System and method for recovery of non-condensable gases such as neon, helium, xenon, and krypton from an air separation unit
US10295254B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 5, 2017 |
| Grant date | May 21, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 11, 2038 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF25J2270/42
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A system and method for recovery of rare gases such as neon, helium, xenon, and krypton in an air separation unit is provided. The rare gas recovery system comprises a non-condensable stripping column linked in a heat transfer relationship with a xenon-krypton column via an auxiliary condenser-reboiler. The non-condensable stripping column produces a rare gas containing overhead that is directed to the auxiliary condenser-reboiler where most of the neon is captured in a non-condensable vent stream that is further processed to produce a crude neon vapor stream that contains greater than about 50% mole fraction of neon with the overall neon recovery exceeding 95%. The xenon-krypton column further receives two streams of liquid oxygen from the lower pressure column and the rare gas containing overhead from the non-condensable stripping column and produces a crude xenon and krypton liquid stream and an oxygen-rich overhead.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.