (7, 15) for reheating the cycle gas comprises one or more first cycle heat exchangers (15, 16), distinct from the first set of heat exchangers (5, 6) for pre-cooling the circuit (2) of gas to be cooled, these first cycle heat exchangers (15, 16) also being cooled by heat exchange with the circuit (18) of the pre-cooling fluid of the pre-cooling device (8), a first cold box containing at least one heat exchanger of the first part (5, 6) of the heat exchanger(s) assembly, including a heat exchanger in heat exchange with a flow of pre-cooling fluid of the circuit (18) leaving the first thermosiphon (48), the first thermosiphon and the device for expanding the pre-cooling fluid, a second cold box containing the second thermosiphon, the member (15, 16) for cooling the compressed cycle gas including the at least one first heat exchanger in heat exchange with a flow of pre-cooling fluid of the circuit (18) leaving the second thermosiphon (48A), the member (39) for expanding the compressed and cooled cycle gas and the member (15) for reheating the expanded cycle gas.
  2. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and/or the second cold box is thermally insulated by means of perlite.
  3. Installation according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a cryogenic cooling device (4) in heat exchange with at least a second part (7) of the first set of heat exchanger(s) and configured to cool the circuit (2) of gas to be cooled to a second determined temperature lower than the first temperature, the cryogenic cooling device being located in a third cold box (4) thermally insulated under vacuum.
  4. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises means (P) for purifying the cooled gas to be cooled, these means being located in the second cold box (3A), means for sending the cooled gas to be cooled in a heat exchanger in the first cold box to the means for purifying the hydrogen, means for sending the gas to be cooled and purified in the means for purifying (P) to a heat exchanger of the first box to cool there.
  5. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises at least one catalyst (C1, C2) in the first cold box.
  6. Installation according to claim 4 combined with claim 5, characterized in that the means for purifying the gas to be cooled (P) are connected to the at least one catalyst (C1, C2) to send the purified gas to be cooled there.
  7. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 6 in which the first cold box does not contain means for purifying the gas to be cooled, for example hydrogen.
  8. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 7 when dependent on claim 3, characterized in that the second part (4) of the heat exchanger(s) assembly comprises at least one second cycle heat exchanger (7) ensuring a heat exchange between the circuit (2) of gas to be cooled and the working circuit (19) of the cryogenic cooling device (9).
  9. Installation according to claim 8, characterized in that the second cycle heat exchanger (7) is in heat exchange with a first portion of the working circuit (19) of the device (9) conveying cycle gas before passing through an expansion member (39) and with a second portion of the working circuit (19) of the device (9) conveying cycle gas after passing through said expansion member (39).
  10. Installation according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second cycle heat exchanger (7) is located in a third cold box (4) separate from the first and second cold boxes (3, 3A).
  11. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the pre-cooling fluid comprises or consists of at least one component chosen from the group: nitrogen, argon, at least one hydrocarbon chosen from the list methane, ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, butane, butene, pentane.
  12. Method for producing a cooled, or even cryogenic, fluid, in particular liquefied hydrogen, using an installation according to any one of the preceding claims, the method comprising a step of pre-cooling the circuit flow (2) of gas to be cooled to a first temperature of between 65 and 100K and preferably between 77 and 90K, by means of the pre-cooling device (8), a step of pre-cooling the cycle fluid via the pre-cooling device (8) to a temperature of between 77 and 90K, and optionally a step of cooling the circuit gas (2) of gas to be cooled to a second determined temperature of between 18 and 25K and preferably between 20 and 23K via the cryogenic cooling device (9).
  13. Method according to claim 12 characterized in that at least one cycle heat exchanger (15, 16) and/or at least one heat exchanger(s) (5, 6) configured to pre-cool the circuit (2) of gas to be cooled to a first determined temperature is in heat exchange with a flow of pre-cooling fluid of the circuit (18) leaving one of the thermosyphons (48, 48A), at least one thermosiphon operating at a pressure between 1.5 and 3.5 bara and at a corresponding temperature between 80.8K and 89.6K.
  14. A method according to claim 12 or 13 wherein the first and second thermosyphons (48, 48A) operate at different pressures.

