Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

Versum Materials Us, LLC

Douglas Paul Dee

Donn Michael Herron

Roger Dean Whitley

Jung Soo Choe

Mark Robert Pillarella

Robert Ling Chiang

Jianguo Xu

William T Kleinberg

Jane Elizabeth Ostroski

Rakesh Agrawal

Eugene Joseph Karwacki, Jr

Andrew David Johnson

David Charles Winchester

Xukun Luo

Richard Linton Samsal

Edwin John Miller

Matthew John Bosco

Fang Xu

Gerald W Klein

Isaac Patrick West

Gregory John Gondecki

Jr Eugene Joseph Karwacki

Issac Patrick West

A heat exchanger apparatus can be configured so that there is at least one 'U' or “C” shape configured manifold in combination with at least one “Z” or “S” shape configured manifold for the heat exchanger apparatus for the input and output of fluid into and out of the heat exchangers of the heat exchanger apparatus. In some embodiments, downstream and/or upstream lines can be connected to the manifolds at a center or off-center point for conveying inlet fluid and outlet fluid. A method of retrofitting a pre-existing plant, building a new plant, or designing a new plant that utilizes an embodiment of the heat exchanger apparatus can help provide an improved heat exchanger arrangement without significantly increasing the footprint needed for the arrangement so that a plant can be improved with an embodiment of the apparatus without requiring an enlarged footprint for the plant.

Heat exchanger apparatus, manifold arrangement for a heat exchanger apparatus, and methods relating to same

An air stream is compressed in multiple stages using refrigeration derived from a refrigerant comprising natural gas for inter-stage cooling. The possibility of natural gas leaking into the air stream is reduced by use of an intermediate cooling medium ('ICM') to transfer the refrigeration from the refrigerant to the inter-stage air stream. The compressed air stream can be fed to a cryogenic air separation unit that includes an LNG-based liquefier unit from which a cold natural gas stream is withdrawn for use as said refrigerant.

System to cold compress an air stream using natural gas refrigeration

An apparatus and process for recovering a desired gas such as xenon difluoride, xenon, argon, helium or neon, from the effluent of a chemical process reactor that utilizes such gases alone or in a gas mixture or in a molecule that becomes decomposed wherein the chemical process reactor uses a sequence of different gas composition not all of which contain the desired gas and the desired gas is captured and recovered substantially only during the time the desired gas is in the effluent.

Method and equipment for selectively collecting process effluent

A system is set forth to increase the capacity of an LNG-based liquefier in a cryogenic air separation unit wherein, in a low production mode, the nitrogen that is fed to the LNG-based liquefier consists only of at least a portion of the high pressure nitrogen from the distillation column system while in a high production mode, a supplemental compressor is used to boost the pressure of at least a portion of the low pressure nitrogen from the distillation column system to create additional (or replacement) feed to the LNG-based liquefier. A key to the present invention is the supplemental compressor and the associated heat exchange equipment is separate and distinct from the LNG-based liquefier. This allows its purchase to be delayed until a capacity increase is actually needed and thus avoid building an oversized liquefier based on a speculative increase in liquid product demand.

System to increase capacity of LNG-based liquefier in air separation process

A cryogenic air separation process is set forth wherein, in order to provide the refrigeration necessary when at least a portion of the oxygen product is desired as liquid oxygen, LNG-derived refrigeration is used to liquefy a nitrogen stream in the process. A key to the present invention is that, instead of feeding the liquefied nitrogen to the distillation column, the liquefied nitrogen is heat exchanged against the air feed to the distillation column system.

Air separation process utilizing refrigeration extracted from LNG for production of liquid oxygen

A process for separating a feed gas into at least one product gas includes: (a) providing a gas separation apparatus with at least one adsorption layer including a lithium-exchanged FAU adsorbent having water desorption characteristics, defined by drying curves, similar to those for the corresponding fully sodium-exchanged FAU, a heat of adsorption for carbon dioxide equal to or lower than that for the corresponding fully sodium-exchanged FAU at high loadings of carbon dioxide, and onto which the adsorption layer water and/or carbon dioxide adsorb; (b) feeding into the gas separation apparatus a feed gas including nitrogen, oxygen, and at least one of water and carbon dioxide; and (c) collecting from a product end of the gas separation apparatus at least one product gas containing oxygen.

Use of lithium-containing fau in air separation processes including water and/or carbon dioxide removal

Pressure swing adsorption process for the recovery of high purity oxygen from a feed gas comprising oxygen, nitrogen, and argon. The process includes a forward flow stage which comprises (a) passing the feed gas into a first adsorption zone containing an adsorbent selective for the adsorption of nitrogen over oxygen and argon, and withdrawing therefrom a nitrogen-depleted intermediate gas; (b) passing the nitrogen-depleted intermediate gas into a second adsorption zone containing an adsorbent which is selective for the adsorption of nitrogen over argon and selective for the adsorption of argon over oxygen; (c) withdrawing an oxygen-enriched product gas from the second adsorption zone; and (d) terminating the passing of feed gas into the first adsorption zone and withdrawing an oxygen-enriched depressurization gas from the second adsorption zone in the same flow direction as (c). During (a) or during (d), nitrogen breakthrough from the first adsorption zone can occur and nitrogen can be adsorbed in the second adsorption zone.

High purity oxygen production by pressure swing adsorption

An AgX-type zeolite having a silver exchange level of 20-70% and a Ar/O Henry's law selectivity ratio at 23&deg; C. of 1.05 or greater has an optimum combination of selectivity for argon over oxygen at lower cost than higher silver exchange levels. This material can be used in oxygen VSA/PSA processes to produce oxygen at purities above 97%.

Argon/oxygen selective X-zeolite

A pressure swing adsorption process for the separation of a pressurized feed gas containing at least one more strongly adsorbable component and at least one less strongly adsorbable component. The process comprises (a) introducing the pressurized feed gas into a feed end of an adsorber bed containing one or more solid adsorbents which preferentially adsorb the more strongly adsorbable component and withdrawing from a product end of the adsorber bed a first adsorber effluent gas enriched in the less strongly adsorbable component, wherein the first adsorber effluent gas is utilized as final product gas; (b) terminating the introduction of the pressurized feed gas into the adsorber bed while withdrawing from the product end of the adsorber bed a second adsorber effluent gas enriched in the less strongly adsorbable component, wherein the pressure in the adsorber bed decreases while the second adsorber effluent gas is withdrawn therefrom, and wherein the second adsorber effluent gas is utilized as additional final product gas; (c) depressurizing the adsorber bed to a minimum bed pressure by withdrawing additional gas therefrom; (d) repressurizing the adsorber bed by introducing repressurization gas into the bed, wherein at least a portion of the repressurization gas is provided by pressurized feed gas; and (e) repeating steps (a) through (d) in a cyclic manner. No final product gas is required for purge or repressurization in the process cycle steps.

Pressure swing adsorption process which provides product gas at decreasing bed pressure

A single bed pressure swing adsorption process with at least one transfer tank is utilized to separate less adsorbable components from more adsorbable components such as the separation of oxygen from air. Depressurization gas is collected in the transfer tank and is used later exclusively for purging the bed during the regeneration period.

Single bed pressure swing adsorption process

Pressure swing adsorption process and system for separating gas mixtures comprising at least one more strongly adsorbable component and at least one less strongly adsorbable component. The process includes storing gas enriched in one of the components in a first storage tank and a second storage tank which are arranged in series. Final product gas is provided from the second storage tank while gas for purge, rinse, and/or repressurization is provided from the first storage tank.

Growing community of inventors

Fogelsville, PA, United States of America

Douglas Paul Dee