6 Old Ways to Generate Vapor Vs 1 New Way

• There are multiple technologies that can be used to generate vapor streams for industrial, manufacturing, and research applications.
• Traditional vapor generation technologies lack a refined ability for operators to control accuracy and repeatability.
• We’ve developed a new Vapor Generation System, using a Controlled Evaporation Mixer (CEM) combined with a gas and a liquid flow meter, that offers unprecedented control over vapor generation processes.

Generating vapor is a perfect example of how technology development in one area can benefit multiple industries. By combining the accuracy and digital performance of modern mass flow metering and control technology, alongside temperature control, operators can control and generate vapor as never before. Vapor generation is a critically necessary task, but it’s also a complex and expensive process. Furthermore, there are multiple methods for achieving the dispersion of liquid into a vapor phase. The variety of methods is a reflection of the approach from many to compensate for the lack of awareness of a commercially viable solution. For example, some of the examples that we have come across include:

1. dew-point generator (bubbler system)
2. mixed-flow generator
3. static method of humidity generation
4. two-pressure process
5. two-temperature process
6. saturated salt solutions

Old Technology that can Generate Vapor Streams

Each of these methods can control the concentration (volume per volume) of liquid in gas to achieve the desired end result. However, these methods do not offer high levels of accuracy or repeatability. And in research and manufacturing processes, repeatability and even traceability are critical aspects for producing uniform products and data across multiple process runs. Ultimately, operators want to produce identical products and data from batch to batch, and that’s quite a challenge with traditional technologies that generate vapor.

What Industries Miss when Attempting to Generate Vapor Streams in a Reliable Manner

There are many industries that need or would benefit from accurate and repeatable methods to generate vapor. This requirement is essential for a wide range of applications such as biomedical research, technical fabric manufacturers, glass coating, catalyst or graphene research and development, semiconductor manufacturing, bulk food packaging, machine manufacturing, and much more.

There are, as always, a few common themes among each of these operators. In application development, the drive is always to increase or decrease something. For example, it could be decreasing cost, waste, yield, or raw materials. Almost every aspect of an application will either have an increase or decrease requirement.

New Technology to Improve Vapor Generation Methods

By utilizing a Controlled Evaporating Mixer to generate vapor, operator can improve many critical aspects of their process. For example, this new technology can improve processes through:

• decreasing speed of response to process changes
• reducing raw materials costs
• increasing temperature control accuracy
• offering a quicker turnaround on substrate
• offering a choice of parts per million, parts per billion, mole, or concentration output conditions

How Using Controlled Evaporating Mixers (CEM) to Generate Vapor Streams Can Improve Processes

Typically, to generate vapor streams, processes will introduce liquid into a gaseous stream under high temperature. By using a CEM, operators have an increase in control to each of the inputs. Thereby, they acquire higher control of the output. For example, when we look at dew-point technology to generate vapor, we can see:

• evaporation of the fluid can cause concentration changes in vapor
• differences in back pressure by changing fluid levels
• flow rate changes with fluid level results in changing process conditions
• variations in thermostat accuracy can add temperature variations to the fluid
• high energy consumption due to heating a fluid bed

CEM technology allows users to generate vapor in an improved manner by removing sources of variation from the input. This Vapor Generation System combines liquid flow control from a Coriolis mass flow meter (MFM) and gas flow control from a thermal bypass mass flow controller (MFC) with a temperature controlled flow path. In doing so, operators can better predict the conditions of the resultant vapor stream. Once operators achieve an output with a known input combination, they can replicate the results in a highly repeatable manner.

For example, in the picture above, we know that the input conditions will generate the vapor streams necessary for process requirements. As a result, this Vapor Generation System offers a high level of control that is not available in the other vapor generation processes.

How CEM Technology Works

With direct control of the liquid and gas flows into a temperature controlled flow path, it is easy to change the input conditions and predict consistent process conditions. The Coriolis liquid mass flow meter and thermal bypass gas flow controller link directly to a 3-way mixing valve on top of a temperature controlled flow path. By passing the liquid and gas through the valve orifice, the combined flow is aerosolized before being heated. As a result, this ensures a complete vaporization of the liquid in the gas stream.

As a result, our Vapor Generation System is able to produce highly accurate and controllable vapor streams. For example, this technology integrates heat tracing functions that ensure process streams remain in vapor phase throughout the entire process. In addition, the user-friendly, color touchscreen offers highly functional controls such as totalizer, continuous operation mode, easy setpoint and flow rate adjustment, and more.

• highly accurate and repeatable process control
• data logging and WebMI capabilities
• user-friendly, color touchscreen interface
• continuous operation or totalizer mode for batching
• Modbus interface, ethernet enabled
• heat tracing to maintain vapor phase

If you have a specific composition in mind, then check out our free online database, Fluidat. Navigate to www.fluidat.com to register and see for yourself what is possible.