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(11) | EP 1 087 195 A3 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Refrigerator for cryogenic gas separation system |
| (57) A cryogenic gas separation system which comprises a refrigerator and utilizes cold
produced by the refrigerator as a cold source for separation of a gas. The refrigerator
incorporates a rotary valve which comprises a rotary element rotatable about an axis
thereof and having a circular cross section perpendicular to the axis, and a housing
accommodating the rotary element in a rotatable manner. The rotary element has a plurality
of ports provided in an outer peripheral portion thereof, the housing having a plurality
of ports provided in a peripheral wall thereof in association with the ports of the
rotary element, the rotary valve being operative to be switched between a position
where predetermined ones of the ports of the rotary element are aligned with corresponding
ones of the ports of the housing for communication therebetween and a position where
the predetermined ones of the ports of the rotary element are displaced in non-alignment
with the corresponding ones of the ports of the housing for non-communication therebetween
by rotation of the rotary element. The valve incorporated in the refrigerator has
a smaller size and an extended service, and the cryogenic gas separation system can
obtain a sufficient amount of cold with the use of the refrigerator. |