FONDECYT NATIONAL RESEARCH FUNDING COMPETITION

2016 REGULAR COMPETITION

GENERAL INFORMATION PROPOSAL ID: 1120168

PROPOSAL TITLE: Search for industrial and civil uses for Portacryo equipment
FONDECYT COUNCIL: Technology
PROPOSED LENGTH: 3 Year(s)
PROPOSAL KEYWORDS: Cryogenic equipment
Nitrogen fluids
Property Uses
PRIMARY FIELD: Thermodynamic Engineering
SECONDARY FIELD(S): Other areas of Engineering
APPLICATION SECTOR: General Knowledge
APPLICATION REGION(S): Does not apply.

Describe the main issues you plan to address, including goals,

methodology and expected outcomes. A good summary facilitates an
understanding of what you intend to achieve and the proposal review
process. The abstract of funded proposals may be published on
CONICYT website. The maximum length for this section is 1 page (Use
Verdana, font size 10).
The objective of this research proposal is search and development of uses and works
where it can be used a system portacryo, this system is only used in great miner
companies to perform pressurizing and torque of the truck fleet in Los Bronces. The
study will consider two types of investigation: i) telephone interviews to industrial area
of enterprises; ii) interviews in potencial civil areas where can be used portacryo
system. Evaporation temperature of liquid nitrogen is one of the most important
properties needed for the application of portacryo system.
To reach this general goal the following specific objectives, that will allow to control the
progress of the project, are proposed: i) to analyze the present works of presurizing
and mechanic works related to the compressed air tasks in industrial and civil areas ;
ii) to implement interviews for known the actual level of security and effectiveness in
mechanical works related to area of interest (first and second year); iii) to propose
new forms of work and specially for optimize energetically and relate works to the
field of thermodynamics and mechanics(second and third year); and iv) to contribute
to the present knowledge in the area of use of thermodynamic phenomena to save
energy (by the expansion of liquid nitrogen through the vaporizer) and optimize
mechanic jobs.
The different activities performed in workshops and industrial work areas require in
many occasions the use of compressed air, which comes from a network that requires
the use of electric and mechanical energy, on the other hand, activities such as cold
contraction of parts , Are tasks that are currently impossible to perform mechanic
workshops, liquid nitrogen and gas is relatively economical and the performance of the
equipment portacryo provides a safe and optimal way to meet these requirements
without the use of compressors or energy expenditure.
These factors will be considered in all points of investigations to be developed in this
project, as explained with detail in the Proposal Description. Until now, there are few
studies and attempts to correlate, the termodinamic area and common activities in the
mecanic and industrial area. the aplication of another uses of this equipmen do not
exist, meaning that exist a great potential uses for this. One of the main reasons for
this situation has been that the equipment is a new desing of INDURA, the lack of
information that generates an interest of non-mining use is the principal cause of this
situation
The methodology includes the searching of information, additional to what is already
available with INDURA and the analysis of such data to eliminate wrong or doubtful
data. The critical evaluation of the data will be done through analysis of the interview
procedures and statistical techniques, using simple appropriate software (Excel). The
main hypothesis of this project is that the Portacryo system can be used for many
tasks both in workshops and industries and can be extended and modified to correlate
and homologate activities. The extension of the field of application will be limited by
the scope of the institutions that are interviewed. This hypothesis has not been

preliminarily explored by the main researcher to show that this proposal represents a
feasible way, the activities that the catalogs of the equipment point out that it is
possible to reliably process MIG and TIG welding by simply filling the argon tank using
the Portacryo system not only whit nitrogen for pressurizing and torque.

PROPOSAL DESCRIPTION, THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND

LITERATURE REVIEW
General presentation of the problem to be investigated
The objective of the research proposal is the discovery and development of applications
for a system than can be used like a service in the industrial area, the study will
consider a model of interview, that can be used to know the actual situation of security
in the mechanic activities and the cost of energy associated to this works both in the
area of civil and industrial. To reach this general goal the following specific objectives,
that will allow to control the progress of the project, are proposed: i) to analyze the
present methods of carrying out activities of interest and can make the truck Portacryo
(first year); ii) to implement an appropriate To define the appropriate interview
activities and questions (first and second year);
iii) Collect and process the
information of such estimations (second and third year); and iv) to contribute to the
present knowledge in the area of properties of cryogenic liquids through publications
and conference presentations (during the whole period of the project).
In contrast to low scientific information available about the equipment, and the wide
field of potential application. It is also intended to generate other related articles
during the research to contribute even more to the knowledge, these articles will be
framed in the new applications that are discovered regarding the use of the equipment.
The field of application is difficult to predict because it depends upon the arrangement
and the number of the new works searched, as well as upon the answers of the people
that give information of the activities.
These factors will be considered in all models to be developed in this project, as
explained with detail below. Until now, there are few studies and attempts to correlate
and general applicability. The few works (presented and discussed in this section) are
until now of limited applicability, meaning that they are applicable in infinite kind of
areas. One of the main reasons for this situation has been the new integration of this
equipment, like innovation service, the lack of investigation and development of this
equipment his applicability are the principal cause of ignorance of people about him.
In 2015, a student of the University of La Serena carried out a professional practice, in
which he made a technical and economic valuation of the Portacryo equipment, in
which it was determined that, in the first instance, the equipment was very economical
in terms of its cost , In the second instance it was determined that it cannot only be
used for large mining, but also that there are fields of application to carry out works in
different fields of the industrial field, because the Portacryo system allows to
manipulate liquid nitrogen (for pressurized, Cold contraction of parts) and Argon (for
MIG and TIG welds).
The cost of energy is a problem which big as small businesses have had to face, the
system can provide an alternative to reduce the costs by advancing the
thermodynamic and thermochemical properties of the noble gases, by the other part

allows to do it without the need for expose more than the necessary risks that imply to
expose workers to related activities.

