The disclosure relates to the field of pressure swing adsorption (PSA) separation and purification of hydrogen (H2) and ammonia (NH3) in the semiconductor industry, and more specifically relates to a full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA process for extracting H2/NH3 from gallium nitride metal oxide chemical vapor deposition (GaN-MOCVD) process exhaust gas.
A metal oxide chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process (equipment), as a modern method and means in researching and producing compound semiconductor materials, is an indispensable method (equipment) in the optoelectronics and semiconductor industry for manufacturing light-emitting diodes, lasers, detectors, high-efficiency solar cells, photocathodes, and other products based on gallium nitride (GaN) compound semiconductor materials. For example, blue and purple LEDs widely used in the market are produced using GaN based materials. An MOCVD epitaxial process uses a high-purity metal oxide (MO), such as trimethylgallium (TMGa), as an MO source, which is carried by an electron level carrier gas hydrogen (H2) and/or nitrogen (N2), and enters an MOCVD reactor with electron level ammonia (NH3). On a sapphire (Al2O3) substrate heated to an appropriate temperature, the gaseous metal oxide TMGa is controlled to be transported to the surface of the sapphire substrate to grow a semiconductor thin film epitaxial material GaN having specific components, specific thickness, and specific electrical and optical parameters. To ensure complete reaction in an MOCVD reaction chamber, excessive H2/N2 and NH3 are provided, resulting in production of MOCVD process exhaust gas containing plenty of H2/N2 and NH3. The typical composition of MOCVD epitaxial exhaust gas of LED GaN includes: H2: 55% (v/v, similar below), N2: 25%, and NH3: 14%, and the balance of small or trace amounts of metal ions, particulate matters, methane (CH4), oxygen (O2), and oxides such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and water (H2O).
Due to the presence of the highly corrosive NH3, the flammable and explosive H2, the metal ions, and the oxides in the GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas produced by LED preparation, it is quite difficult to purify and recover NH3 and return it to an LED process. At present, most LED chip manufacturers recover NH3 by first removing or converting the corrosive NH3 into ammonia water, ammonium fertilizer, and the like by various means such as water washing, catalytic conversion, adsorption, and distillation. The NH3 provided in the LED-MOCVD process still needs to be supplied by a specialized gas company. Due to low concentration of H2 and a large amount of N2, the exhaust gas after deamination is generally further processed such as removal of harmful and toxic impurities by catalytic combustion or acid-alkali washing and then enters a hydrogen emission system or is directly vented, or H2 is recovered by traditional axial flow fixed bed PSA.
Several traditional methods mainly recovering NH3 from ammonia containing waste gas, such as a freezing method, a water washing (water rising) method, a sulfuric acid absorption method, a phosphate (ammonium) absorption and distillation coupling method, an organic solvent absorption method, an adsorption method (mainly TSA), an adsorption and distillation coupling method, a catalytic combustion method, and a catalytic ammonia decomposition method, have a long process, can only produce intermediate products such as industrial ammonia water or amine fertilizer for utilization, but cannot directly recover and return ammonia to a GaN-MOCVD process for recycling. The temperature swing adsorption (TSA) method is only suitable for deamination purification of exhaust gas with a low ammonia concentration, and the purified gas which meets an emission requirement is emitted. However, the desorbed gas after adsorption is rich in ammonia, which is produced into ammonia water, ammonia fertilizer, and the like through water absorption, etc. Or through catalytic combustion, combustible components such as ammonia, hydrogen, and methane in the exhaust gas are subjected to high-temperature catalytic oxidation, and then the exhaust gas is subjected to subsequent treatment and emitted when meeting the emission standard, but ammonia cannot be directly recovered and reused. The catalytic ammonia decomposition method is to perform catalytic decomposition of ammonia in exhaust gas with a high ammonia concentration at high temperature into H2 and N2, which are then recovered after treatment, but ammonia cannot be recovered and reused either.
