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What is the purpose of an expansion heat exchanger in an air separation plant?

What is the purpose of an expansion heat exchanger in an air separation plant?
Jul 30, 2024
Author: DEAR AST

1, temperature regulation: expansion heat exchanger through the use of the upper tower return flow of dirty nitrogen (or other low-temperature fluid) of the cold, after the expansion of the expansion of the air to cool. This step effectively reduces the temperature of the expanding air, thus reducing the superheat of the expanding air when it enters the upper tower. It helps to improve the energy efficiency of the air separation system.
2, cold recovery and distribution: in the air separation process, cold is a valuable resource. The expansion heat exchanger achieves the effective use of cold capacity by recovering the cold capacity in the dirty nitrogen and returning some or all of it to the system. This not only helps to improve the cold utilisation of the whole system, but also helps to improve the distillation process in the upper and lower columns. Optimise the operating efficiency of the system.
3, improve product quality: due to the presence of expansion heat exchanger, the moisture content of the air into the lower tower can be reduced. This helps to reduce the water content of the liquid at the bottom of the lower tower, thereby improving the purity of the liquid and air. Improvement of the purity of the liquid-air for the stability of the subsequent distillation process and product quality is critical.
4, optimise system energy consumption: through the reasonable design of the expansion heat exchanger process and parameters, can ensure product quality at the same time, reduce the energy consumption of the system. For example, by adjusting the flow rate and temperature of dirty nitrogen, you can optimize the heat transfer effect of the expansion heat exchanger and reduce unnecessary energy losses.

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When the amount of processing air is reduced, the rising steam and reflux liquid in the upper column will be reduced, but the reflux ratio will not change. Therefore, the reduction of processing air in a small range will not affect the purity of oxygen and nitrogen, and the reduction of processing air volume will help to reduce the pressure of the upper and lower columns. However, according to the material balance, the production of oxygen and nitrogen will naturally decrease when the amount of processing air is reduced. If the amount of processing air is too small, there will be leakage on the tray. If the heat and mass exchange of the leaked liquid is not sufficient, the purity of oxygen and nitrogen will be greatly affected, and even the normal production can not be realized. Therefore, the minimum allowable load of distillation column is generally specified.
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