Description

Installation and process for producing a cryogenic fluid The invention relates to an installation and a method for producing a cryogenic fluid. The invention relates more particularly to an installation for producing a cooled, or even cryogenic, fluid, in particular liquefied hydrogen. Such installations usually comprise a gas circuit to be cooled having an upstream end intended to be connected to a gas source and a downstream end intended to be connected to at least one receiving system, for example cryogenic storage, the installation comprising, arranged in at least one cold box, a set of heat exchangers in heat exchange with the hydrogen circuit to be cooled, the installation comprising a pre-cooling device in heat exchange with at least a first part of the set of heat exchangers and configured to pre-cool the gas circuit to be cooled to a first determined temperature, the installation further comprising a cryogenic cooling device in heat exchange with at least a second part of the set of heat exchanger(s) and configured to cool the gas circuit to be cooled to a second determined temperature lower than the first temperature, the pre-cooling device comprising a closed circuit refrigerator for pre-cooling fluid, the closed circuit comprising a device for compressing the pre-cooling fluid, a device for expanding the pre-cooling fluid, at least one of ... at least one thermosiphon of the pre-cooling fluid, said circuit comprising one or more heat exchange portions with at least one of the first part of the heat exchanger(s) assembly, the cryogenic cooling device comprising a refrigerator with a refrigeration cycle of a cycle gas in a working circuit, the cycle gas comprising at least one of: hydrogen, helium, neon, the working circuit of the refrigerator comprising a compression member for the cycle gas, a cooling member for the compressed cycle gas, a member for expanding the compressed and cooled cycle gas and a member for reheating the expanded cycle gas. Hydrogen liquefaction processes are divided into two successive parts: 1) pre-cooling and 2) cooling ensuring liquefaction. Pre-cooling can be carried out with a pre-cooling device using for example a nitrogen cycle (or other pre-cooling fluid) in a cold box. The optimization of the nitrogen cycle is a compromise between the compactness of the cold box and the performance (power consumed). Pre-cooling is generally carried out via a pre-cooling device using a closed pre-cooling fluid loop producing cold via an appropriate thermodynamic cycle. The cold is produced for example by expansion turbines of the pre-cooling fluid flow. The hydrogen to be cooled is sub-cooled in the last pre-cooling exchanger whose temperature at the cold end is efficiently regulated by means of a thermosiphon of the pre-cooling fluid. The fluid from the liquefaction cycle which ensures the liquefaction is also pre-cooled in the main pre-cooling exchanger. This known solution requires a single bulky pre-cooling cold box. In addition, energy efficiency is not optimal. “Large scale hydrogen liquefaction in combination with LNG re-gasification” by Kuendig et al, WHEC 2006, pp3326-3333 describes a liquefaction apparatus with two cold boxes, a first cold box containing a nitrogen cycle and exchangers to cool hydrogen using the nitrogen cycle and a second cold box containing a hydrogen cycle and exchangers to cool hydrogen using the hydrogen cycle. An aim of the present invention is to overcome all or part of the disadvantages of the prior art noted above. In particular, the invention aims to arrange in a cold box the standardized elements of the installation, leaving in another cold box the elements requiring adaptation to suit the needs of each customer. Thus a refrigeration circuit as well as the exchanger and the thermosiphon associated with it are arranged in a separate cold box. For this purpose, the installation according to the invention is an installation for producing a cooled, or even cryogenic, fluid, in particular liquefied hydrogen, comprising a gas circuit to be cooled having an upstream end intended to be connected to a gas source and a downstream end intended to be connected to at least one receiving system, for example cryogenic storage, the installation comprising a first set of heat exchangers in heat exchange with the gas circuit to be cooled, the installation comprising a pre-cooling device in heat exchange with at least a first part of the first set of heat exchangers and configured to pre-cool the gas circuit to be cooled to a first determined temperature, the installation optionally further comprising a cryogenic cooling device in heat exchange with at least a second part of the first set of heat exchanger(s) and configured to cool the gas circuit to be cooled to a second determined temperature lower than the first temperature, the pre-cooling device comprising a closed-circuit refrigerator for pre-cooling fluid, the circuit comprising a a pre-cooling fluid compr