Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

Fluor Enterprises, Inc.

Permea, Inc.

Goar, Allison & Associates, Inc.

Jung Soo Choe

Donn Michael Herron

Rakesh Agrawal

Steven R Auvil

Douglas Paul Dee

Xianming Jimmy Li

Elmo Nasato

Lyndon J Kellogg, Jr

Diwakar Garg

David Ross Graham

Sang Kook Lee

Robert F Weimer

Justin David Bukowski

Uday Navin Parekh

Steven Ray Auvil

Disclosed is a reactor, a structured packing, and a method for increasing the rate of decomposition of polysulfides and oxidation of polysulfides and hydrogen sulfide in liquid sulfur. The reactor, the structured packing, and the method involve a structured packing for contacting a first stream and a second stream in a reactor including a catalyst. The catalyst increases the rate of decomposition of polysulfides and oxidation of polysulfides and hydrogen sulfide in the liquid sulfur of the first stream with the second stream. The first stream includes liquid sulfur containing polysulfides and dissolved hydrogen sulfide. The second stream includes an oxygen-containing gas.

Reactor, a structure packing, and a method for improving oxidation of hydrogen sulfide or polysulfides in liquid sulfur

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to a cryogenic air separation unit that includes an LNG-based liquefier unit from which a cold natural gas stream is withdrawn for use as said refrigerant.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

A sulfur recovery system for recovering sulfur from a sulfur plant feed stream including a first sulfur removal system and a second sulfur removal system. The system includes a sulfur plant feed inlet to the first sulfur removal system, the sulfur plant feed inlet being capable of providing a sulfur plant feed stream at a first pressure. One or more oxidizing gas inlets are arranged and disposed to combine at least one oxidizing gas stream with the sulfur plant feed stream to form a combustion gas for combustion in the first sulfur removal system at a second pressure. A flow restriction device is operably configured to control an operating pressure in one or both of the first sulfur removal system and the second sulfur removal system. A gas processing plant and method for recovering sulfur from a sulfur plant feed stream are also disclosed.

System and method for sulfur recovery

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 method and apparatus for producing high purity argon by combined cryogenic distillation and adsorption technologies is disclosed. Crude argon from a distillation column or a so-called argon column is passed to a system of adsorption vessels for further purification. Depressurization gas from adsorption is introduced back, in a controlled manner, to the distillation column and/or a compressor or other means for increasing pressure. Particulate filtration and getter purification may optionally be used.

Combined cryogenic distillation and PSA for argon production

A process separates a multicomponent feed by distillation into at least one stream enriched in the most volatile component, one stream enriched in the least volatile component, and one stream enriched in a component of intermediate volatility. In one embodiment, the process produces an argon-enriched stream from a cryogenic air separation process. The distillation system includes at least one distillation column that produces a nitrogen-enriched stream from the top of the column, an oxygen product stream from the bottom of the column, and an argon-enriched stream from a partitioned section. The geometry of the partitioned section minimizes vapor and liquid distribution, and includes a vertical separating element and an end separating element to isolate the partitioned section from the intermediate distillation section. The equivalent diameter (De) of the partitioned section is at least 60% of the ideal diameter (Di) of the partitioned section, wherein the equivalent diameter is defined as four times the cross sectional flow area enclosed by the vertical separating element divided by the perimeter formed by the vertical separating element, and the ideal diameter (Di) is the diameter of a circle which has the same cross sectional flow area as that cross sectional flow area which is enclosed by the vertical separating element.

Process for distillation of multicomponent fluid and production of an argon-enriched stream from a cryogenic air separation process

A two stage pressure swing adsorption process is set forth for producing the less strongly adsorbed component of a feed gas mixture wherein the first stage utilizes a first adsorbent for bulk removal of the more strongly adsorbed component and wherein the second stage utilizes a second adsorbent for trace removal of the more strongly adsorbed component. A further feature of the present invention is that the desorbed gas from the second stage's depressurization step (consisting primarily of the desired less strongly adsorbed component) is recycled to the first stage in order to improve its performance. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, high purity nitrogen (less than 1000 ppm oxygen, preferably less than 100 ppm oxygen) is produced from an air feed using a kinetically controlled carbon molecular sieve adsorbent in the first stage and an equilibrium controlled metal complex-based adsorbent in the second stage.

Two stage pressure swing adsorption process for producing the less

Valuable process gas is dried to a low water content, for example a dew point of less than -20.degree. F., using membrane separation in which compression of the permeate gases and condensation and separation of liquid water from the permeate stream is combined with a total recycle of uncondensable permeate gases so that no process gas is lost as a result of the drying operation. Feed gas is combined with the recycled gas either prior to compressing, cooling and separating the liquid water from the process gas or subsequent to these steps, depending upon the pressure of the available feed stream to be dried. Membrane separation efficiency is improved by sweeping the downstream surfaces of the membrane with dried product gas. All of the sweep gas is recaptured with the permeate gases and returned to the separation unit, thereby enabling 100%, recovery of the fresh feed gas from the drying operation. Only liquid water and dissolved gases are purged from the system.

Use of membrane separation to dry gas streams containing water vapor

The present invention is a process for the production and recovery of an O.sub.2 -lean argon stream from a gas mixture containing argon and oxygen. The argon-containing gas mixture is initially treated in a cryogenic separation unit to produce a crude argon stream having an argon concentration between 80-98%. The crude argon stream is passed to a membrane separation unit where it is separated to produce an O.sub.2 -lean argon stream and an O.sub.2 - rich stream. The O.sub.2 -rich stream is recycled tothe cryogenic separation unit and the O.sub.2 -lean argon stream is recovered as product or futher purified.

Process for the production of argon

The present invention involves an efficient process for recovering helium from a gas mixture containing helium and at least one other component. Separation is effected by integrating a semi-permeable membrane-based unit with a non-membrane type separation unit.

Process for recovering helium from a multi-component gas stream

The present invention is a process for separating and recovering a component from a multi-component feed gas mixture. The feed gas mixture is initially separated in a membrane separation unit or units to produce a gas stream concentrated in the desired component. The concentrated gas stream is subsequently further separated in an adsorption unit having an adsorbent which selectively adsorbs non-desired gaseous components thereby producing a purified product stream. The non-desired gaseous components are subsequently desorbed and a purge stream from the adsorption unit containing the desorbed non-desired gaseous components along with a portion of the desired components is recycled to the feed gas mixture.

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Gwynedd Valley, PA, United States of America

Jung Soo Choe