Cryogenic Vaporizers

Armstrong has developed a specialized knowledge and products for the extremely severe service of cryogenic vaporization.  Our direct steam heated cryogenic vaporizers are unique in this field.  Direct steam heating of cryogenic fluids involves many phenomena not generally encountered in normal process vaporization due to the extreme cold temperatures, the large temperature difference between the heating medium and process fluid, and the potential for condensate freeze-up.  Armstrong/Chemtec has significant field experience with these type units with hundreds in service world-wide.  This field experience, our access to the research of HTRI and HTFS, and our own in-house research and development programs, guarantee our clients the most reliable, technologically advanced, and durable cryogenic vaporizers available.  Our vaporizer designs are the result of hundreds of hours of advanced analysis and testing of thermal performance, thermal stresses, fatigue, and a host of other phenomena which are not often encountered in less severe process duties.

Armstrong/Chemtec has manufactured hundreds of cryogenic vaporizers for various duties such as ethane, ethylene, other low temperature hydrocarbons, and nitrogen.  Direct steam heated vaporizers for cryogenic fluids offer a number of advantages.  Such units are very responsive and able to adjust more or less immediately to process upsets.  These units are especially valuable for:

• vaporizing process upset fluids such as ethylene or propylene on flare systems

• vaporizing ethylene or ethane for consumption out of atmospheric storage systems.

Our designs have evolved from first principles, through in-house and onto field testing to establish both the operating criteria as well as the thermal sizing.  Time has also taught us a number of ways to further improve this equipment by making incremental changes in details of mechanical design, fabrication techniques, and materials of construction.  All these changes have since been field-proven to increase the unit's reliability, responsiveness, and resistance to thermal stresses and fatigue. 

Armstrong/Chemtec gives proper design consideration to, among other aspects:

• Limiting stresses brought about by severe thermal conditions

• Minimizing potential for fatigue failure

• Minimizing response time to load changes

• Proper venting of steam side inerts and adequate steam distribution

• Proper removal of steam condensate to avoid freeze-up

• Design of external controls (when requested)

Armstrong/Chemtec has many years of experience unmatched by others that results in cryogenic vaporizers which work.