Argon production control through argon inventory manipulation

A process for separating mixtures which comprise oxygen, nitrogen, and argon by cryogenic distillation in a distillation system where said system is comprised of at least one distillation column that produces a nitrogen-enriched stream, an oxygen enriched stream, and an argon-enriched stream, and a sidearm column, said sidearm column receiving said argon-enriched stream from said distillation column;

• the process characterized in that total argon inventory in said system is controlled by withdrawing an argon enriched stream out of said sidearm column.

A process for separating mixtures which comprise oxygen, nitrogen, and argon by cryogenic distillation in a distillation system where said system is comprised of at least one distillation column having a lower pressure section and a higher pressure section, said lower pressure section having an intermediate region, said distillation column producing a nitrogen-enriched stream, an oxygen enriched stream, and an argon-enriched stream, and a sidearm column, said sidearm column receiving said argon-enriched stream from said distillation column;

• the process characterized in that total argon inventory in said system is controlled by withdrawing an argon enriched stream out of said intermediate region of said lower pressure section of said distillation column as argon starts to accumulate in an oxygen product stream from said column.

A process for separating mixtures which comprise oxygen, nitrogen, and argon by cryogenic distillation in a distillation system where said system is comprised of at least one distillation column that produces a nitrogen-enriched stream, an oxygen enriched stream, and an argon-enriched stream, and a sidearm column having an internal repository for the collection of liquid, said sidearm column receiving said argon-enriched stream from said distillation column;

• the process characterized in that total argon inventory in said system is controlled by controlling the amount of liquid in said repository of said sidearm column.

A process for separating mixtures which comprise oxygen, nitrogen, and argon by cryogenic distillation in a distillation system where said system is comprised of at least one distillation column that produces a nitrogen-enriched stream, an oxygen-enriched stream, and an argon-enriched stream, and a sidearm column which receives said argon-enriched stream from said distillation column;

• the process characterized in that total argon inventory in said system is controlled by manipulating the ratio of liquid flow rate to vapor flow rate in said distillation column.

A process for separating mixtures which comprise oxygen, nitrogen, and argon by cryogenic distillation in a distillation system where said system is comprised of at least one distillation column having a feed air stream, said distillation column producing a nitrogen-enriched stream, an oxygen-enriched stream, and an argon-enriched stream, and a sidearm column which receives said argon-enriched stream from said distillation column;

• the process characterized in that total argon inventory in said system is controlled by manipulating the ratio of liquid flow rate to vapor flow rate in said distillation column through manipulation of the flow rate of said feed air stream.