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INTRODUCTION Quantum Technology is a leading scientific equipment supplier. For the last thirty years we served our customers by tailoring our products to each customer s unique requirements. Quantum Technology has a proprietary high-purity Helium recovery system, specially designed to research laboratories using up to 60 liters/hour of helium. The Quantum Technology recovery system has unique features, which makes it a leader in its field: thus, it is being a full closed-loop system recovering the entire boiloff when and where it occurs. The boiloff is offtaken by a high-capacity compressor which either sends it in a storage tank, or directly to the helium liquefier. The Quantum Technology system has the following advantages:, as it does not need plastic gas-bags which are volume-consuming, and may develop leaks in time. In addition, lab scale liquefiers can be sensitive to gas contamination (moisture, oxygen, etc) leading to sudden and persistent losses in productivity. from the system: when operating normally loss is close to zero (rates of over 98% are common). As a close, all-metal loop, the Quantum Technology system for purification. While a regular helium recovery system needs traditionally around 0.5-1 liter of nitrogen/liter of helium liquefied, under normal circumstances (no open valves, leaks, etc.) the Quantum Technology system will use the additional purification during start-up of the system a couple of times a year. This way, the savings can amount to thousand of dollars per year. The above features ensure the highest possible gas purity through the entire system, particularly at the liquefier inlet. This will maximize the running time of the liquefier and reduce the down time for maintenance. The high purity is created by combining a cryogenic purifier and an all metal system to prevent O2 or H2O contamination. The system is intended for operation where the volume of gas fluctuates from day-today by using a combination of storage tanks and direct to liquefier piping. This means that the liquefier can be shutoff when not required and the gas can still be recovered into the storage tanks. The system is equipped with a number of safety features to prevent any over pressure from occurring including safety shutoffs and relief valves. Quantum Technology experts assist the customers to design the recovery piping to the cryostats. Quantum Technology Corp. will also assist in the necessary infrastructure design (water, electrical, piping, etc), to enable an efficient commissioning and reliable operation of our customers facilities. 2
3 System Operation: Boiloff is captured both from liquid transfers and quiescent boil-off of the cryostats, and is piped back to the recovery manifold. If the boiloff rate is sufficient to supply the liquefier s needs, it is diverted straight through the purifier (when needed gas purity meter will indicate the purification needs, if any) and on to the liquefier. If the boiloff rate is too low, the flow into liquefier is supplemented with the gas held in the storage tanks. Only when the boiloff rate is too great for the liquefier (during transfers for example), the recovery compressor automatically turns on, stores the excess gas, then detects when there is no more gas to recover and shuts down. This minimizes the amount of time the compressor is running, thus reducing the operating costs. FLOW DIAGRAM:
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5 HIGH CAPACITY HELIUM RECOVERY SYSTEM Helium Recovery Compressor (High Capacity) to take the full flow of boiled helium when transferred. Features: 1. High purity helium compressor and gas management panel. 2. Quiet operation: only 64 db. 3. Capable of compressing up 60 liquid litres of helium boil-off per hour, which is sufficient for the full recovery of gas during large transfers of LHe into warm dewars. 4. Equipped with flow-meter in order to: a. monitor the rate of production of liquid helium. PLC - Programmable logic controller controlled for auto mation. b. allow for automatic activation of large compressor as needed c. maintain the customer s dewar within a controlled pressure range d. ensure the room temperature pu rification of helium after compres sion, when necessary Please specify phase and voltage when ordering: Model Q09.4-HR3-460-3: 10 Hp (7.5kW) 3 phase 460VAC 60Hz/400V 50Hz Model Q09.4-HR3-208-3: 10 Hp (7.5kW) 3 phase 208VAC 60Hz/200V 50Hz Model Q09.4-HR3-240-1: 10 Hp (7.5kW) 1 phase 240V 60Hz/220V 50Hz Connections: 1. Low pressure pure gas output to liquefier; 2. Medium pressure gas to / from recovery tanks; 3. Helium gas connection to high pressure cylinders for makeup of helium Specifications: Size 25x30x44in (LxWxH) Weight 463 lb Motor 10 hp Cooling Air-cooled, water cooling not required Electric Power.
CRYOGENIC HELIUM PURIFICATION Quantum Technology produces several types of cryogenic purifiers designed for use with helium liquefiers and include the option of a vacuum jacketed transfer line on the outlet. They are also suitable for other applications requiring purified helium gas. Capacities for the models quoted below are up to about 60 liters per day (liquid helium equivalent) of helium gas with ~1% inlet impurities. Both systems quoted below can be designed for higher capacity as well. included. The advantage of this system is that LN2 is not required. The disadvantage is the higher cost. uses LN2 for cooling. Autofill and manual regeneration controls are included. This system requires a supply of LN2. LN2 consumption is approximately the same in liters as the flow of helium gas through the purifier, calculated as a liquid equivalent. The advantage of this system is the lower price., uses a cold head for cooling. Manual regeneration tools are 6
7 HELIUM PURITY METER Thermal conductivity type gas analyzer for detecting 0.01% up to 99.995% air in Helium (customer must specify desired purity accuracy). Features: 1. Designed for sampling and quantitative analysis of binary process streams of industrial gases and other gas mixing, cylinder identification, and atmosphere control applications. 2. Digital readout of percent air in helium in 0.01% increments 3. Thermal conductivity meter with digital display 4. Dual pass (reference gas required) 5. Bench top instrument includes connections for reference pure helium - operator sets zero by means of known cylinder of pure reference gas. Specifications: Installation: bench or 19 rack mount Power: 115-230 V, 50-60 Hz, 60W Options: Alarm relay output if threshold impurity exceeded (model Q11.4-TC-20 HGR-AR). Warranty: 1 year parts / factory service. 3