The existing new technologies for recovering H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas typically include Chinese patent “Full Temperature range PSA Full Component Recovery and Recycling Method from LED-MOCVD Process Exhaust Gas (CA 201810532108.0)”, US patents “Methods of Extracting and Recycling Hydrogen from MOCVD Process Exhaust Gas by FTrPSA (U.S. Ser. No. 16/423,167)”, and “Methods of Extracting and Recycling Ammonia from MOCVD Process Exhaust Gas by FTrPSA (U.S. Ser. No. 16/423,181)”, etc. The above processes involve an ammonia concentration PSA process including 5-6 adsorption towers in a first stage, with the maximum condensation rate of about 90%. However, non-adsorbed phase gas generated in the ammonia concentration process, which remains in an H2 purification process including 5-6 adsorption towers in a second stage, has a relatively high residual concentration of ammonia, as PSA hydrogen purification feed gas entering the second stage. Therefore, the PSA hydrogen purification efficiency in the second stage greatly decreases, residual ammonia needs to be absorbed by additional water washing, and trace amounts of ammonia needs to be purified and removed by TSA, resulting in a longer process flow, higher investment, and larger occupation of area. In particular, an axial flow fixed bed PSA process in the second stage uses a large number of matched program control valves and regulating valve groups, which greatly affects stable device operation and cost. Also, when the ammonia yield reaches 98%, the H2 yield is only 75-85%, and thus high purity and high yield of simultaneous recovery of H2/NH3 cannot be achieved.
The disclosure provides a new process called Full Temperature range Simulated Rotated moving PSA (FTrSRMPSA) for separating and extracting H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas. The process is a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) based method that makes the most of the temperature and pressure of GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas, as well as the differences in adsorption separation coefficients and physicochemical properties between H2—N2 and the main adsorbate NH3 component in the feed gas in a temperature range of 60-130° C. and a pressure range of 0.2-4.0 MPa. The process includes a medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system and an intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system, which form a system with compressors, condensing freezers, heat exchangers, buffer tanks and process pipelines, and include multiple axial flow fixed bed adsorption towers arranged in the center of upper and lower two multichannel rotary valves, mounted on the periphery of an annular rotary tray, and connected through pipelines, and mechanisms for regulating the rotation direction and speed as well as the rotation direction and speed of the annular rotary tray. For the gas flowing through rotary valve channels, pipelines connected between the inlet and outlet ends of the channels and the inlet and outlet ends of the adsorption towers, and adsorption bed layers rotated and moved in the adsorption towers, mass transfer in respective adsorption and desorption steps is completed while the gas entering and exiting the inlet and outlet of each adsorption tower and each adsorption bed layer while rotating. Thus, the simulated rotated moving bed PSA process is formed, a simulated rotated moving bed PSA process based on axial flow fixed bed PSA is achieved, and H2 and NH3 products with high purity and high yield are obtained by adsorption and desorption multistep cycle operation and returned to a GaN-MOCVD process for recycling. The specific solution is as follows:
A full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA process for extracting H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD exhaust gas is provided, where the full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA system includes a multi-tower medium temperature PSA concentration system (including a driving mechanism) with n (4≤n≤40, a natural integer) adsorption towers, a multi-tower medium and low temperature intermediate gas PSA system (including a driving mechanism) with n′ (4≤n′≤40, a natural integer) adsorption towers, an H2 product gas (H2PG)/feed gas (F)/intermediate gas (IG)/nitrogen-rich desorbed gas (N2D) buffer tank, a liquid ammonia product storage tank, a feed gas compressor 1/intermediate gas compressor 2, a feed gas heat exchanger 1 (heater)/ammonia concentrated gas heat exchanger 2 (cooler)/condenser freezer, and corresponding material and process pipelines. The medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system including the n axial flow fixed composite bed adsorption towers (“n adsorption towers” for short) loaded with various adsorbents and having a certain height to diameter ratio, and the intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system including the n′ axial flow fixed composite bed adsorption towers (“n′ adsorption towers” for short) loaded with various adsorbents and having a certain height to diameter ratio, are formed by the n adsorption towers and the n′ adsorption towers (i.e., n+n′ adsorption towers) arranged uniformly at intervals respectively on the annular rotary tray with a rotation speed of ω2 (second/revolution), the corresponding driving mechanisms, m (5≤m≤36, a natural integer) channels and m′ (5≤m′≤36, a natural integer) channels arranged in the center of the annular tray, and the upper and lower two independently rotating multichannel rotary valves with the rotation speeds of ω1 (second/revolution) and ω1′ (second/revolution) respectively. The upper rotary valve is called an m-channel rotary valve for short, and the lower rotary valve is called an m′-channel rotary valve for short. Inlet and outlet ends of the m- and m′-channels are respectively connected to inlets and outlets of the m-/m′-channel rotary valves, inlets and outlets of the internal pipelines of the rotary tray, and inlet and outlet ends of the n/n′ adsorption towers through material and process pipelines that are respectively connected to the internal pipelines of the annular rotary tray and the inlet