Research and development of large-scale cryogenic air separation in China

With the rapid growth in demand for industrial gas in steel and chemical industries, there has been significant emphasis placed on the development of China’s large-scale air separation technology. Currently, the maximum capacity of a single unit has been able to attain 120000 Nm 3 /h (oxygen), and t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Zhejiang University. A. Science 2014, Vol.15 (5), p.309-322
Main Authors: Zhang, Xiao-bin, Chen, Jian-ye, Yao, Lei, Huang, Yong-hua, Zhang, Xue-jun, Qiu, Li-min
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air separation
Chemical industries
China
Civil Engineering
Classical and Continuum Physics
Engineering
Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Molecular sieves
Plate-fin heat exchangers
Power consumption
Review
State of the art
Steels
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Summary:With the rapid growth in demand for industrial gas in steel and chemical industries, there has been significant emphasis placed on the development of China’s large-scale air separation technology. Currently, the maximum capacity of a single unit has been able to attain 120000 Nm 3 /h (oxygen), and the specific power consumption of 0.38 kWh/m 3 . This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art for large-scale cryogenic air separation systems being deployed in China. A brief introduction to the history and establishment of the large-scale cryogenic air separation industry is presented. Taking the present mainstream large-scale air separation unit operating at 60000 Nm 3 /h (oxygen) as an example, the technological parameters and features of the involved key equipment, including a molecular sieve adsorber, air compressor unit, plate-fin heat exchanger, turbo-expander and distillation column are described in detail. The developing 80000–120000 Nm 3 /h air separation processes and equipment are also introduced. A summary of the existing problems and future developments of these systems in China are discussed.
ISSN:1673-565X
1862-1775
DOI:10.1631/jzus.A1400063