The core working principle of the cooling fractionation tower system in air separation equipment is mainly based on the difference in boiling points of each component gas in the air, and gas separation is achieved through distillation technology.
The air is compressed by a compression system to increase pressure. The compressed air enters the pre cooling system, which mainly includes air cooling towers and water cooling towers. The air is initially cooled by cooling water or chilled water to remove some heat and moisture. The pre cooled air enters the purification system, where impurities such as moisture, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and hydrocarbons are removed from the air through molecular sieve adsorbers and other equipment. The purified air enters the heat exchange system for deep cooling, and some of the air evaporates through a turbine expander to produce cooling capacity, which is used to cool other air. The cooled air enters the fractionation tower system, which is the main tower inside the cold box. In the main tower, air passes through multiple layers of trays and packing to form gas-liquid contact, and is separated by utilizing the difference in boiling points of each component. The low boiling point components gradually evaporate and rise to the top of the tower, while the high boiling point components gradually liquefy and deposit at the bottom of the tower.
The fractionation tower is the core equipment, which is equipped with multiple layers of trays and packing inside. The overflow hopper and baffle on the tray, as well as the small holes and distributors on the packing, help to form gas-liquid contact, achieving efficient heat and mass exchange and component separation.
