1. An industrial packed column apparatus configured and dimensioned for processing a raw gas feedstream to remove at least a portion of an undesired component by contact with a liquid absorbent, the apparatus comprising:
a. a plurality of tubular members having upper and lower ends aligned in a vertical parallel array to form a first bundle,
b. each tubular member having a packed section positioned between its upper and lower ends, the packed section containing a packing material,
c. each of the tubular members having a lean absorption liquid inlet positioned above the packed section and a rich absorption liquid outlet positioned below the packed section,
d. each of the tubular members having a raw gas feed inlet positioned below the packed section and a treated gas outlet at the top of the tubular member above the packed section,
e. each of the raw feed gas inlets connected to a raw feed gas manifold via control valves for selectively admitting the raw feed gas to one or more of the plurality of tubular members,
f. each of the treated gas outlets being respectively connected via a valved conduit to (i) a treated gas collection manifold and (ii) the raw gas inlet of one or more of the other tubular members in the first bundle,
whereby all or a portion of a treated gas stream exiting a tubular member can pass for further treatment to at least one of the other tubular members in the first bundle.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the first bundle consists of at least three tubular members.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which each of the control valves is a flow control valve that is actuated by a signal that corresponds to a condition detected by one or more sensors that monitor the component load in the effluent in the treated gas andor the rich absorbent liquid.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 that further comprises a programmed processorcontroller with associated memory operatively coupled to one or more component sensors and to the flow control valves.
5. An industrial packed column apparatus comprising at least two bundles constructed in accordance with claim 1, the treated gas manifold of the first bundle being in fluid communication via at least one control valve to the raw feed gas manifold of each of the at least one other bundles
6. The apparatus of claim 5 comprising three bundles, where each bundle contains four tubular members.
7. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the flow control valves are adapted and configured to pass the treated gas from one of the tubular members in a bundle to at least one of the other tubular members in the same bundle in response to a signal transmitted by the processorcontroller.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 in which each of the lean absorption liquid inlets are in fluid communication with a lean absorption liquid manifold, and each of the rich absorption liquid outlets are connected via valved conduits to a manifold that is in fluid communication with an absorption liquid regeneration system.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the plurality of packed tubular members are contained in a close-fitting array in a pre-existing packed column vessel from which the packing material and internal structure has been removed to provide a retrofitted industrial packed column.
10. An industrial packed column system for processing a raw gas feedstream to remove at least a portion of an undesired component by contact with a liquid absorbent to meet an end product specification, the system comprising:
a. a plurality of tubular members having upper and lower ends aligned in a vertical parallel array to form a first bundle,
b. each tubular member having a packed section positioned between its upper and lower ends, the packed section containing a packing material,
c. each of the tubular members having a lean absorption liquid inlet positioned above the packed section and a rich absorption liquid outlet positioned below the packed section,
d. each of the tubular members having a raw gas feed inlet positioned below the packed section and a treated gas outlet at the top of the tubular member above the packed section,
e. each of the raw feed gas inlets connected to a raw feed gas manifold that is in fluid communication with a source of the raw gas feedstream,
f. at least one flow control valve associated with each of the raw feed gas inlets for selectively admitting the raw feed gas to one or more of the plurality of tubular members,
g. each of the respective treated gas outlets being connected via a valved conduit to (i) a treated gas collection manifold and (ii) the raw gas inlet of one or more of the other tubular members in the first bundle,
whereby all or a portion of a treated gas stream exiting a tubular member can pass for further treatment to at least one of the other tubular members in the first bundle;
h. a programmed processorcontroller and associated memory operatively coupled to flow control valves that are actuated by a signal that corresponds to a condition detected by one or more sensors that monitor the component load in the treated gas andor the absorbent rich liquid, the programmed processorcontroller configured and adapted to (i) compare the actual component load data received from one or more of the sensors to historical system operating data stored in the memory, and (ii) to transmit a signal to actuate one or more of the flow control valves to (iii) effectuate the continued treatment of the feed gas or (iv) to pass the treated gas to the treated gas collection manifold for discharge from the system.
