Large air separation FAQ

Expander is a kind of mechanical equipment that uses compressed gas to expand and depressurize, so that the gas temperature can be reduced to obtain the cooling capacity. In the air separation unit, the expander is an important equipment to provide cooling capacity for the air separation unit, and its cooling capacity accounts for 80% - 90% of the cooling capacity of the air separation unit. The main structural forms of expander are piston type and turbine type. The piston expander is suitable for air separation process with large pressure drop and small flow rate because of its convenient manufacture and low speed. Turbine type has the characteristics of large gas flow, high efficiency, stable and reliable operation and no friction parts. Due to the low pressure air separation process used in large air separation units, the pressure drop and unit cooling capacity are very small, and because the expansion air is sent to the upper column for rectification, the expander is requi

Generally, the actual cooling capacity of expander is always less than the theoretical cooling capacity. Under the same inlet and outlet pressure and inlet gas temperature, the lower the efficiency of expander, the smaller the unit refrigerant cooling capacity and the smaller the temperature drop efficiency of expander. The efficiency of expander depends on the size of various losses inside the expander. Due to the existence of various losses, the ability of gas to do external work is reduced in varying degrees. To sum up, the losses mainly include the following aspects: 1. When the air flow passes through the work wheel and the deflector, the loss caused by friction and air flow impact on the runner surface is called flow loss. 2. When the impeller is rotating, the friction heat generated by the gas around the wheel disc will increase the temperature of the gas, which is called friction blast loss. 3. When the gas passes through the deflector, the leakage from the gap bet

The load regulation range of low pressure air separation unit is related to the regulating performance of feed air compressor, the regulating performance of expander and the structural characteristics of distillation column. At present, the flow regulation range of turbine air compressor with inlet guide vane is 75% to 100%, and that of turbocharged expander with adjustable nozzle is 65% to 100%. Next, the most important thing is to adjust the residual of the distillation column. At present, the load regulation range of distillation column with structured packing can reach 50% - 100%, while that of traditional sieve tray column is 70% - 100%. If the load is too low, it will cause liquid leakage because the speed of steam passing through the sieve is too slow. When oxygen is sufficient and the oxygen output needs to be reduced, first reduce the output of oxygen products, then reduce the air flow accordingly, and adjust the expansion air volume according to the main cooling level. The

In the distillation column of air separation, the air is usually pre separated in the lower column, and then distilled into oxygen rich liquid air and pure nitrogen, and then further distillation in the upper column to obtain oxygen and nitrogen products. As a condensing evaporator connecting the upper and lower columns, the pressure nitrogen of the lower column is used to heat the liquid oxygen of the upper column. When the liquid oxygen is evaporated, the gas nitrogen is condensed. The two-stage distillation column can make oxygen and nitrogen products obtain higher extraction rate and higher purity. The working principle of single-stage distillation column is similar to that of the lower column of two-stage distillation column. Oxygen enriched liquid air is at the bottom of the column, and pure nitrogen gas can be obtained at the top of the column. The single-stage distillation column can't separate the air perfectly, so it is seldom used in practice. However, because of its simple

In the fractionating column, the separation of oxygen and nitrogen is realized through the process of two-stage distillation in the upper and lower columns. The distillation process must have ascending air and downflow liquid, and the main function of the condensing evaporator is to exchange heat between the liquid oxygen returned from the bottom of the upper column and the nitrogen rising from the top of the lower column. Condensing evaporator is an indispensable heat exchange equipment in air separation distillation system. In a sense, condensing evaporator is the link between upper column and lower column. The condensing evaporator is also called "main cooling". In the condensing evaporator, the liquid oxygen returned from the upper column absorbs heat and evaporates the gas oxygen; the rising nitrogen in the lower column is condensed into liquid nitrogen due to heat release. A part of the gas oxygen is sent out of the column as the product, and the rest is sent to the upper colu

After a long-term operation of the air separation plant, the components in the cryogenic equipment and pipelines in the distillation system will be blocked due to ice or mechanical powder, which will increase the resistance of the fractionator. When the air separation plant has been in normal operation for about 2 years, the fractionator system should be heated and thawed to remove these deposits. When the molecular sieve adsorber and the main heat exchanger have water inflow or other faults, it is also necessary to stop and heat up. In general, the following methods will be used for heating and thawing.

After a long-term operation of the air separation plant, the components in the low-temperature equipment and pipelines of the distillation system will be blocked due to the internal precipitation of icing or mechanical powder, which will increase the resistance of the fractionating column. Therefore, after the normal operation of the air separation plant for about 2 years, the fractionating column system should be heated and thawed to remove these sediments. When the molecular sieve adsorber and the main heat exchanger have water or other faults, they must also be stopped for heating. The following describes several heating and thawing operation methods: