Purification of crude argon

US4935044A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Linde GmbH · DE

Inventor

• Eugen Schoenpflug · Penzberg, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 28, 1989
• Grant date: Jun 19, 1990
• Expiry date: Feb 28, 2009

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S62/924
• WIPO field: Materials, metallurgy
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

For the purification of crude argon, which accumulates partly in liquid form and partly in gaseous form in the head of a crude argon column, most of the crude argon is removed in liquid form (4) and its pressure is increased by use of the hydrostatic potential. Then, the crude argon accumulated in liquid form is evaporated (6), freed of oxygen (9, 10) and fed to a rectification (13). Crude argon accumulated in gaseous form (5) is also reprocessed by being compressed and fed to the evaporated crude argon. The compression is preferably conducted in conjunction with the compression of excess hydrogen recycle gas.