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US 5,114,452 AGranted
Cryogenic air separation system for producing elevated pressure product gas
AssigneeUnion Carbide Industrial Gases Technology Corporation
InventorJames R. Dray
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cryogenic air separation system wherein one portion of the feed air is turboexpanded to generate refrigeration, a second portion is condensed against vaporizing product from the air separation plant, and both portions are fed into the same column to undergo separation.
Claims18
Method for the separation of air by cryogenic distillation to produce product gas comprising:
- (A) turboexpanding a first portion of cooled, compressed feed air and introducing the resulting turboexpanded portion into a first column of an air separation plant, said first column operating at a pressure generally within the range of from 60 to 100 psia;
- (B) condensing at least part of a second portion of the cooled, compressed feed air and introducing resulting liquid into said first column;
- (C) separating the fluids passed into said first column into nitrogen-enriched and oxygen-enriched fluids and passing said fluids into a second column of said air separation plant, said second column operating at a pressure less than that of said first column;
- (D) separating the fluids passed into the second column into nitrogen-rich vapor and oxygen-rich liquid;
- (E) vaporizing oxygen-rich liquid by indirect heat exchange with the second portion of the cooled, compressed feed air to carry out the condensation of step (B);
- (F) recovering vapor resulting from the heat exchange of step (E) as product oxygen gas;
- and
- (G) passing argon-containing fluid from the second column into an argon column, separating the argon-containing fluid into oxygen-richer liquid and argon-richer vapor, and recovering at least some argon-richer fluid.
5 more elements
Apparatus for the separation of air by cryogenic distillation to produce product gas comprising:
- (A) an air separation plant comprising a first column, a second column, a reboiler, means to pass fluid from the first column to the reboiler and means to pass fluid from the reboiler to the second column;
- (B) a turboexpander, means to provide feed air to the turboexpander and means to pass fluid from the turboexpander into the first column;
- (C) a condenser, means to provide feed air to the condenser and means to pass fluid from the condenser into the first column;
- (D) means to pass fluid from the air separation plant to the condenser;
- (E) means to recover product gas from the condenser;
- and
- (F) an argon column, means to pass fluid from the second column to the argon column, and means to recover fluid from the argon column.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.