Variable density structured packing cryogenic distillation system
AssigneeUnion Carbide Industrial Gases Technology Corporation
InventorsMichael J. Lockett, Richard A. Victor, Robert Zawierucha, Kenneth McIlroy, Scott L. Cooper
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Abstract
A cryogenic distillation system employing a multisection column wherein structure packing of different packing density is employed in at least two sections of the column.
Claims30
An air separation plant comprising at least one column and having means to pass feed air into the plant and to pass product out of the plant, at least one of said column(s) having a plurality of column sections and having mass transfer elements comprising structured packing in at least two column sections, wherein the packing density of structured packing in a first section of said column differs from the packing density of structured packing in a second section of said column and wherein each of said first and second column sections has an end where vapor or liquid is removed from or enters the column.
A method for separating a mixture comprising at least two components having different volatilities, wherein one of said components is oxygen, into a first portion richer in a first component having a higher volatility than that of a second component, and into a second portion richer in the second component, said method comprising introducing the mixture into a column having a plurality of column sections and having mass transfer elements comprising structured packing in at least two column sections, wherein the packing density of structured packing in a first section of the column differs from the packing density of structured packing in a second section of the column, and removing from the column at least some of the first portion and at least some of the second portion, and wherein each of said first and second column sections has an end where vapor or liquid is removed from or enters the column.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.