Air Separation Unit with Pure Argon Recovery (Simplified) Compression & Pretreat Air Ar-C G-O2 G-N2

Waste Expander LP-C L-Ar

Heat Exchanger HP-C

Source: Harry Kooijman ( !!") chem#ep$org

%he cryogenic air #eparation proce## i# a tight integration of heat e&changer# and #eparation column# which i# completely driven 'y the compre##ion of the air at the inlet of the unit$ %he air inlet #tream i# cooled and partially li(uified again#t the leaving product #tream#$ )itrogen i# then #eparated at a pre##ure of " 'ar in the fir#t column and conden#ed again#t 'oiling o&ygen at a lower pre##ure (around *$ 'ar)$ %he#e two column# #hare the #ame column #hell to minimi+e the temperature difference 'etween the conden#ing nitrogen and evaporating o&ygen$ %he li(uid 'ottom product of the high pre##ure column i# rich in o&ygen and i# reduced in pre##ure$ %he ,oule-%hom#on (,%) effect cool# thi# rich li(uid #uch that it can 'e u#ed run the conden#er of a #ide rectifier that #eparate# Argon from .&ygen$ %hi# #ide rectifier i# fed with a vapor #ide draw from the low pre##ure column$ %he whole proce## re(uire# additional cooling which can 'e o'tained u#ing the ,% effect in an e&pander/ that feed# compre##ed air directly to the low pre##ure column$ %hu#/ a certain part of the air cannot 'e #eparated 'ut leave# the unit a# a wa#te #tream$ 0a#eou# )itrogen and .&ygen/ and li(uid Argon are the product#$ 1ith temperature difference# in the heat e&changer# of ju#t a few degree# Kelvin clearly there i# #ignifficant interaction in the#e interconnected column# when any of the manipulated varia'le# are adju#ted or a di#tur'ance affect# one of the column controlled varia'le#$ Puritie# in )itrogen and Argon are typically very high/ with * ppm or le## impuritie#$ %he o&ygen product purity range# from 23$4 to 22$45 (#ee al#o 6omp$6hem$7ng$ 8ol$ 9! ( !!") pp$ *:9"-*::") %he proce## flow#heet a# #imulated in 6.6. of the #implified ASU$ %hi# flow#heet wa# #imulated with one tear #tream: the li(uid #tream from the Argon column (AR6) 'ac; to the low pre##ure column (<P6)$ )ormally/ the Argon column 'ottom# li(uid flow# 'ac; to the low pre##ure column 'y mean# of gravity$ %hi# i# #imulated 'y u#ing a pump that rai#e# the pre##ure of the 'ottom# li(uid/ a# otherwi#e 6.6. warn# u# that the 'ottom# li(uid would flow again#t a pre##ure gradient (the Argon column operate# at a lower pre##ure than the low pre##ure column=)$ 1e e&changed the icon for the pump a# to denote the line i# draining 'y gravity$ Al#o note that there i# a vapor and a li(uid drawn from the conden#er of the high pre##ure column/ for control purpo#e#$ %hi# allow# the high pre##ure column (HP6) conden#er and the low pre##ure column re'oiler dutie# to 'e matched 'y a controller$ %he com'ined #tream i# fed to the top of the low pre##ure column (via a #eparator)$ %he rich li(uid 'ottom product of the high pre##ure column i# fla#hed where the heat input i# #et e(ual to the conden#er duty of the Argon #ide rectifier$ %he ga#eou# product #tream# are all heated up again#t the inlet air flow to recover heat$ %he #pecification# made on the variou# unit operation# of the ASU$ A# the num'er of #tage# in 6hemSep <>%7 i# limited to 4!/ the o'taina'le purity for the li(uid Argon at the top of the #ide rectifier a# well a# the purity of the .&ygen in the low pre##ure column are le## than what they normally are$ )owaday#/ u#ing #tructured pac;ing#/ it i# po##i'le to e(uip the Argon column with enough #tage# to reduce the impuritie# to le## than * ppm= )ote that we included heat lea;# into the column# from the environment a# well a# pre##ure drop# in the column# over the column internal#/ which rai#e# the re(uired inlet pre##ure for the ASU$ Here the three heat integration# in the ASU i# #hown: the cooling of the feed again#t the product #tream# in the main heat e&changer/ the <Pconden#er again#t the HP re'oiler/ and the conden#ation of Argon again#t evapori+ation of rich li(uid$ %he internal flowrate# in the <P6 mu#t vary to o'tain a pure ga#eou# )itrogen top product a# well a# a rea#ona'ly pure o&ygen in the 'ottom#$ At the #ame time the vapor draw from the <P6 to the AR6 mu#t 'e low enough in )itrogen to prevent 'uildup of ) in the Argon column/ yet high enough in Argon for the AR6 not to 'ecome pinched$ %he flow#heet wa# #olved u#ing the Peng-Ro'in#on with the following 'inary interaction parameter#: ) ?. @ -!$!*99/ ) ?Ar @ -!$!! "/ . ?Ar @ !$!!A2

High L%& to o#tain GN2 p!rit$

Location for sidedraw to argon co !mn ow eno!gh to pre"ent N2 #!i d!p in argon co !mn #!t $Ar high eno!gh