Ge13s019 INTERCHANGING HYDROGEN AND AIR IN HYDROGEN-COOLED GENERATORS INTRODUCTION To avoid having an explosive hydrogen-air mix ture in the generator at any time, either when the generator is being filled with hydrogen prior to being placed in service, or when hydrogen is being removed from the generator prior to opening the generator for inspection or repairs, an inert gas is used for purging ut the air or hydrogen initially within the generator casing, Carbon dioxide is ordinarily used as the purging agent, this gas being supplied in cylinders ‘which are connected to a manifold, These instrue~ tions deseribe the various steps to be followed both in filling the generator with hydrogen before the latter is placed in service, and in removing hydrogen from the generator, using carbon dioxide as the purg- ing agent, REMOVING AIR FROM THE GENERATOR ‘The generator should be at standstill (or on turning tear operation, which Is the equivalent with respect to the operations here considered) preferably, and the chaft eealing eyotem must be in operation. Refer to Operation I of instructions given in the illustration “Operation of Gas Control System”, for valve positions. Carbon dioxide is admitted to the bottom of the gener~ ator through the carbon-dioxide distribution pipe, and the air in the generator is discharged to atmosphere through the hydrogen feed pipe, ‘The admission of carbon dioxide to the generator is controlled by valve (G1) at the carbon-dioxide manifold, with the valves of several of the connected cylinders opened at one time, A pressure of between two and five psig should be maintained ia the generator during Uhe purging, operation. ‘To insure minimum waste of carbon dioxide the rrate of carbon dioxide admitted to the generator should be limited to about 50 cfm, ‘The rate of admission may be estimated from the rate of drop in cylinder pressure by reference to the curves in Fig, 1, For example, with five cylinders discharged together, a total discharge rate of 50 cfm corresponds to a rate of 10 cfm per cylinder, From Fig, 1, this dis~ charge rate, for an initial cylinder temperature of 10 F, would result in a drop in cylinder pressure of, approximately 33 psig per minute, While the generator is being filled with carbon dioxide, the percentage of carbon dioxide in the gas mixture being discharged from the generator to at- mosphere should be measured, Use the carbon diox- ide-air scale of the gas analyzer on the purging con- trol panel or other available means. Carbon dioxide should be admitted to the generator until the percent- age of carbon dioxide in the gas discharged is in ex- cess of 70 percent, The amount of carbon dioxide required to produce a 70 percent concentration will be about 1.0 times the gas volume of the generator if the generator is purged at standstill, If the gen~ erator is purged while in operation, about 1,5 times the volume of the generator will be required, FILLING THE GENERATOR WITH HYDROGEN After purging the air from the generator to obtain 4.70 percent cathon dioxide-in-air mixture in the discharge pipe, hydrogen may be admitted, Refer to ‘Operation IT of the instructions given in the tIlustra- ton, “Operation of Gas Control System”, for valve positions, Hydrogen is admitted to the top of the generator through the hydrogen distribution pipe and the carbon dioxide-air mixture in the generator is discharged to atmosphere through the carbon-dloxide feed pipe and the water drain pipe. Control the ad- mission of hydrogen to the generator with the regu- lators at the hydrogen manifold to maintain a pres~ sure of between two and five psig in the generator. ‘Toward the end of the filling operation, it will be necessary to throttle valve (74) to maintain the re~ quired pressure in the generator, due to the reduced pressure loss in the discharge line with increasing hydrogen content of the discharged gas, Hydrogen may be admitted at the rate of one 200 eubic-foot cylinder in from six to ten minutes, Several cylinders may be discharged together, to save time. Daring the filling operation, the percentage hydro- igen content of the gas mixture being discharged from the generator should be measured, using the hydrogen- ‘carbon-dioxide scale of the gae analyzer at the purg ing control panel (or other means). Hydrogen should ‘he admitted to the generator until the percentage amount of hydrogen in the gas mixture discharged is in excess of 90 percent, ‘The gas analyzer at theGEI-35019_Interchanging Hydrogen and Air hydrogen control panel may then be placed in opera- tion, and should read approximately the same as the analyzer at the purging control panel, (Although the latter reads percent hydrogen tn carbon dioxide and the former percent hydrogen in air, the thermal conductivity of either an hydrogen-carbon-dioxide or hydrogen-air mixture for high percentage values of hydrogen'is nearly the same; hence, the analyzers will read nearly alike.) ‘The amount of hydrogen required to obtain a 90 percent hydrogen concentration in the gas mixture Mischarged from the generator is approximately 1.75 times the gas volume of the generator if the latter is, filled at standstill, With the generator filled at rest, the average percentage concentration of hydrogen in the generator will be higher than the concentration of the discharged gas due to incomplete mixing of the gases in the generator. The readings of the gas an- alyzers will increase to about 96,5 percent hydrogen as the generator comes up to speed and the gases in the generator become well-mixed, With the generator filled in operation, however, as a result of the com- plete mixing of the gases tn the generator the average percentage of hydrogen in the generator will be the suuue as the percentage in the discharged gas; hence, hydrogen will have to be added to increase the