Heat exchange – Heating and cooling – Heating and cooling of the same material
Patent
1976-08-18
1978-11-28
Davis, Jr., Albert W.
Heat exchange
Heating and cooling
Heating and cooling of the same material
165105, 165110, 55 82, 55269, 62 12, 62 46, 23294R, F25J 308
Patent
active
041271637
ABSTRACT:
A method and apparatus is disclosed for freezing and subliming uranium hexafluoride (UF.sub.6) as part of a gaeous diffusion plant from which a quantity of the UF.sub.6 inventory is intermittently withdrawn and frozen to solidify it. A plurality of upright heat pipes holds a coolant and is arranged in a two compartment vessel, the lower compartment is exposed to UF.sub.6, the higher one serves for condensing the evaporated coolant by means of cooling water. In one embodiment, each pipe has a quantity of coolant such as freon, hermetically sealed therein. In the other embodiment, each pipe is sealed only at the lower end while the upper end communicates with a common vapor or cooling chamber which contains a water cooled condenser. The cooling water has a sufficiently low temperature to condense the evaporated coolant. The liquid coolant flows gravitationally downward to the lower end portion of the pipe. UF.sub.6 gas is flowed into the tank where it contacts the finned outside surface of the heat pipes. Heat from the gas evaporates the coolant and the gas in turn is solidified on the exterior of the heat pipe sections in the tank. To recover UF.sub.6 gas from the tank, the solidified UF.sub.6 is sublimed by passing compressed UF.sub.6 gas over the frozen UF.sub.6 gas on the pipes or by externally heating the lower ends of the pipes sufficiently to evaporate the coolant therein above the subliming temperature of the UF.sub.6. The subliming UF.sub.6 gas then condenses the coolant in the vertical heat pipes, so that it can gravitationally flow back to the lower end portions.
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Bechtel International Corp.
Davis Jr. Albert W.
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