Expansion valve block with co-ordinated high-and low-pressure circuit control means
AssigneeL'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
InventorsGilles Cannet, Clarisse L'Heveder
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to an expansion valve block which is equipped with coordinated means (8) for isolating the high-pressure circuit (3) and the low-pressure circuit (4) such that, when the gas delivery inlet is opened and closed, the two circuits are automatically controlled using the sequence that best guarantees the immunity of the installation.
Claims14
1-13. (canceled)
An expansion valve block for controlling or adjusting the pressure or the flow rate of a fluid, comprising,
- a) a main body within which at least one internal fluid passage between at least one fluid inlet orifice and at least one fluid outlet orifice is formed;
- b) at least one fluid-pressure control means arranged on at least part of said internal fluid passage, the internal fluid passage between said pressure control means and the fluid inlet orifice forming an upstream circuit and the internal fluid passage between said pressure control means and the fluid outlet orifice forming a downstream circuit;
- c) at least one first fluid flow rate control means arranged on at least part of the downstream circuit;
- d) at least one second fluid flow rate control means arranged on at least part of the upstream circuit;
- and
- e) at least one command means for causing a fluid to flow in the passage,
- characterized in that the command means collaborates with the first and second fluid flow rate control means in such a way that, when the operator commands delivery of a fluid in the passage, the opening of the upstream circuit by the second control means occurs before the opening of the downstream circuit by the first control means and, when the operator commands the stopping of the delivery of a fluid in the passage, closure of the downstream circuit by the first control means occurs before closure of the upstream circuit by the second control means.
A method for delivering a fluid in an expansion valve block, said expansion valve block comprising an upstream circuit and a downstream circuit in which the pressure is below the pressure in the upstream circuit, characterized in that when the operator commands the delivery of fluid, the opening of the upstream circuit occurs before the opening of the downstream circuit.
A method for stopping delivery of a fluid in an expansion valve block, said expansion valve block comprising an upstream circuit and a downstream circuit in which the pressure is below the pressure in the upstream circuit, characterized in that when the operator commands the stopping of the delivery of the fluid, closure of the downstream circuit occurs before closure of the upstream circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.