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US 2006/0185389 A1Published application
Cryogenic rectification system for neon production
AssigneePraxair Technology, Inc.
InventorsJoseph Weber, Neil Prosser
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Abstract
A cryogenic rectification system employing a phase separator, which may include one or more trays, in conjunction with a double column air separation plant, wherein some shelf liquid is subcooled and phase separated to produce crude neon vapor, and the remaining liquid is used to reflux the lower pressure column of the double column plant.
Claims12
A method for producing crude neon comprising:
- (A) separating feed air by cryogenic rectification in a higher pressure column to produce neon-containing shelf vapor, and condensing at least a portion of the neon-containing shelf vapor to produce neon-containing liquid;
- (B) subcooling the neon-containing liquid, passing the resulting fluid into a separator, and separating the fluid within the separator into neon-containing vapor and remaining liquid;
- and
- (C) passing remaining liquid from the separator into a lower pressure column, and recovering neon-containing vapor as product crude neon.
1 more element
Apparatus for producing crude neon comprising:
- (A) a higher pressure column, a lower pressure column having a reboiler/condenser, and means for passing feed air into the higher pressure column;
- (B) a subcooler, a separator, means for passing neon-containing fluid from the higher pressure column to the reboiler/condenser, from the reboiler/condenser to the subcooler, and from the subcooler to the separator;
- and
- (C) means for passing liquid from the separator to the lower pressure column, and means for recovering vapor from the separator as product crude neon.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.