초록 ▼

A krypton-xenon concentration process which also produces substantially rare gas-free oxygen gas while requiring a stripping column substantially smaller than is required by conventional process wherein feed liquid is provided directly to a reboiling zone and only the vapor from the reboiling zone i

A krypton-xenon concentration process which also produces substantially rare gas-free oxygen gas while requiring a stripping column substantially smaller than is required by conventional process wherein feed liquid is provided directly to a reboiling zone and only the vapor from the reboiling zone is passed through the stripping column.

대표청구항 ▼

A process for the production of a krypton-xenon concentrate and the recovery of a gaseous product substantially free of rare gases, comprising: (1) taking from an air separation plant a feed liquid comprising oxygen, krypton and xenon wherein the oxygen in the feed liquid comprises from about 5 to 4

A process for the production of a krypton-xenon concentrate and the recovery of a gaseous product substantially free of rare gases, comprising: (1) taking from an air separation plant a feed liquid comprising oxygen, krypton and xenon wherein the oxygen in the feed liquid comprises from about 5 to 40 percent of the oxygen from the air separation plant and providing said feed liquid to a reboiling zone to form a reboiling liquid; (2) partially vaporizing the reboiling liquid to produce a vapor, and a liquid krypton-xenon concentrate; (3) recovering krypton-xenon concentrate; (4) introducing into a stripping column, reflux liquid having a krypton-xenon concentration less than that in said vapor; (5) passing said vapor against the reflux liquid downflowing in the stripping column; (6) stripping krypton and xenon from the vapor into the reflux liquid to produce a lean vapor and a richer liquid; (7) passing the richer liquid to the reboiling zone to form part of the reboiling liquid; (8) withdrawing lean vapor from the stripping column; (9) recovering withdrawn lean vapor as gaseous product substantially free of rare gases; and (10) recovering the major portion of the oxygen as oxygen gas product directly from the air separation plant, thereby enabling the employment of a stripping column of considerably smaller size then is required for conventional krypton-xenon concentration processes. A process for the production of a krypton-xenon concentrate and the recovery of gaseous product substantially free of rare gases, comprising: (1) providing feed air to a cryogenic rectification air separation plant comprising a higher pressure column and a lower pressure column in heat exchange relation; (2) withdrawing a first liquid comprising oxygen, krypton and xenon from the area of heat exchange relation and providing said withdrawn liquid to a reboiling zone to form a reboiling liquid; (3) partially vaporizing the reboiling liquid to produce a vapor, and a liquid krypton-xenon concentrate; (4) recovering krypton-xenon concentrate; (5) withdrawing a second liquid from the lower pressure column at a point above the point where the first liquid is withdrawn, said second liquid having a krypton-xenon concentration less than that in the vapor produced in the reboiling zone, and introducing said second liquid into a stripping column as reflux liquid; (6) passing said vapor against the reflux liquid downflowing in the stripping column; (7) stripping krypton and xenon from the vapor into the reflux liquid to produce a lean vapor and a richer liquid; (8) passing the richer liquid to the reboiling zone to form part of the reboiling liquid; (9) withdrawing lean vapor from the stripping column; (10) recovering withdrawn lean vapor as gaseous product substantially free of rare gases; (11) withdrawing from the lower pressure column, at a point between the points from where the first and second liquids are withdrawn, a gaseous stream; and (12) recovering said gaseous stream as product oxygen.