Burst pulse cleaning method and apparatus for liquid delivery system

Abstract

A liquid delivery apparatus for vaporizing a liquid to produce a vapor therefrom. The apparatus incorporates a vaporizer with a surface arranged to receive liquid thereon. A liquid feed assembly is provided, including (i) a liquid source and (ii) a liquid flow circuit coupled to the liquid source and arranged to discharge liquid onto the vaporizer surface during liquid vaporization operation. The apparatus features a burst purging assembly including a pressurized gas source joined in gas flow communication with the liquid flow circuit. The pressurized gas source is arranged to introduce a clearance burst of pressurized gas into the liquid flow circuit after completion of the liquid vaporization operation, so that hold-up liquid in the liquid flow circuit and/or vaporizer following completion of the liquid vaporization operation is discharged onto the vaporizer surface and vaporized. Such operation avoids retention of hold-up liquid in the liquid flow circuit until renewal of the liquid vaporization operation, such as would otherwise increase the residence time of liquid in the system, increase the susceptibility of the liquid flow circuit to contamination and plugging, and decrease the operating life of the system between maintenance events.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.