The methodology includes the searching of information, additional to what is already

available with the main researcher and the analysis of such data to eliminate wrong or
doubtful information. The critical evaluation and compilation of the data will be done
through analysis of the interview procedures, manipulation of data for statistical
techniques using appropriate software (Excel). Can be extended and modified to
correlate and use the new information and generate a new kind of activities Resulting
from the investigation.
In general, all substances may be in any of the three most common states of the
matter (solid, liquid or gas), depending on the conditions of temperature and pressure
to be submitted. The most familiar case is that of water, which atmospheric pressure is
in the solid state below 0 C, liquid at 0 to 100 C and gas (vapor) at 100 C.
Defined as gases to those elements and compounds that under pressure and ambient
temperature remain in the gaseous state. The low-density characteristic of gases
makes a small quantity of gas occupies a large volume (1 kg oxygen (O2) occupies a
volume of 0.739 m 3 or 739 liters, measured at 15 C and 1 atm) for which makes
them indispensable to high pressure and / or low temperatures to reduce their volume
to effects of transport and storage. to achieve high pressures cylinders are used of
steel that work with up to 300 bar (4,350 psi) of pressure. Within the gases that are
stored in cylinders medium and high pressure we can do the following
division:
Compressed gases: Are those having very low boiling points below -100 C and
therefore remaining in the gaseous state without liquefaction, even at high pressures,
unless subjected to very low temperatures. To this group belong: oxygen (O2),
nitrogen (N2), argon (Ar), helium (He), hydrogen (H2) among others.
Compressed gases-liquefied: Are those having boiling points relatively close to
ambient temperature and that by pressing them in a closed vessel carbon dioxide
(CO2) is liquefied, for example, And nitrous oxide (N 2 O).
Cryogenic gases: the alternative of high pressure to reduce the volume that a gas
occupies is liquefaction. Those gases that do not liquefy at high pressures can be
liquefied using cryogenic temperatures, the most common cases in which this
alternative is used are liquid oxygen (LOX), nitrogen Liquid (LIN), and liquid argon
(LAR). Cryogenics is the science that studies processes that occur at temperatures
below -100 C. This definition includes all gases with a boiling point under the
temperature above such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, with boiling points of -183
C, -196 C, -186 C respectively, which are cryogenic fluids of greater volume and
importance. You can also mention hydrogen and helium, which have boiling points very
close to absolute zero, which makes them very special liquid gases.
Kelvin (k)

Celsius (C)

Farenheit (F)

Water boiling
CO2 Sublimation
Limit cryogenic Zone
O2 boiling
Argon boiling
N2 boiling
Absolute zero

373
194,5
173
90
87
77
0

100
-78,5
-100
-183
-186
-196
-273

212
-109,2
-148
-297,4
-302,8
-320,8
-459,4

Table 1 Temperatures of some gases that can contain the carrier system, defined at atmospheric
pressure (1 Atm).

As previously stated, the usefulness of the Portacryo equipment can be very varied,
(Indura, 2015) affirms that the system is designed to store the types of gases
previously exposed, such as: acetylene, this is a gas composed of carbon and
hydrogen (12/1 weight approx.), under normal conditions (15 C, 1 atm) it is a gas
slightly lighter than air, colorless, is used as a heating agent, it is a high-performance
fuel, used extensively in oxygen applications, the temperatures reached vary according
to acetylene-oxygen ratio, being able to reach more than 3,000 C, with pure oxygen,
is used to In the chemical industry, because of its high reactivity, is used in the
synthesis of many organic products; compressed air is used primarily as: Pressure
source for pneumatic equipment, respiratory reserve for firefighters and industrial
personnel and with special specifications of purity, in the fields of atomic energy,
aerospace and underwater exploration, another interesting gas to investigate is argon,
which is the most abundant of the rare gases in the air (0.9% by volume) It is
colorless, odorless and tasteless, It is a non-toxic, non-flammable gas, 30% heavier
than air, It is extremely inert, characterized by perfect physical and chemical stability,
at any temperature and pressure, it is also an excellent conductor of electricity,
Welding in neutral gas atmosphere (processes MIG, TIG, plasma). In Metallurgy, for
heat treatments in a protective atmosphere, degassing and desulfurization, etc. In
electricity and electronics, to fill light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, radio tubes or in which it
prevents the oxidation of Incandescent filaments.
Objectives
The objetive of this research proposal is the development of new forms of work using
the properties of gases exploring new areas and utilities of a portacryo equipment, the
study consider enterviews, exploration and investigation from camp of aplications
related. To reach this general goal the following specific objectives, that will allow to
control the progress of the project, are proposed: i) to analyze the present methods of
carrying out activities of interest and can make the truck Portacryo (first year); ii)to
implement an appropriate To define the appropriate interview activities and questions
(first and second year); iii)Collect and process the information of such estimations
(second and third year); and iv) to contribute to the present knowledge in the area of
properties of cryogenic liquids through publications and conference presentations
(during the whole period of the project)
Hypotheses
The main hypothesis of this project is that the activities related to the use of different
types of gases (such an Argo, He, N2, etc.), can be extended and modified to relate
and take advantage of their entropic and energetic reactions to apply them to different
fields of investigation and works at industrial and civic level. The preliminar information
of the main researcher found in the literature detailed in the Bibliographic Discussion,

and the experience of the main researcher on subjects such as, form the foundations
of this hypothesis and guarantee the fulfillment of the objectives.