Method for the cryogenic fractionation of air and air fractionation plant
AssigneeLinde Aktiengesellschaft
InventorMatthias Meilinger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for the cryogenic fractionation of air, in which a liquid volume present in a vaporization chamber in a distillation column system of an air fractionation plant is fed by means of a cryogenic liquid and in which a proportion of the liquid volume is continuously transferred into the gas phase by vaporization, wherein, in addition to oxygen, the cryogenic liquid contains components, including xenon, which are higher-boiling than oxygen. The content of xenon in the cryogenic liquid is determined and used as a measure of any enrichment of the components which are higher-boiling than oxygen in the cryogenic liquid. A corresponding air fractionation plant is also described.
Claims19
A method for cryogenic fractionation of air, said method comprising:
- fractionating air in a distillation column system of an air fractionation plant to obtain a cryogenic liquid containing oxygen;
- feeding said cryogenic liquid containing oxygen into a liquid volume present in a vaporization chamber in said distillation column system of said air fractionation plant, and
- continuously transferring a proportion of the liquid volume into the gas phase by vaporization, wherein, in addition to oxygen, said cryogenic liquid contains xenon and at least one further component having a boiling point higher than the boiling point of oxygen, and
- determining the content of xenon in the liquid volume and using the determined content of xenon as a measure of the content in the liquid volume of said at least one further component having a boiling point higher than the boiling point of oxygen in the liquid volume.
A method for cryogenic fractionation of air, said method comprising:
- fractionating air in a distillation column system of an air fractionation plant to obtain a cryogenic liquid containing oxygen;
- feeding said cryogenic liquid containing oxygen into a liquid volume present in a vaporization chamber in said distillation column system of said air fractionation plant, and
- continuously transferring a proportion of the liquid volume into the gas phase by vaporization, wherein, in addition to oxygen, said cryogenic liquid contains xenon and at least one further component having a boiling point higher than the boiling point of oxygen, and
- determining the content of xenon in the liquid volume and using the determined content of xenon to determine the amount of enrichment in the liquid volume of at least one further component having a boiling point higher than the boiling point of oxygen in the liquid volume, in comparison to the amount of said at least one further component in the air fed to said distillation column system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.