and outlet ends of corresponding n adsorption towers/n′ adsorption towers and connected to the H2 product gas/feed gas/intermediate gas/nitrogen-rich desorbed gas buffer tanks and the feed gas compressor 1/heat exchanger 1/intermediate gas compressor 2/ammonia concentrated gas heat exchanger 2/ammonia condenser freezer. The process flow is as follows: the exhaust gas generated in a GaN-MOCVD epitaxial process is used as the feed gas (F), which typically includes the following main components: 55% (v/v, similar below) of hydrogen (H2), 25% of nitrogen (N2), 20% of ammonia (NH3), and the balance of small or trace amounts of metal ions, particulate matter, methane (CH4), oxygen (O2), and oxides including carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) at a temperature of 25-40° C. and a normal or slightly positive pressure. The feed gas (F) flowing out of the feed gas buffer tank, which is heated by the heat exchanger 1 to 80-120° C. and pressurized by the compressor 1 to 0.6-0.8 MPa, enters the channels of the m-channel rotary valve in the medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system, and enters a certain adsorption tower of the n adsorption towers through the internal pipelines of the annular rotary tray, for medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration. Ammonia concentrated gas (NH3CG) consisting of ammonia-rich depressurization gas (NH3D) and ammonia-rich purge waste gas (NH3PW) continuously produced from the system has an ammonia concentration of greater than or equal to 90-95%, and is cooled to 25-40° C. by the heat exchanger 2 before entering an ammonia condensation and refrigeration unit. A resulting condensate is a liquid ammonia product (NH3PL), which has a concentration of 99.99-99.999% and a yield of 98-99%, and is fed into a liquid ammonia product tank. Resulting non-condensable gas enters the intermediate gas (IG) buffer tank as low pressure intermediate gas (LPIG), and the non-adsorbed phase gas flowing out of the medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system enters the intermediate gas (IG) buffer tank as low pressure intermediate gas (LPIG), flows out of the buffer tank together with the non-condensable gas as the low pressure intermediate gas (LPIG), and is pressurized by the intermediate gas (IG) compressor 2 to 2.0-3.0 MPa to form high pressure intermediate gas (HPIG). The high pressure intermediate gas (HPIG) enters the channel of the m′-channel rotary valve of the intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system, and enters a certain adsorption tower of the n′ adsorption towers through an internal pipeline of the annular rotary tray, for intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification. A non-adsorbed phase hydrogen gas product (H2PG) is continuously produced from the system, and has a purity of 99.99-99.999% and a yield of 92-95%. The nitrogen-rich desorbed gas (N2D) of the absorbed phase continuously flowing out of the system enters the nitrogen-rich desorbed gas (N2D) buffer tank and flows out, or is directly discharged, or is subjected to cryogenic nitrogen production and H2 recovery, or undergoes membrane separation for H2 recovery. Thus, a complete full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA (FTrSRMPSA) separation and purification process for producing high-purity and high-yield H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas as the feed gas is formed. A high-purity H2 product gas (H2PG) with a purity greater than or equal to 99.99% and a yield greater than or equal to 92%, and a liquid ammonia product (NH3PL) with a purity greater than or equal to 99.99% and a yield greater than or equal to 98% are obtained from the GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas, and returned to the GaN-MOCVD process for recycling.
Further, in the full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA process for extracting H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD exhaust gas, the regulation and matching of rotation directions of the m- and m′-channel rotary valves and the annular rotary tray in the medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system and the intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system and rotation speeds (ω1, ω1′ and ω2) thereof, include: 1) synchronization in the same direction, i.e., rotating clockwise or counterclockwise in the same direction, with ω1=ω1′=ω2/≠0, and 2) asynchronization in the same direction, i.e., rotating clockwise or counterclockwise in the same direction, with either ω1≠0≥ω1′≠0/ω2=0, or ω1≠0≤ω1′≠0/ω2=0, or ω1=ω1′=0/ω2≠0, preferably, asynchronization in the same direction, i.e., clockwise or counterclockwise rotation in the same direction with ω1≠0≤ω1′≠0/ω2=0.
Further, in the full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA process for extracting H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD exhaust gas, the n adsorption towers in the medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system sequentially and alternately go through adsorption and desorption cycle operation steps of adsorption (A), equalization drop (ED)/purge pressurization (PP), depressurization (D)/purge (P), equalization rise (ER)/waiting area (-), and final repressurization (FR), where the maximum number of times of equalization is 2, including first equalization drop (E1D)/first equalization rise (E1R) and second equalization drop (E2D)/second equalization rise (E2R); the steps of purge pressurization (PP) and waiting (-) need to be flexibly arranged according to the alternating timing of each adsorption tower during the PSA cycle operations; the n adsorption towers sequentially and alternately going through the PSA cycle operation steps is achieved by regulation and matching of rotation directions of the m-channel rotary valve and the annular rotary tray in the medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system and rotation speeds (ω1 and ω2) thereof, and each channel in the m-channel rotary valve alternately switching materials and process gas flowing in the PSA cycle operation process at regular intervals to enter the n adsorption towers to perform the PSA cycle operations.
