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US 6,279,344 B1Granted
Cryogenic air separation system for producing oxygen
AssigneePraxair Technology, Inc.
InventorsRaymond Francis Drnevich, Minish Mahendra Shah
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cryogenic air separation system for producing oxygen employing a double column and a side column wherein side column liquid is vaporized against nitrogen heat pump fluid taken from the higher pressure column of the double column and then used to reflux the higher pressure and/or lower pressure columns of the double column.
Claims10
A method for producing oxygen comprising:
- (A) passing feed air into a higher pressure column and separating the feed air by cryogenic rectification within the higher pressure column into nitrogen-enriched vapor and oxygen-enriched fluid;
- (B) passing oxygen-enriched fluid from the higher pressure column into a lower pressure column and producing oxygen-richer fluid within the lower pressure column;
- (C) passing oxygen-richer fluid from the lower portion of the lower pressure column into the upper portion of a side column and producing oxygen-rich liquid within the side column;
- (D) withdrawing nitrogen-enriched vapor from the higher pressure column, compressing the nitrogen-enriched vapor, and cooling the compressed nitrogen-enriched vapor by indirect heat exchange with oxygen-rich liquid to produce oxygen-rich vapor;
- and
- (E) recovering vaporized oxygen-rich liquid as product oxygen.
3 more elements
Apparatus for producing oxygen comprising:
- (A) a higher pressure column, a lower pressure column, means for passing feed air into the higher pressure column, and means for passing fluid from the higher pressure column to the lower pressure column;
- (B) a side column and means for passing fluid from the lower portion of the lower pressure column to the upper portion of the side column;
- (C) a compressor, a heat exchanger, means for passing fluid from the upper portion of the higher pressure column to the compressor and from the compressor to the heat exchanger;
- (D) means for passing fluid from the lower portion of the side column to the heat exchanger;
- and
- (E) means for recovering fluid from the heat exchanger as product oxygen.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.