11. The industrial packed column system of claim 10 further comprising:
j. a rich liquid absorbent manifold connected to each of the rich absorption liquid outlets;
k. a lean liquid absorbent manifold connected to each of the lean liquid absorption inlets;
l. a rich liquid absorbent regeneration unit in fluid communication with the rich liquid absorbent manifold;
m. one or more flow control valves operatively coupled to the processorcontroller to effectuate the transfer of the rich liquid absorbent to the lean liquid absorbent manifold and to return lean liquid absorbent to the lean liquid absorbent manifold.
12. The system of claim 11 that comprises at least two bundles linked in fluid communication.
13. The system of claim 12 in which the treated gas manifold of the first bundle is in fluid communication via a valved conduit with the raw feed gas manifold of at least a second bundle, whereby at least a portion of the treated gas stream can pass from the first bundle to the second bundle for further treatment.
14. The system of claim 13 in which the processorcontroller is programmed to mix a portion of the untreated raw feed gas with a portion of treated feed gas that exceeds the end product specification to provide a treated gas stream end product that meets the specification.
15. A method of processing a raw gas feedstream to remove at least a portion of an undesired component by contact with a liquid absorbent to produce a treated gas stream containing a predetermined desired lower concentration of the undesired component, the process comprising:
a. providing a plurality of tubular members having upper and lower ends aligned in a vertical parallel array to form a first bundle,
each tubular member having a packed section positioned between its upper and lower ends, the packed section containing a packing material,
each of the tubular members having a lean absorbent liquid inlet positioned above the packed section, means for distributing the absorbent liquid over the upper surface of the packing materials, and a rich absorbent liquid outlet positioned below the packed section,
each of the tubular members having a raw gas feed inlet positioned below the packed section and a treated gas outlet at the top of the tubular member above the packed section,
each of the raw feed gas inlets connected to a raw feed gas manifold via control valves for selectively admitting the feed gas to one or more of the plurality of tubular members,
each of the treated gas outlets being respectively connected via a valved conduit to (i) a treated gas collection manifold and (ii) the raw gas inlet of one or more of the other tubular members in the first bundle;
b. introducing a lean liquid absorbent into the packed section via the liquid inlet;
c. introducing the raw gas stream into the raw gas inlet of one of the tubular members and into contact with the absorbent liquid in the packed section, and passing a treated gas stream from the tubular member;
d. determining whether the concentration of the undesired component in the treated gas stream passed from the tubular member is equal to or less than the desired lower concentration; and
e. passing the treated gas stream having a concentration of the undesired compound at or less than the desired lower value to the treated gas collection manifold, or transferring the treated gas stream having a concentration of the undesired compound greater than the desired lower value to the raw feed gas inlet of another tubular member in the first bundle and repeating steps (d) and (e), above.
16. The method of claim 15 which includes determining the concentration of the undesired component in the treated gas stream by analyzing a signal transmitted by a sensor, the signal being received by a programmed computerprocessor with memory and compared to stored historical data corresponding to the concentration of the undesired component.
17. The method of claim 15 where the undesired component is water and the process includes:
a. analyzing a sample of the raw wet feed gas to determine the water load;
b. selecting the water load specification desired for the treated end product and entering that value into the programmed processor;
c. compare the water load data of the raw gas analysis with the historical data and select a matching value or the closest water load having a higher value;
d. conduct a process simulation on the programmed computer to predict system performance;
e. actuate flow control valve settings for multiple passes andor mixing of treated and partially-treated feed for individual tubular members and any additional bundles present;
f. introduce feed into system and monitor water load of treated gas from each tubular member or bundle using data signals transmitted by one or more sensors;
g. transmit the signals from the one or more sensors to the programmed processorcontroller for analysis;
h. continue the operation of the system with the control valves as set in step (e), or adjust the control valves to modify the flow path of the partially treated feed in response to the analysis in step (g) of the data from the sensors;
i. recover a treated gas stream product of reduced water load meeting the product specification selected in step (b).
