Oxygen is widely used in industrial production and daily life. The air contains 21% (volume concentration) of oxygen, which is the cheapest raw material for oxygen production. Therefore, oxygen is usually produced through air separation.
Main process of air separation and oxygen generation
1. Cooling separation process: traditional oxygen production technology, with high purity of oxygen and various kinds of products, is suitable for large-scale oxygen production.
2. PSA: a new technology with small investment and low energy consumption, is suitable for small and medium scale applications with low oxygen purity.
3. Membrane separation process: it is not mature and basically has not been used in industry.
■ Technical characteristics of oxygen generation by variable pressure adsorption -- compared with the technology of chilled oxygen generation
L The Process Flow is simple and no complex pretreatment device is needed;
L The product's oxygen purity can reach 93%, nitrogen content is less than 1%, and the rest is argon;
L when the scale of oxygen generation is below 100,000 m 3/h, the power consumption of oxygen generation is lower and the investment is smaller;
L The automatic operation of the device is high, and it is convenient and quick to start and stop;
L The unit has strong operation independence and high safety;
L The device is easy to operate and has large operation elasticity (partial load is superior and the load conversion speed is fast );
L low costs of equipment operation and maintenance;
L low cost of civil engineering and less land occupation.
■ Comparison between the process of cold air separation oxygen generation and the process of variable pressure adsorption oxygen generation
