Low temperature air separation process for producing pressurized gaseous product

Abstract

A compressed air stream is cooled in an exchanger to form a compressed cooled air stream. The stream is then cryogenically compressed in a first compressor to form a first pressurized gas stream. The first pressurized gas stream is further cooled in the exchanger, cryogenically compressed in a second compressor, and then it is cooled and partially liquefied. The cooled and partially liquefied product is then fed to a system of distillation columns. A liquid product is removed from the system of distillation columns. This product is then pressurized, vaporized and warmed in the exchanger to yield pressurized gaseous product.

Claims

1. A method for low temperature air separation, the method comprising at least two modes of operation: a peak mode and an off peak mode, wherein in the peak mode of operation, the method comprises the steps of: providing a compressed air stream at a pressure P.sub.0; cooling the compressed air stream in a heat exchanger, the heat exchanger having a warm side, a cool side, a first intermediate point, and a second intermediate point; withdrawing a first portion of the compressed air stream from the cool side of the heat exchanger; withdrawing a second portion of the compressed air stream from the first intermediate point of the heat exchanger; compressing the second portion of the compressed air stream in a first cryogenic compressor to form a first pressurized gas stream at a pressure P.sub.1; cooling the first pressurized gas stream in the heat exchanger; withdrawing the first pressurized gas stream from the second intermediate point of the heat exchanger; compressing the first pressurized gas stream in a second cryogenic compressor to form a second pressurized gas stream at a pressure P.sub.2, wherein P.sub.2 is greater than P.sub.1; cooling the second pressurized gas stream in the heat exchanger; withdrawing the second pressurized gas stream from the cool side of the heat exchanger introducing said first portion of the compressed air stream and said second pressurized gas stream or a stream derived therefrom from the cool side of the heat exchanger and into a higher pressure column operating under conditions effective for the rectification of air, thereby producing an oxygen rich bottom liquid and a nitrogen rich top gas, wherein the higher pressure column has a pressure of P.sub.HP; providing a lower pressure column in fluid communication with the higher pressure column, the lower pressure column comprising a liquid oxygen extraction port, the liquid oxygen extraction port disposed proximate a bottom portion of the lower pressure column, wherein the liquid oxygen extraction port is in fluid communication with the cool side of the heat exchanger, wherein the lower pressure column is in fluid communication with the higher pressure column such that the lower pressure column is configured to receive the oxygen rich bottom liquid from the higher pressure column; introducing a liquid feed stream from a liquid storage tank to a third point of the lower pressure column, wherein the liquid feed comprises a liquid selected from the group consisting of liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen, and combinations thereof, wherein the liquid storage tank is external of the lower pressure column and the higher pressure column; removing a liquid product from the lower pressure column; pressurizing at least a portion of the liquid product; vaporizing at least a portion of said liquid product; and heating at least a portion of said liquid product to yield a gaseous product.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein during the off-peak mode of operation, the method further comprises the step of stopping the flow of the liquid feed stream from the liquid storage tank to the lower pressure column.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising the step of withdrawing a liquid stream from the lower pressure column and introducing the liquid stream to the liquid storage tank.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the liquid storage tank receives a liquid stream from a source selected from the group consisting of an external air separation unit, a liquefaction plant, the lower pressure column, the higher pressure column, and combinations thereof.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the liquid storage tank receives the liquid stream from the source during periods of time when energy prices are below a price threshold.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the liquid feed stream is substantially free of hydrocarbons, moisture, and carbon dioxide.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of adjusting the third point up or down the lower pressure column based on the compositional make-up of the liquid feed stream.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method is practiced in the absence of a turboexpander.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flow ratio of the first portion of the compressed air stream to the second portion of the compressed air stream is approximately 4:1.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling steps are conducted in a plurality of heat exchangers.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling steps are conducted in one heat exchanger.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) For a further understanding of the nature and objects for the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are given the same or analogous reference numbers and wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates prior art;

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of the invention;

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the invention;

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates one operational mode of the invention; and

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates a second operational mode of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) Compressed air substantially free of moisture and CO.sub.2 (stream 1) at about 6 bar absolute is cooled in exchanger 65. A portion 52 with a flow rate about 20% of stream 1 is extracted from an intermediate point of exchanger 65 at cryogenic temperature −125° C. and sent to the first cold compressor 50 to be compressed to higher pressure of about 45 bar to yield the first pressurized gas stream 53. The compression heat increases the temperature of stream 53 and it will be again introduced at the warm end of heat exchanger 65 and cooled to yield the cooled first pressurized gas stream 55 also at about −125° C. A second cold compressor 51 will further compress stream 55 to yield the second pressurized gas stream 54 at about 60 bar. Stream 54 reintroduced at an intermediate point of heat exchanger 65, at least partially liquefied, cooled to about −176° C. and removed from the cold end of exchanger 65 as stream 56 to feed the high pressure distillation column 80 following expansion in a valve. The remaining portion 2 of compressed air is also fed in gaseous form to column 80 operated at about 6 bar. Nitrogen rich liquid 8 is withdrawn at the top of column 80 and sent to low pressure column 81 as reflux. A side stream 4 with composition close to air is optionally extracted from column 80 and sent to column 81 as feed. An oxygen enriched liquid stream 3 also called rich liquid is withdrawn at the bottom of 80 and fed to column 81 as reflux. The reflux streams are preferably subcooled before being sent to column 81. A source of liquid air 30 from storage tank 70 is fed to the column 81 as additional feed, its flow rate being about 10% mol. of the feed air 1. Liquid oxygen produced as stream 20 at the bottom of the low pressure column 81 is pumped by pump 21 to a high pressure of 40 bar and vaporized in exchanger 65 to yield gaseous oxygen product 22. Low pressure nitrogen rich gas 9 at a pressure of about 1.5 bar from column 81 is warmed in exchanger 65 and exits as stream 41. Medium pressure nitrogen gas 6 can be withdrawn from column 80 and warmed in exchanger 65 to yield medium pressure gaseous product 7. Argon production (not shown) can be optionally added to the process for argon production.

(8) If the temperature of the outlet gas of the cold compressor 50 is much higher than ambient temperature, due to its high compression ratio, the compressor's outlet gas can be cooled by a water-cooled or air-cooled exchanger (not shown) before being introduced into exchanger 65 for cooling.

(9) The source of liquid 30 is a product of air separation plant or liquefaction plant and can be of any composition of air components namely oxygen and nitrogen. It should not contain impurities that can be harmful to a safe and reliable operation of the plant such as hydrocarbons, moisture, or CO.sub.2, etc. In FIG. 2, stream 30 is shown as liquid air or having similar composition as liquid air. If the liquid 30 is nitrogen rich liquid, it can be fed to column 81 as stream 32 shown in dotted line. If it is a rich liquid with similar composition as bottom liquid 3, it can be fed as stream 34 shown in dotted line. If it is liquid oxygen then it can be fed to the bottom of column 81 as stream 33 also shown in dotted line.

(10) If the liquid 30 does contain some oxygen (for example liquid air, rich liquid or liquid oxygen) then the gaseous feed air stream 1 can be reduced in flow to yield the same balance in molecules of oxygen. By doing so the oxygen product flow 22 can remain unchanged.

(11) It can be seen from the above description that the air separation unit operated with the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 can lower the power consumption of the unit significantly. Indeed, the booster air compressor (BAC) 20 of FIG. 1 is no longer needed, it is replaced by the two cold compressors 50 and 51. The cold gas extracted from the exchanger 65 is compressed economically at low temperature to higher pressure. The power consumed by this cold compression is low compared to a warm compression performed at ambient temperature. The power consumed by a compressor wheel is directly proportional to its inlet absolute temperature. A compressor wheel admitting at 100K would consume about ⅓ the power of a compressor wheel admitting at ambient temperature of 300K. Therefore, by utilizing cold compression, one can reduce significantly the power consumption of the compression. However, the compression heat is re-injected back into the system thus requiring additional refrigeration to evacuate it. In this process the source of liquid 30 provides such refrigeration needed to satisfy the heat balance. Furthermore, when liquid air or a liquid containing oxygen is fed to the system, as explained above, the flow rate of gaseous feed air 1 can be reduced resulting in further power saving. The temperature of streams 52 and 55 is selected to be preferably near the boiling temperature of liquid oxygen of stream 23. If the oxygen pressure is above its critical pressure then the temperature of streams 52 and 55 can be selected to be near to the critical temperature of the vaporizing stream 23. The term “near” indicates that the selected temperature is within 7° C. of the boiling temperature or the critical temperature of liquid oxygen

(12) As indicated above, if the source of liquid can be obtained inexpensively, there is not much economic incentive to produce liquid products. However from the technical point of view, it is possible to produce some liquids. In FIG. 2, when liquid air 30 is fed to the system, liquid oxygen product can be withdrawn as stream 25. Or, if preferred, liquid nitrogen stream 26 can be withdrawn. A portion of the refrigeration of stream 30 is simply transferred through the process to allow the extraction of those liquid products.

(13) It will be noted that the shown apparatus does not include any turboexpanders. Thus the addition of cryogenic liquid 30 provides essentially all the refrigeration required by the process.

(14) Of course, it is possible to equip the process with a turboexpander to produce liquid product during the periods when power rates are low, those liquid product is then fed to the process according to the invention during the periods when power rates are high to achieve the savings indicated in this invention. The turboexpander can be of any type, for example a Claude expander wherein cold elevated pressure air is expanded into the high pressure column of a double-column plant, or an air expander arranged such that air is expanded into the low pressure column, or a nitrogen expander wherein the high pressure nitrogen rich gas extracted from the high pressure column is expanded to lower pressure. The turboexpander, if so equipped, does not need to be operated during the time when liquid is fed to the system according to this invention, however, sometimes for the ease of operation or for the reduction of the quantity of liquid feed, it can be kept running. Multiple expanders are also possible.

(15) If some high pressure nitrogen is desirable, one can pump liquid nitrogen product (not shown in FIG. 2) to high pressure and vaporize it in the heat exchanger 65.

(16) FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show the same apparatus and illustrate the processes used during a peak period for FIG. 3 and two alternative modes of operation to be used during off-peak periods in FIGS. 4 and 5. Liquids can be produced during off-peaks and fed back to the cold box during peaks. An external independent liquefier can also be used instead to supply the required refrigeration. Some other means of producing refrigeration such as refrigeration units or Freon™ units can also be used in conjunction with the above refrigeration equipment.

(17) The process uses a standard double column, including a high pressure column 80 and a low pressure column 81. Air is compressed in compressor 10 and substantially freed of moisture and CO.sub.2 (stream 1) by purification unit 11 at about 6 bar absolute. The compressed purified air 1 is cooled in exchanger 65. For all of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, faint lines indicate a conduit which is not in operation and bold lines indicate a conduit which is in operation.

(18) When the cost of electricity is above a predetermined level (peak), as shown in FIG. 3, a portion 52 with a flow rate about 20% of stream 1 is extracted from an intermediate point of exchanger 65 at cryogenic temperature −125° C. and sent to the first cold compressor 50 to be compressed to higher pressure of about 45 bar to yield the first pressurized gas stream 53. The compression heat increases the temperature of stream 53 and it will be again introduced at the warm end of heat exchanger 65 and cooled to yield the cooled first pressurized gas stream 55 also removed from the exchanger 65 at about −125° C. A second cold compressor 51 will further compress stream 55 to yield the second pressurized gas stream 54 at about 60 bar. Stream 54 is reintroduced at an intermediate point of heat exchanger 65, at least partially liquefied, cooled to about −176° C. and removed from the cold end of exchanger 65 as stream 56 to feed the high pressure distillation column 80 following expansion in a valve. The remaining portion 2 of compressed air is also fed in gaseous form to column 80 operated at about 6 bar. Nitrogen rich liquid 8 is withdrawn at the top of column 80 and sent to low pressure column 81 as reflux. A side stream 4 with composition close to air is optionally extracted from column 80 and sent to column 81 as feed. An oxygen enriched liquid stream 3 also called rich liquid is withdrawn at the bottom of column 80 and fed to column 81 as feed. The reflux and feed streams are preferably subcooled before being sent to column 81. A source of liquid air 30 from storage tank 70 is fed to the column 81 as additional feed, its flow rate being about 10% mol. of the feed air 1. Liquid oxygen produced as stream 20 at the bottom of the low pressure column 81 is pumped by pump 21 to a high pressure of 40 bar and vaporized in exchanger 65 to yield gaseous oxygen product 22. Low pressure nitrogen rich gas 9 at a pressure of about 1.5 bar from column 81 is warmed in exchanger 65 and exits as stream 41. Medium pressure nitrogen gas 6 can be withdrawn from column 80 and warmed in exchanger 65 to yield medium pressure gaseous product 7. Argon production (not shown) can be optionally added to the process for argon production.

(19) If the temperature of the outlet gas of the cold compressor 50 is much higher than ambient temperature, due to its high compression ratio, the compressor's outlet gas can be cooled by a water-cooled or air-cooled exchanger (not shown) before being introduced into exchanger 65 for cooling.

(20) The source of liquid 30 can be derived from the air separation plant itself In this mode, the turbines 13 and 14 and warm compressor 15 are not operational.

(21) FIG. 4 illustrates an operating mode during a period when the cost of electricity is below a predetermined level (off-peak). In this mode, both cold compressors 50 and 51 can be stopped, the cooled compressed air stream is separated upstream of the exchanger 65 into a stream 12 and a stream 1. Stream 12 is compressed in a warm booster compressor 15. A stream removed at an intermediate stage of booster compressor 15 is divided in two, one part being sent without further cooling to turbine 13 and the rest 46 being cooled to an intermediate temperature of the exchanger 65 and then sent to turbine 14. The expanded streams are mixed with stream 1 and sent to the high pressure column 80 in gaseous form. The expanders 13 and 14 provide the needed refrigeration for the production of liquid products. Liquid air is removed from line 60 through by-pass valve 61 and sent to the high pressure column 80 as stream 56. A stream 67 with a composition similar to air is extracted from stream 4 and sent to storage tank 70. This liquid air will be fed to the cold box in the subsequent phase (such as that of FIG. 3) when the cold compressors are in operation. Some liquid oxygen and nitrogen can be optionally produced and sent to storage tanks 71 and 72. It can be seen that in this mode, the warm booster compressor 15 replaces the cold compressors 50 and 51.

(22) Another variant of the off-peak mode is described in FIG. 5: Instead of being stopped, the cold compressor 51 can be kept running and only the cold compressor 50 is stopped. To indicate this, the lines to cold compressor 50 are shown as faint dotted lines. This allows simpler operation since only one cold compressor needs to be started or stopped when changing modes. A portion 12 of the compressed air after the purification unit 11 is sent to a warm booster compressor 15 for further compression. A side stream 64 is extracted at an interstage of compressor 15 and is split into two portions 62 and 63. Stream 62 feeds expander 13 and stream 63 is cooled to form stream 46 which feeds expander 14. The expanders 13 and 14 provide the needed refrigeration for the production of liquid products. Expander 13 has an inlet temperature at about ambient temperature (or below ambient temperature if a refrigeration unit is used) and expander 14 has an inlet temperature which is an intermediate temperature of the exchanger 65. Expanded air from both expanders 13 and 14 is mixed with air stream 1 and sent in gaseous form to column 80 as stream 2. Pressurized air from the final stage of compressor 15 is cooled, removed from the exchanger 65 as stream 55 then fed to cold compressor 51. Stream 54 from the discharge of cold compressor 51 is further cooled and liquefied in exchanger 65 then feed the high pressure column 80 via line 56. It can be seen that in this mode, the warm booster compressor 15 replaces the cold compressor 50.

(23) It will be understood that many additional changes in the details, materials, steps and arrangement of parts, which have been herein described in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments in the examples given above.