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US 12,298,075 B2Granted
Process and apparatus for recovery of at least nitrogen and argon
AssigneeAir Products and Chemicals, Inc.
InventorsDonn Michael Herron, Qiao Zhao
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for recovering at least one fluid (e.g. argon gas and/or nitrogen gas, etc.) from a feed gas (e.g. air) can provide an improved recovery of argon and/or nitrogen as well as an improvement in operational efficiency. Some embodiments can be adapted so that at least a portion of a mixed nitrogen-oxygen fluid is at least partially vaporized and fed to a low pressure column.
Claims20
A process for separation of a feed gas comprising oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, the process comprising:
- compressing a feed gas via a compression system of a separation system having at least a first column and a second column, the first column being a high pressure (HP) column operating at a pressure that is higher than the second column, the second column being a low pressure (LP) column operating at a pressure that is lower than the first column;
- feeding a first feed stream portion of the compressed feed gas to a first heat exchanger to cool the first feed stream portion of the compressed feed gas;
- feeding the cooled first feed stream portion of the compressed feed gas to the HP column to produce an HP nitrogen-rich vapor stream and an HP oxygen-enriched stream;
- condensing a first portion of the HP nitrogen-rich vapor stream via an HP reboiler-condenser to form an HP condensate stream so that a first portion of the HP condensate stream is recyclable to the HP column;
- outputting at least LP nitrogen-enriched stream, a first LP oxygen-enriched stream, and an LP argon-enriched stream from the LP column, the first LP oxygen-enriched stream having an oxygen content of at least 97 mol % oxygen;
- feeding the LP argon-enriched stream to a third column to form an argon-rich vapor and an argon-depleted liquid, the third column being an argon-enrichment (AE) column;
- feeding the formed argon-rich vapor to an AE column reboiler-condenser;
- feeding the argon-depleted liquid to the LP column;
- at least partially condensing the argon-rich vapor output from the AE column via the AE column reboiler-condenser;
- mixing the LP nitrogen-enriched stream output from the LP column with the first LP oxygen-enriched stream output from the LP column to form a first mixed nitrogen-oxygen fluid to feed to the AE column reboiler-condenser where it is at least partially vaporized to provide at least a portion of a refrigeration duty of the AE column reboiler-condenser for at least partially condensing the first argon-rich vapor;
- and
- feeding a first portion of the at least partially vaporized first mixed nitrogen-oxygen fluid to the LP column.
9 more elements
A system for separation of a feed gas comprising oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, comprising:
- a first column and a second column, the first column being a high pressure (HP) column operatable at a pressure that is higher than the second column, the second column being a low pressure (LP) column operatable at a pressure that is lower than the first column;
- a compression system positioned to feed a first feed stream portion of a compressed feed gas to a first heat exchanger to cool the first feed stream portion of the compressed feed gas;
- the first heat exchanger positioned to cool the first feed stream portion of the compressed feed gas output from the compression system to feed the cooled compressed first feed stream portion to the HP column to produce an HP nitrogen-rich vapor stream and an HP oxygen-enriched stream;
- an HP reboiler-condenser positioned to condense a first portion of the HP nitrogen-rich vapor stream to form an HP condensate stream so that a first portion of the HP condensate stream is recyclable to the HP column;
- the LP column positioned and configured to output at least a LP nitrogen-enriched stream, a first LP oxygen-enriched stream, and an LP argon-enriched stream so that the first LP oxygen-enriched stream has an oxygen content of at least 97 mol % oxygen;
- a third column positioned to receive the LP argon-enriched stream output from the LP column to form an argon-rich vapor and an argon-depleted liquid, the third column being an argon-enrichment (AE) column, the AE column connected to the LP column so that the argon-depleted liquid output from the third column is feedable to the LP column;
- an AE column reboiler-condenser positioned to receive the argon-rich vapor output from the third column to at least partially condense the argon-rich vapor output from the AE column;
- a mixing device positioned to mix the LP nitrogen-enriched stream output from the LP column with the first LP oxygen-enriched stream output from the LP column to form a first mixed nitrogen-oxygen fluid to feed to the AE column reboiler-condenser so it is at least partially vaporized to provide at least a portion of a refrigeration duty of the AE column reboiler-condenser for at least partially condensing the first argon-rich vapor;
- and
- the AE column reboiler-condenser positioned and connected to the LP column so that a first portion of the at least partially vaporized first mixed nitrogen-oxygen fluid output from the AE column reboiler-condenser is feedable to the LP column.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.