Air distillation plant comprising a plurality of cryogenic distillation units of the same type
AssigneeL'Air Liquide
InventorsAlain Guillard, Bernard Saulnier
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In this plant (1), a common thermal insulation wall (14) surrounds first and second distillation units (2, 3, 4, 5). A first product stream is removed from the first unit and a second stream is removed from the second unit, the first and second streams are mixed without having previously been compressed or expanded with the production of external work.
Claims37
Air distillation plant comprising a plurality of cryogenic distillation units and thermal insulation means for insulating the distillation units;
- an air feed conduit for supplying air to at least one distillation unit;
- the thermal insulation means comprising a common thermal insulation wall surrounding at least first and second distillation units;
- the first and second distillation units comprising low-pressure columns;
- first and second conduits for removing a product stream from the first and second distillation units respectively;
- means for forming a single product stream from the streams in the first and second conduits, wherein there are no expansion means producing external work or compressors provided in the first and second conduits;
- at least one medium-pressure column connected to the air feed conduit and equipped with a head vaporizer/condenser;
- the low-pressure columns being connected in parallel to the vaporizer/condenser;
- the common thermal insulation wall also surrounding the medium pressure column and the vaporizer/condenser.
Air distillation plant comprising a plurality of cryogenic distillation units and thermal insulation means for insulating the distillation units;
- an air feed conduit for supplying air to at least one distillation unit;
- the thermal insulation means comprising a common thermal insulation wall surrounding at least first and second distillation units;
- the first and second distillation units comprising columns provided with internal packing of different structure and/or densities and/or liquid distributors of different structures;
- first and second conduits for removing a product stream from the first and second distillation units respectively;
- means for forming a single product stream from the streams in the first and second conduits, wherein there are no expansion means producing external work or compressors provided in the first and second conduits.
Air distillation plant comprising a plurality of cryogenic distillation units and thermal insulation means for insulating the distillation units;
- an air feed conduit for supplying air to at least one distillation unit;
- the thermal insulation means comprising a common thermal insulation wall surrounding at least first and second distillation units;
- the first and second distillation units comprising argon columns fed by an argon containing stream removed from a double column, mixing columns fed by a stream from a low pressure column of a double column or from intermediate pressure columns of a triple column or single columns;
- first and second conduits for removing a product stream from the first and second distillation units respectively;
- means for forming a single product stream from the streams in the first and second conduits, wherein there are no expansion means producing external work or compressors provided in the first and second conduits.
Air distillation plant comprising a plurality of cryogenic distillation units and thermal insulation means for insulating the distillation units;
- an air feed conduit for supplying air to at least one distillation unit;
- the thermal insulation means comprising a common thermal insulation wall surrounding at least first and second distillation units;
- the first and second distillation units comprising first and second columns;
- first and second conduits for removing a product stream from the first and second distillation units respectively;
- means for forming a single product stream from the streams in the first and second conduits, wherein there are no expansion means producing external work or compressors provided in the first and second conduits, and at least one fluid derived from air and not air is fed to the first and/or second column.
Air distillation plant comprising a plurality of cryogenic distillation units and thermal insulation means for insulating the distillation units;
- an air feed conduit for supplying air to at least one distillation unit;
- the thermal insulation means comprising a first common thermal insulation wall surrounding at least first and second distillation units;
- each distillation unit being connected to at least one heat exchanger body;
- said heat exchanger bodies being surrounded by a second common thermal insulation wall;
- first and second conduits for removing a product stream from the first and second distillation units respectively;
- means for forming a single product stream from the streams in the first and second conduits, wherein there are no expansion means producing external work or compressors provided in the first and second conduits.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.