Further, in the full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA process for extracting H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD exhaust gas, the n′ adsorption towers in the intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system sequentially and alternately go through adsorption and desorption cycle operation steps of adsorption (A), equalization drop (ED)/purge pressurization (PP), depressurization (D)/purge (P), equalization rise (ER)/waiting area (-), and final repressurization (FR), where the maximum number of times of equalization is 3, including first equalization drop (E1D)/first equalization rise (ER), second equalization drop (E2D)/second equalization rise (E2R), and third equalization drop (E3D)/third equalization rise (E3R); the steps of purge pressurization (PP) and waiting (-) need to be flexibly arranged according to the alternating timing of each adsorption tower during the PSA cycle operations; the n′ adsorption towers sequentially and alternately going through the PSA cycle operation steps is achieved by regulation and matching of rotation directions of the m′-channel rotary valve and the annular rotary tray in the intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system and rotation speeds (ω1′ and ω2) thereof, and each channel in the m′-channel rotary valve alternately switching materials and process gas flowing in the PSA cycle operation process at regular intervals to enter the n′ adsorption towers to perform the PSA cycle operations.
Further, in the full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA process for extracting H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD exhaust gas, purge gas (P) in the medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system and the intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system which is either purge pressurization gas (PP)/intermediate gas (IG) from inside the system or H2 product gas (H2PG)/ammonia concentrated gas (NH3CG) from outside the system is used to perform purge in batches through one or more openings in the rotary valve channels (conduits), with a maximum of 4 openings, preferably, the purge pressurization gas (PP) from inside the system is used as the purge gas (P).
Further, in the full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA process for extracting H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD exhaust gas, the depressurization (D) step in the medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system and the intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system is performed by vacuumizing for desorption; an added vacuum pump is either connected to a stream pipeline of a desorbed gas (D) outlet rotary valve, or directly connected to an external pipeline connected to an outlet end of the adsorption tower on the annular rotary tray, with a control valve installed on the external pipeline, preferably, the added vacuum pump is directly connected to an external pipeline connected to the outlet end of the adsorption tower on the annular rotary tray, with a control valve installed on the external pipeline.
Further, in the full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA process for extracting H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD exhaust gas, final repressurization gas (FR) in the PSA cycle operation of the medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system and the intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system is either the feed gas (F) from outside the system, or the intermediate gas (IG), or the ammonia concentrated gas (NH3CG), or the H2 product gas (H2PG), and when the purity of the H2 product gas (H2PG) is greater than 99.99%, preferably, the H2 product gas (H2PG) is used as the final repressurization gas (FR).
Further, in the full temperature range simulated rotated moving bed PSA process for extracting H2 and NH3 from GaN-MOCVD exhaust gas, the n adsorption towers and the n′ adsorption towers of the medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system and the intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system are respectively loaded with one or more combined adsorbents of active calcium chloride, activated carbon, and molecular sieves, and one or more combined adsorbents of aluminum oxide, silica gel, activated carbon, molecular sieve, and carbon molecular sieves, preferably, the adsorption towers in the two systems are loaded with two or more combined adsorbents to form composite adsorbent bed layers.
(1) The disclosure simulates an adsorption and desorption cycle operation mode of a traditional full temperature range fixed composite bed layer PSA into a full temperature range rotary wheel moving bed PSA process, obtains, with higher efficiency, products H2 and NH3 with higher purity and yield than fixed bed layer or typical fan-shaped adsorption chamber rotary wheel PSA, breaks through the technical limitation of “inverse proportion between purity and yield” in conventional full temperature range fixed adsorption bed layers, significantly reduces the manufacturing complexity and cost of other moving bed PSA processes and equipment including rotary wheels, simultaneously obtains high-purity H2 product gas and a liquid ammonia product with high yield from an adsorbed phase and a non-adsorbed phase in a PSA separation process of GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas, and returns them to a GaN-MOCVD epitaxial process for recycling, where the H2 product gas has a purity greater than or equal to 99.99-99.999%, and a yield greater than or equal to 92-95%, and the liquid ammonia product has a purity greater than or equal to 99.9-99.99%, and a yield greater than or equal to 98-99%.
