Separation of gas mixture
AssigneeThe BOC Group, Inc.
InventorMichael E. Garrett
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Fuel gas (typically taken from a source of natural gas associated with oil deposits) is burnt with air in a turbine 2 to produce a gaseous mixture comprising nitrogen, combustion products and oxygen. The mixture cotnains less than 20% by volume of oxygen. The mixture is cooled in a cooler 4 by heat exchange with water and then compressed in a compressor 6 which is driven by the turbine 2. The compressed gaseous mixture is separated typically by pressure swing adsorption to produce a gaseous nitrogen product suitable for use in the enhanced recovery of oil.
Claims6
A method of producing nitrogen comprising the steps of burning a fuel gas with air in the combustion chamber of a gas turbine to form a gaseous mixture comprising nitrogen, oxygen and combustion products, the oxygen concentration of the gaseous mixture being less than 20% by volume, reducing the temperature of the gaseous mixture, compressing the gaseous mixture in a compressor, and physically separating the compressed gaseous mixture by pressure swing adsorption to obtain a nitrogen-rich product, wherein energy developed by the turbine is employed to drive the compressor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.