Use of pressure and temperature measurements to infer process variables and to monitor equipment conditions and infer process efficiency in a multi-effect evaporator system
AssigneeFisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc.
InventorWade C. Stewart
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention disclosed herein provides methods for monitoring performance and efficiency for multi-effect evaporator systems. The invention also provides methods for monitoring the nonvolatile content of liquid products by determination of a boiling point rise. The invention involves monitoring methods that are improved over previous methods in view of their simplicity, and/or effectiveness, and/or, low cost. The methods of the invention enable system monitoring and problem diagnosis using measurements of a relatively small number of relatively easily accessible process operating parameters.
Claims28
A method comprising:
- providing an evaporator system including at least two effects, each of the at least two effects containing a liquid mixture comprising a volatile and a nonvolatile content;
- providing at least one of the at least two effects with an inlet vapor supplying energy sufficient to cause the liquid mixture in the effect to boil to form an outlet vapor;
- allowing evaporation to achieve a steady state between the at least two effects;
- obtaining a vapor temperate and a liquid mixture temperature from the at least one of the at least two effects;
- and
- determining a tot nonvolatile content in the liquid mixture from the at least one of the at least two effects from the vapor temperature and the liquid mixture temperature of the at least one of the at least two effects.
A method as in clam 16, wherein both the efficiency and the total nonvolatile content in said liquid mixture is determined for each of determined least two effects from said temperatures.
A method, comprising:
- providing an evaporator system including at least two effects, each of the at least two effects containing a liquid mixture comprising a volatile and a nonvolatile content;
- providing at least one of the at least two effects with an inlet vapor supplying energy sufficient to cause the liquid mixture in the at least one of the at least two effects to boil to form an outlet vapor;
- obtaining a liquid mixture temperature from the at least one of the at least two effects;
- determining an outlet vapor pressure from the at least one of the at least two effects;
- and
- determine a total nonvolatile content in the liquid mixture from the at least one of the at least two effects from The vapor pressure and the liquid mixture temperature of the at least one of the at least two effects.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.