The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 07, 1998
Filed:
Jan. 10, 1997
Walter H Whitlock, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
The BOC Group, Inc., New Providence, NJ (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for purifying a substance in which the substance is rectified within first and second distillation columns to produce a tower overhead in the second distillation column, lean in both heavy and light impurities. The column bottoms produced within the second distillation columns is boiled to provide boil-up within the second distillation column, thereby to initiate formation of an ascending vapor phase. A vapor stream in removed from the second distillation and then fed into a bottom region of the first distillation column to initiate formation of the ascending vapor phase therein. The vapor stream removed from the second distillation column is formed from the ascending vapor phase produced within the second distillation column. The second distillation column is reboiled by a reboiler that can include a reservoir containing a heat exchange fluid that condenses against boiling the column bottoms provided in the second distillation column. The type of heat exchange fluid utilized is selected to have a condensation temperature above bubble point temperature of the column bottoms of the second distillation column.