18. The method of claim 16 which further comprises:
collecting and maintaining as a table in the memory, historical data corresponding to the operation of the system under a plurality of water load conditions in the raw gas feed stream;
accessing the historical operational data to identify a matching or higher water load; and
establishing an initial programmed setting to actuate the flow control valves.
19. The method of claim 15 in which the treated gas stream is passed from the treated gas stream manifold of the first bundle to the raw gas stream manifold of a second bundle for further treatment.
20. The method of claim 17 where the liquid absorbent is selected from the group consisting of triethylene glycol, ethylene glycol, methyl ethylene glycol, methyldiethanolamine, and mixtures thereof.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A management system, comprising:
a raw pull indicator database which receives inputs comprising data from participant nodes;
a system comprising execution logic which operates on certain data of the data from the raw pull indicator; and
a disposition system which feedbacks quality and reliability data of the participants based on the data operated on by the system.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the participant nodes comprise at least one of (i) a component supplier node, (ii) a subsystem supplier node, (iii) a system manufacturer node, (iv) a system integrator node and (v) a field service node.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the participant nodes include build records which provide backward traceability of components used.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the system compares the certain data of the data of different nodes to determine data reliability.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the participant nodes are entirely hardware, entirely software or a combination of hardware and software elements.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the data comprises at least one of in process test yield data, final test yield, and incoming inspection categorized as in-process test.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the system enables original equipment manufacturing (OEM) engineers to customize a list of tests which are to be monitored.
8. The system of claim 6, wherein the data further comprises:
for a first node of the participant nodes: in process parametric test data and final test parametric data;
for a second node of the participant nodes: in process test yield data, final test parametric data and record data;
for a third node of the participant nodes: failure analysis and disposition records, record data and field upgrade and replace unit build data;
for a fourth node of the participant nodes: build data; and
for a firth node of the participant nodes: installation and repair action data and failure analysis and disposition data.
9. The system of claim 8, where in the execution logic of the system requests upstream action requirements, in response to when the correlation does not satisfy a predetermined limit.
10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a failure analysis tool associated with the disposition system to assist in a determination of a specific action in response to the quality and reliability data.
11. The system of claim 10, further comprising a downstream database which stores historical information about upstream participants, the downstream database being accessible by the execution logic to assist in making the specific action of claim 10.
12. A method comprising:
obtaining data from at least two participant source nodes in a supply chain;
correlating the data to determine data reliability of the participants in the supply chain; and
feeding back reliability data of the participants based upon the obtained data.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing a feedback loop for connecting the at least two participant source nodes associated with each of the participants.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the correlation of data includes correlating final test yield data of an upstream participant and incoming inspection data of a downstream participant in a multilevel manufacturing process chain.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein the correlation of data includes correlating field repair action data with upstream test yield in a multilevel manufacturing process chain.
16. The method of claim 14, further comprising making a determination that the correlation of the final test yield data of the upstream participant and yield data of the downstream participant incoming inspection meets a predetermined level and, if not so, driving an upstream action and, if so, the yield data will be considered reliable and used as a supplier quality indicator.
17. The method of claim 16, further comprising when the yield data is considered reliable, providing the reliable yield data to a quality problem workflow management system and using the reliable yield data to either provide a quick diagnosis or a failure analysis, and providing a disposition based on results of either the quick diagnosis or the failure analysis.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein:
the disposition triggers action taken by an OEM upon upstream participants andor upon the OEM; and
the upstream actions include at least one of a request of the upstream participant to perform burn-in test, to submit parametric test data, to be responsible for warranty cost and the OEM develops a backup source for supplying components or subassemblies; and
the actions upon the OEM includes at least one of:
stop shipments from the upstream participant;
recall components; and
screen incoming components from the upstream participant.
19. The method of claim 12, wherein once a supplier quality problem of an unreliable participant has been identified:
analyzing work flow management of the unreliable participant; and
providing a diagnosis; and
further comprising obtaining information from a user database of historical information about the participants to provide the diagnosis.
20. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium including a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:
receive inputs comprising yield data from participant nodes;
compare the yield data from the participant nodes;
determine reported data reliability of participants associated with the participant nodes based on the compared data; and
feedback reliability data of the participants based upon the compared data.