per- cent concentration from 90 percent to a value satis factory for efficient operation, The amount of hydro- gen required to obtain a 90 percent hydrogen concen- tration is approximately 2.3 times the gas volume of the generator. The additional amount of hydrogen required to bring the purity up to 96.5 percent is 1.2 times the gas volume of the generator, Hence, twice as much hydrogen in operation (3.5 times the gas, volume of the generator) as at standstill is required to bring the purity up to 96,9 percent, REMOVING HYDROGEN FROM THE GENERATOR ‘The generator should be at standstill, preferably, and the shaft sealing system must be in operation. ‘Refer to Operation T of instructions given in the tLlus~ tration, “Operation of Gas Control System”, for valve positions, these positions being the same as for re~ moving air from the generator with carbon dioxide. With a prossure between two and five psig maintained in the casing carbon-dioxide should be admitted until 1 carbon-dioxide concentration in the discharged gas in excess of 90 percent is obtained, This will require about 1,15 generator volumes of carbon dioxide if the generator is purged at rest, or about 2.5 volumes if it is purged in operation, It should be necessary to do work inside the generator after the hydrogen is removed, the carbon dioxide must be removed with dry air, Ifan air dryer is available, connect It between the air supply and one end of the carbon dioxide manifold, (first removing 2 the plug from the latter) and admit air to the generator through valve (81) with valve (82) closed, Open valves (72) and (4) to permit carbon dioxide to be discharged to atmosphere. Refer to Diagram of Gas Control Sys~ tem and Operation VI in illustration, “Operation of Gas Control system”, for valve positions, if an air dryer is not available ‘connect the air supply to either the bottom or top of the gas dryer and adjust the dryer valves to permit air to enter one end of dryer and be discharged from the opposite ond into the generator, Use the gas analyzer at the purging con- frat panel to measure the percentage of air in the ens mixture discharged from the generator, When most ‘of the carbon dioxide has been removed from the gen- erator, remove the manhole covers from the end shields and direct an air hose into the openings to remove any remaining carbon dioxide from the region In which work is to be done, AVAILABILITY OF CONTENTS OF CO2 CYLINDERS A standard 60-pound cylinder of carbo. dioxide contains, when filled and at 70 F, 45 pounds of liquid and five pounds of gaseous carbon dioxide at a pres. sure of 850 psig, This amount of carbon dioxide is equivalent to 495 cubic feet of carbon dioxide gas at atmospheric pressure and 70 F, If the cylinder is diecharged in tho upright position the liquid in the cylinder will vaporize, reducing its temperature, At the rapid rates of cylinder discharge used in the pure- ing operation, the temperature of the liquid carbon dioxide will fall rapidly until freezing occurs, after which discharge from the cylinder ceases. Fig. 1 shows the calculated percentages of the cylinder contents which may be discharged before freezing occurs at different initial cylinder temperatures, It ts shown, for example, that for an initial temper ature of 70 F about 74 percent of the cylinder con tents may be discharged before freezing occurs. Fig, 2 shows the theoretical pressures in a stand- ard carbon-dioxide cylinder at different temperatures {or different values of the combined density d, which represents the ratto of density of the cylinder contents to the density of water, The quantity d is calculated from the equation 4g = Welght of Coz in eylinder, pounds 62.4 x (capacity of cylinder in cu ft) For a standard cylinder in the filed condition, the combined density dis approximately 0.8, Values of @ corresponding to various degrees of cplinder fling are shown in Fig, 2, ‘The curves in Fig, 2 may be ttsed to determine the approximate contents of cyt inder, which has been partially discharged, from the temperature and pressure in the cylinder, If, for example, a cylinder after partial discharge fas stoodInterchanging Hydrogen and Air GEI-35019 for a sufficient length of time to have reached a con- stant temperature of 70 F, at which the pressure is 760 psig, Fig. 2 indicates that the cylinder contents ‘would have a combined Aensity of 0.16, corresponding to 27 percent of the cylinder contents available, If dry-ice flasks should be used in place of stand- ard carbon-dioxide cylinders, the curves and tabul: tion in Fig, 2 will apply providing the combined density d of the énitial contents of the flask is approximately 08, Fig. 1. When inverted or siphon tube carbon-dioxide cylinders are used with a vaporizer, for the purging operation, no freezing of the carbon dioxide in the cylinder during discharge occurs, so that the entire contents of the cylinder are available, PURGING WITH LIQUID CO2 If inverted or siphon tube cylinders should be used without a vaporizer, as has sometimes been done, Liguid, instead of normally gaseous carbon-dioxide, Estimated rates of drop in cylinder pressure (kH-9767189)GEI-35019_Interchanging Hydrogen and Air would be discharged from thecylinders into the carbon- dioxide feed lines, Since with liquid carbon dioxide discharged from the cylinders, temperatures as low as -110 Fare theoretically attainable in the carbon~ oxide feed line, there is some possibility, when this method of purging is used, that the temperature of the stator casing, at the feed pipe entrance, may be re- duced to a value low enough to cause harmful stresses In the casing, This method of purging cannot, there- fore, be recommended, Fig. 2. Pressure exerted by carbon dioxide (wH.9767190) as aM GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, SCHENECTADY, N. Y. st aw