Aeronex, Inc.

Entegris, Inc.

Cymer, Inc.

Peter K Shogren

Jeffrey J Spiegelman

Joshua T Cook

Stenio Da Costa Pereira

Daniel Alvarez, Jr

Rocky D Gipson

Gregory D Rice

Thomas R Gaffney

Daimhin Paul Murphy

Abneesh Srivastava

High-purity gas purifiers for purification of corrosive gases, such as halogen gases or halide gases, and noncorrosive gases, such as hydrogen and inert gases, methods of making and methods of using the gas purifiers, are described. The gas purifier includes a housing made of nickel or stainless steel. Within the housing, the gas purifier includes a purifier resin, including a modifi-er coated onto a substrate. The gas purifier further includes porous nickel membranes located at the inlets and outlets of the device. The inlets and outlets are capable of fluid communication with external fixtures.

High purity gas purifier

High-purity gas purifiers for purification of corrosive gases, such as halogen gases or halide gases, and noncorrosive gases, such as hydrogen and inert gases, methods of making and methods of using the gas purifiers, are described. The gas purifier includes a housing made of nickel or stainless steel. Within the housing, the gas purifier includes a purifier resin, including a modifier coated onto a substrate. The gas purifier further includes porous nickel membranes located at the inlets and outlets of the device. The inlets and outlets are capable of fluid communication with external fixtures.

The invention relates to a gas purifier that removes moisture and oxygen from inert gases and reducing gases, for example, at sub-atmospheric pressures. The purifier can remove part per million levels of moisture in a gas stream to less than 100 parts per trillion by volume, and has a low pressure drop and a sharp breakthrough curve.

Gas purifier

A method is disclosed for providing a pure gas for use medical procedures in which the gas is contaminated with other gases during the procedure, and then separating the contaminants and recovering and reusing the decontaminated gas. The method is most advantageously used in medical imaging processes, such as magnetic resonance image (MRI), where hyperpolarized image enhancing noble gases, notably He or Xe , are used for image enhancement in brain and lung imaging, and in which the contaminants are normally the exhalant gases from the imaged patient. The contaminated gas is passed through a series of drying and purification steps to remove the exhalant gases and separate the gas. The purified gas is then recovered and stored for reuse. This system prevents the loss of significant amounts of the image enhancing gases, which is important since key gases such as He and Xe are rare and expensive, and (especially He ) permanently lost once vented. Recovery of medical process gases such as those including isotopes of carbon, fluorine or phosphorus is also contemplated. High quality MR images of lung structures and processes and of brain functions can be obtained using the purified gases from this process.

Recovery and purification of gases used in medical processes

A method for the decontamination of fluid (liquid or supercritical) carbon dioxide fluid, especially of hydrocarbon contaminants, down to &lE;100 ppb concentration are described. The critical component is a high silica zeolite, preferably a high silica Y-type zeolite, ZSM-5 or a high silica mordenite, which in a variety of physical forms is capable of decontaminating such fluid CO to &lE;100 ppb, &lE;10-50 ppb, or &tilde;1 ppb, without being detrimentally affected by the supercritical operating environment. The high silica zeolite may be produced by the removal of alumina from a natural or synthetic zeolite while retaining the desirable zeolite structure, to a silica:alumina ratio of from 20-2000:1. Preferably the zeolite is disposed in separate quantities in at least two vessels, which operate alternately. A portion of the purified product from the operating vessel is directed to the other vessel and there used to remove accumulated contaminants from that vessel's zeolite. The process thus provides self-regeneration, in that regeneration of one vessel occurs while the other vessel decontaminates contaminated fluid carbon dioxide, so that use of the two can be alternated for substantially continual production of purified fluid carbon dioxide. The invention provides purified fluid carbon dioxide used in manufacture of such products as high purity electronic, optical, prosthetic or similar products or polymers or pharmaceuticals or in beverages.

Self-regenerative process for contaminant removal from liquid and supercritical CO2 fluid streams

A gas purification apparatus has a housing with an inlet end having an inlet port for gas supply to an interior chamber, and an opposite, outlet end having an outlet port for exit of purified gas from the chamber. The housing is of generally cylindrical shape with a central axis, and the inlet and outlet ports are offset from the central axis towards a lower portion of the housing. A purification medium fills at least the majority of the chamber. The internal wall of the chamber is cylindrical along part of the length of the housing extending from the outlet end, and has a rounded or part-spherical inlet portion extending from the inlet port to the cylindrical part of the internal wall.

Gas purification apparatus

Offset filter housing

A test fixture for a laser gas module offers automatic and manual testing for individual gas module components. Check or pressure relief valves are tested with an increasing pressure ramp caused by a metered gas flow into a ballast tank. Metering orifices are tested by measuring pressure change in a known volume tank as gas to or from the tank is directed through the orifice under test. The fixture includes capability to test valve logic and leakages. Test sequence and results are monitored on a computer display showing a schematic representation of both module and fixture. Manual control of module and fixture components is done via a computer graphic interface.

Gas module orifice automated test fixture

Gas module valve automated test fixture

A gas recovery and reuse/recycle method is disclosed which can readily and economically recover valuable and/or environmentally hazardous gases from a manufacturing or chemical process and then return the gas to the process for reuse, and repeat this many times without significant contamination or degradation of the gas or the produced products. All gas transport, compression and storage equipment is designed and maintained so that it is non-contaminating to the process gas. Commonly the process gas will be a Group VIII gas, preferably He, Ne, Kr or Xe, or a gas which comprises a hazard to the ambient environment or beings therein, such as a carbon oxide gas, a halocarbon gas, an acid-precursor gas, a biologically hazardous gas, or a radioactive gas.

Growing community of inventors

Chula Vista, CA, United States of America

Peter K Shogren