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AssigneeL'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l’Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
InventorsRemy KURTZ, Patrice CAVAGNE, Delphine VALLIER
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An air separation unit using cryogenic distillation comprises a first column, a second column thermally linked to the first column, a first argon column, a second argon column, means for sending cooled, compressed and purified air to at least the first column, means for sending at least one fluid enriched in nitrogen from the first column to the second column and at least one fluid enriched in oxygen from the first column to the second column, means for sending a gas enriched in argon from the second column to a first end of the first argon column, means for sending gas from a second end of the first argon column to a first end of the second argon column, means for removing argon rich fluid from a second end of the second argon column, a pump, means for removing argon enriched liquid from the first end of the second argon column and sending it to the second end of the first argon column via the pump, the first end of the first argon column being raised above the ground by a first supporting structure, the pump being positioned within the first supporting structure, such that the pump is at least partially underneath the first end of the first argon column.
1-15. (canceled)
A pump module for an air separation plant, the air separation plant having a rectification column configured to separate nitrogen and oxygen from a cooled air stream and an argon module containing one or more argon columns, the pump module having a pump, which is configured to deliver a fluid from a lower portion of the argon module to a second location that is at a location disposed higher than the lower portion of the argon module, wherein the pump module is disposed under the argon module and provides at least partial structural support for the argon module.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.