Quench Control - An advanced approach for temperature control
Quench control is used in closed loop refrigerant applications where cooling of the hot recycle gas stream is achieved by direct mixing of a cold multi-phase gas/liquid. The liquids used for quenching are already produced by operation of the refrigeration compressor, so a separate cooler is not needed. Also included is a cooler vessel and a quench fluid line for cooling; the quench fluid maintained in a liquid state through the entirety of the quench fluid line. Yet further included is a quench control valve disposed downstream of the cooler vessel to control a flow rate of the quench fluid routed therein. Also included is a refrigerant suction drum located downstream of the quench control valve and configured to receive the quench fluid from the quench fluid line, the refrigerant suction drum in fluid communication with at least one component for cooling. Figure 1 shows a piping schematic for quench control on the first side-stream of a four-stage refrigeration compressor. In it...