L'air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour L'etude Et L'exploitation Des

Didier Domergue

Yannick Rancon

A plant for generating a nitrogen-based gas is provided. The plant includes a source of impure nitrogen under pressure containing a residual oxygen concentration; a main gas conduit; a catalytic deoxygenation reactor; a secondary gas line connected to a source of a secondary reducing gas at one end thereof and to the main gas conduit at a point situated upstream of the catalytic deoxygenation reactor at another end thereof; and a device for removing water vapor present in a gas. The source of impure nitrogen is connected to the catalytic deoxygenation reactor via the main gas conduit. The main gas conduit between the source of impure nitrogen and the point where the secondary gas line is connected is devoid of any flow control device.

Process and plant for generating nitrogen for heat treatment

A process for generating a nitrogen-based gas, comprising the steps of: (i) combining a secondary reducing gas including at least one reducing gas with a primary nitrogen gas including 0.5-5% by volume of oxygen, the combining of the secondary gas being performed according to an uncontrolled all-or-nothing method; (ii) reacting the primary gas and the secondary gas in a catalytic deoxygenation reactor so as to obtain a nitrogen-based reaction gas which includes water vapor; and (iii) removing at least a part of the water vapor present in the nitrogen-based reaction gas by cooling the reaction gas under pressure to induce formation of a liquid phase and then extracting the liquid phase from the reaction gas under pressure to obtain a purified reaction gas.

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Bagneux, France

Didier Domergue