(2) By regulating and matching the rotation directions and rotation speeds (ω)/ω1′ and ω2) of the m- and m′-channel rotary valves and the annular rotary tray of the medium and high temperature PSA ammonia concentration system and the intermediate gas PSA hydrogen purification system, the disclosure can achieve PSA cycle operations for adsorption and desorption with multiple combinations and multiple steps on a traditional fixed bed PSA process, can flexibly adjust according to the technical indicator requirements of the products H2/NH3, and includes a combination process of multi-channel rotary valves and traditional fixed bed PSA, a typical fan-shaped adsorption chamber rotary wheel PSA or fast wheel PSA moving bed process, and other existing moving bed PSA processes, such that H2/NH3 with high purity and yield can be extracted and recovered smoothly and continuously by the FTrSRMPSA process using the GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas as the feed gas and returned to the GaN-MOCVD process for recycling, thereby reducing exhaust emissions, recycling waste gas, and further reducing the consumption cost of the GaN-MOCVD process.
(3) By some operations during running of the FTrSRMPSA system, for example, using ammonia containing purge waste gas (NH3PW), generated by using the purge pressurization gas (PP) of an ammonia concentrate adsorbed phase as the purge gas (P), as the ammonia concentrated gas (NH3CG), the disclosure obtains an ammonia recovery rate of 98-99%, and by returning nitrogen containing purge waste gas (N2PW) generated by using the purge pressurization gas (PP) of the nitrogen containing adsorbed phase as the purge gas (P) into the intermediate gas (IG) buffer tank for cycle use, by appropriately adjusting rotation speeds ω1 and ω1′ of the upper and lower m- and m′-channel rotary valves, through a shared channel 3′ with two through holes of the m′-channel rotary valve of the ammonia containing adsorbed phase for the low-pressure intermediate gas (LPIG), the disclosure obtains H2 product gas with a high yield of 92-95%, thereby significantly reducing energy consumption and emissions of desorbed gas, and simultaneously realizing high and low pressure (i.e., “divided concentrations” relative to non-adsorbed hydrogen) adsorption in the GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas, as well as high purity and high yield in a simulated rotated PSA process on the basis of an axial flow fixed bed layer in the PSA process for extracting H2 and NH3 products from adsorbed gas and non-adsorbed gas. The obtained H2 and NH3 are then returned to the GaN-MOCVD process for recycling, thereby reusing the GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas.
(4) The disclosure significantly reduces the number of program control valves and regulating valves in traditional axial flow fixed bed PSA or FTrPSA H2/NH3 extraction devices, and also reduces the complexity in manufacturing fast wheel PSA devices and can replace foreign imports, further reducing investment and production costs.
(5) The disclosure adapts to large fluctuation conditions of the GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas, including components, concentration, pressure, flow rate, and the like by regulating and matching the rotation directions and rotation speeds (ω1/ω1′ and ω2) of the m-/m′-multi-channel rotary valves and the annular rotary tray, has high operation flexibility, and can use conventional particle adsorbents to form a composite adsorbent bed instead of expensive regular adsorbents required for a rotary wheel or fast wheel PSA process.
(6) The disclosure adjusts and matches the rotation directions and rotation speeds of the multi-channel rotary valves and the annular rotary tray in each subsystem of the process, and the adsorption pressure and temperature, and adjusts and designs the height to diameter ratio of the adsorption towers based on the GaN-MOCVD process exhaust gas as the feed gas and the fluctuation conditions thereof, and the technical indicator requirements of the products H2/NH3, such that the radial diffusion in the axial flow fixed bed is negligible and a mature mass transfer model of the axial flow fixed bed is satisfied, and the influence of axial flow diffusion becomes smaller and smaller as the rotation speed of the annular rotary tray increases and the height to diameter ratio decreases, thereby making the mass transfer process inside the adsorption towers closer to a “steady-state” effect of the moving bed represented by a circulating bed, and the H2/NH3 products tend to have high purity and yield.
For those skilled in the art to better understand the disclosure, the technical solutions in the examples of the disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the examples of the disclosure.
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Obviously, the above examples are only a part of the examples of the disclosure, but not all of them. Based on the examples recorded in the disclosure, all other examples obtained without creative work or structural changes made under the teaching of the disclosure by those skilled in the art, which have the same or similar technical solutions to those of the disclosure, fall within the protection scope of the disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202210259581.5 | Mar 2022 | CN | national |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2022/130758 | Nov 2022 | WO |
Child | 18812078 | US |