A process for co-producing a liquid oxygen and a liquefied hydrocarbon stream, including introducing a gaseous hydrocarbon stream and a gaseous nitrogen stream into a liquefier, thereby producing a liquefied hydrocarbon stream and a liquid nitrogen stream, liquefying a gaseous oxygen stream, wherein at least a portion of the required refrigeration is obtained from the liquid nitrogen stream. Wherein the liquefied hydrocarbon stream and the liquefied gaseous oxygen stream have mass flow rates. The liquid oxygen stream may be produced in an aft separation unit, wherein at least a portion of the required refrigeration is obtained from the liquid nitrogen stream.

A liquefier device which may be a retrofit to an air separation plant or utilized as part of a new design. The flow needed for the liquefier comes from an air separation plant running in a maxim oxygen state, in a stable mode. The three gas flows are low pressure oxygen, low pressure nitrogen, and higher pressure nitrogen. All of the flows are found on the side of the main heat exchanger with a temperature of about 37 degrees Fahrenheit. All of the gasses put into the liquefier come out as a subcooled liquid, for storage or return to the air separation plant. This new liquefier does not include a front end electrical compressor, and will take a self produced liquid nitrogen, pump it up to a runnable 420 psig pressure, and with the use of turbines, condensers, flash pots, and multi pass heat exchangers. The liquefier will make liquid from a planned amount of any pure gas oxygen or nitrogen an air separation plant can produce.

A process for the production of at least liquid oxygen and/or liquid nitrogen in cryogenic rectification. During a first period, during which electrical power prices are low, a process stream utilized by the ASU is liquefied and stored. During a second period, during which electrical prices high, at least a portion of the stored, liquefied process stream is withdrawn and introduced into the ASU. Wherein the MAC has a discharge pressure of greater than 10 bara during the first period, a first molar flowrate (LF) and a first pressure (LP) during the first period, a second molar flowrate (HF) and a second pressure (HP) during the second period. Wherein C=(LF/HF)/(LP/HP). And wherein second molar flowrate (HF) is <90% of first molar flowrate (LF) and C is between 0.9 and 1.05.

A plant for energy storage, comprises: a basin (2) for a work fluid having a critical temperature (T.sub.c) lower than 0°; a tank (3) configured to store the work fluid in at least partly liquid or super-critical phase with a storage temperature (T.sub.s) close to the critical temperature (T.sub.c); an expander (4); a compressor (5); an operating/drive machine (6) operatively connected to the expander (4) and to the compressor (5); a thermal store (8) operatively interposed between the compressor (5) and the tank (3) and between the tank (3) and the expander (4). The plant (1) is configured for actuating a Cyclic Thermodynamic Transformation (TTC) with the work fluid, first in a storage configuration and then in a discharge configuration. The thermal store (8), in the storage configuration, is configured for absorbing sensible heat and subsequently latent heat from the work fluid and, in the discharge configuration, it is configured for transferring latent heat and subsequently sensible heat to the work fluid.

Closed-loop refrigeration cycles for liquid oxygen densification are disclosed. The disclosed refrigeration cycles may be turbine-based refrigeration cycles or a Joule-Thompson (JT) expansion valve based refrigeration cycles and include a refrigerant or working fluid comprising a mixture of neon or helium together with nitrogen and/or oxygen.

A process for producing liquid oxygen, including an offshore platform the system including cooling a high-pressure nitrogen gas stream in a main heat exchanger, thereby producing a cooled high-pressure nitrogen gas stream, expanding the cooled high-pressure nitrogen gas stream in a turbo-expander, thereby producing a cold low-pressure nitrogen gas stream, warming the cold low-pressure nitrogen gas stream by indirect heat exchange with a high-pressure gaseous oxygen stream, thereby producing a liquefied oxygen stream and a warm low-pressure nitrogen gas stream, wherein, at least a portion of the warm low-pressure nitrogen gas stream is vented to the atmosphere.

The present invention relates to a process and a system for supplying a backup gas at a higher pressure from a source gas at a lower pressure. The backup gas at the lower pressure is at least partially condensed against a backup liquid at a higher pressure in a reprocessing heat exchanger and as a result, the backup liquid is at least partially vaporized. The backup liquid at the higher pressure is formed from boosting liquefied backup gas at the lower pressure. A backup vaporizer is disposed downstream of the reprocessing heat exchanger to completely vaporize the backup liquid at a higher pressure before it was delivered to the customer. The present invention eliminates the use of costly gas compressor and mitigates associated safety risks, in particular when the backup gas is oxygen.

Cryogenic refrigeration device comprising a working circuit intended to cool a working fluid circulating in the said circuit, the working circuit comprising, arranged in series in a loop: a compression portion, a cooling portion, a portion with valve(s), an expansion portion and a reheating portion, in order to subject the working fluid to a recuperative working cycle comprising compression, then cooling, then expansion and then reheating to prepare for a new cycle, wherein the compression portion comprises at least one compressor having a linear piston driven by a linear motor, the expansion proportion comprises at least one expander with a linear piston, the portion with valve(s) comprises at least one regulating valve linearly actuated by a linear motor and controlled in order to supply or extract the working fluid from the at least one expansion piston.

A system for preparing subcooled liquid oxygen based on mixing of liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen and then vacuum-pumping, including atmospheric-pressure saturated liquid nitrogen and oxygen tanks. An inlet of the liquid nitrogen tank communicates with pressurized gas, and an outlet is connected to an inlet a of a secondary subcooler. An inlet of the liquid oxygen tank communicates with the pressurized gas, and a first outlet is connected to an inlet b of the secondary subcooler. An outlet c of the secondary subcooler is connected to an inlet d of a primary subcooler. An outlet e of the primary subcooler is connected to a pumping-out device through a rewarming device. A second outlet of the liquid oxygen tank is connected to an inlet n of the primary subcooler. An outlet o of the primary subcooler is connected to an inlet r of the secondary subcooler.

Liquefaction of industrial gases or gas mixtures (hydrocarbon and/or non-hydrocarbon) uses a modified aqua-ammonia absorption refrigeration system (ARP) to chill the gas or gas mixture during the liquefaction process. The gas is compressed to above its critical point, and the heat of compression energy may be recovered to provide some or all of the thermal energy required to drive the ARP. A Joule Thomson (JT) adiabatic expansion process results in no requirement for specialty cryogenic rotating equipment. The aqua-ammonia absorption refrigeration system includes a vapour absorber tower (VAT) that permits the recovery of some or all of the heat of solution and heat of condensation energy in the system when anhydrous ammonia vapour is absorbed into a subcooled lean aqua-ammonia solution. The modified ARP with VAT may operate at pressures as low as 10 kPa, and the ammonia gas chiller may operate at temperatures as low as −71° C.