Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

International Coal Refining Company

Schwarz, Alexander

Bennett, Douglas L.

Thorogood, Robert M.

Roden, Thomas M.

Hopkins, Jeffrey a.

Kleinberg, William T.

Robert M Thorogood

Rodney John Allam

Paul N Dyer

Michael Francis Carolan

Thomas M Roden

Doohee Kang

Rajagopalan S Srinivasan

James M LaBar, Sr

Douglas L Bennett

Anthony Knut Topham

Rakesh Agrawal

Alexander Schwarz

Myron J Coplan

Michael S Chen

Pushpinder S Puri

William T Kleinberg

Arthur Ramsden Smith

Jeffrey Alan Hopkins

Steven Lee Russek

Robert F Weimer

Robin Joyce Maliszewskyj

Alan L Prentice

Stephen M Fine

Bruce Kyle Dawson

Wilman Tsai

David H Ying

Terrence F Yee

Miles P Drake

Edward P Foster

Terrence F Ye

Thomas Joseph Ward

Ernest E Donath

Chung-Liang Yeh

Jeffrey A Hopkins

A method for the recovery of oxygen from air in which a high-temperature ion transport membrane system is integrated with combustion turbine system. Coproduction of oxygen and electric power is achieved in an alternative embodiment by integrating a combined cycle power generation system with an ion transport membrane system. The design performance of the gas turbine in the combined cycle system is maintained by controlled water injection into the membrane non-permeate stream, all or a portion of which optionally is introduced into the gas turbine combustor. Water can be introduced directly into the combustor air inlet. Alternatively, makeup air is added to the membrane feed to maintain the performance of the gas turbine. NOx formation is reduced by introducing the oxygen-depleted non-permeate from the membrane system to the gas turbine combustor.

Integrated production of oxygen and electric power

A direct ironmaking process in which coal and oxygen are used directly for reducing ore and smelting the resulting sponge iron wherein a high-temperature ion transport membrane process recovers oxygen for use in the ironmaking process. Heat for oxygen recovery is provided by combustion of medium-BTU fuel gas generated by the ironmaking process and/or by heat exchange with hot gas provided by the ironmaking process. The ironmaking and oxygen recovery processes can be integrated with a combined cycle power generation system to provide an efficient method for the production of iron, oxygen, and electric power.

High temperature oxygen production for ironmaking processes

Oxygen is separated from air by a high temperature ion transport membrane which is integrated with a gas turbine system for energy recovery from the membrane nonpermeate stream. Air is compressed, heated in a first heating step, and passed through the feed side of a mixed conductor membrane zone to produce a high purity oxygen product on the permeate side of the membrane zone. Nonpermeate gas from the membrane zone is heated in a second heating step and passed through a hot gas turbine for power recovery. Water is added to the nonpermeate gas prior to the hot gas turbine to increase mass flow to the turbine and thus balance the mass flows of the air feed compressor and the expansion turbine. The operating temperatures of the membrane zone and the expansion turbine are independently maintained by controlling the rate of heat addition in the first and second heating steps and by controlling the rate of water addition, whereby the membrane zone and expansion turbine are thermally delinked for maximum oxygen recovery efficiency.

High temperature oxygen production with steam and power generation

Oxygen is separated from air by a high temperature ion transport membrane which is integrated with a gas turbine system for energy recovery from the membrane nonpermeate stream. Air is compressed, heated in a first heating step, and passed through the feed side of a mixed conductor membrane zone to produce a high purity oxygen product on the permeate side of the membrane zone. Nonpermeate gas from the membrane zone is heated in a second heating step and passed through a hot gas turbine for power recovery. The operating temperatures of the membrane zone and the expansion turbine are independently maintained by controlling the rate of heat addition in the first and second heating steps, whereby the membrane zone and expansion turbine are thermally delinked for maximum oxygen recovery efficiency.

Integrated high temperature method for oxygen production

High-purity oxygen is recovered from air by a high-temperature ion transport membrane system comprising two or more stages in which each stage operates at a different feed side to permeate side pressure ratio. Operation of the system in multiple stages at controlled pressure ratios produces oxygen at a lower specific power consumption compared with single-stage operation.

Oxygen production by staged mixed conductor membranes

Bundles of hollow filament membranes suitable for use in fluid separation, such as in the separation of air into gases more concentrated in oxygen and nitrogen are made in a cylindrical form and annular cross-section with multiple filaments of each layer lying in generally parallel helical paths at a common angle to the axis of symmetry of the bundle. Continuous lengths of filaments are laid down on the core while same is rotated first in a 'forward' sense and the filament lay-down point is traversed from a first end of the core to the second, and then in a 'reverse' sense while the filament lay-down point is traversed from the second end to the first. Reversing of the direction of core rotation and filament end-to-end traversal is repeated with said reversing controlled in such a manner that the path of the filament returning from either end to the other is displaced incrementally from that of the filament portion laid down in the immediately preceding traversal. Lay-down of filament is repeated until a plurality of segments of filament all sharing the same helix angle and direction have formed a thin annular layer. The instant method can be precisely controlled to obtain bundles of desired packing density with consequent improved flow of fluid within the shell side of the bundle.

Method of winding hollow fiber membranes

The invention is a process for recovering oxygen from an oxygen-containing gaseous mixture containing one or more components selected from water, carbon dioxide or a volatile hydrocarbon which process utilizes ion transport membranes comprising a multicomponent metallic oxide containing barium. The process utilizes a temperature regime which overcomes problems associated with degradation of barium-containing multicomponent oxides caused by carbon dioxide.

Process for recovering oxygen from gaseous mixtures containing water or

The invention is a process for recovering oxygen from an oxygen-containing gaseous mixture containing one or more components selected from water, carbon dioxide or a volatile hydrocarbon which process utilizes ion transport membranes comprising a multicomponent metallic oxide containing strontium, calcium or magnesium. The process utilizes a temperature regime which overcomes problems associated with degradation of strontium-, calcium- and magnesium-containing multicomponent oxides caused by carbon dioxide.

The present invention relates to novel multi-layer composite solid state membranes which are capable of separating oxygen from oxygen-containing gaseous mixtures at elevated temperatures. The membranes comprise a multicomponent metallic oxide porous layer having an average pore radius of less than about 10 micrometers and a multicomponent metallic oxide dense layer having no connected through porosity wherein the porous and dense layers are contiguous and such layers conduct electrons and oxygen ions at operating temperatures.

Composite mixed conductor membranes for producing oxygen

This invention relates to a process for restoring permeance of an oxygen-permeable ion transport membrane utilized to recover oxygen from an oxygen-containing gaseous mixture which contains water, carbon dioxide or volatile hydrocarbons. The process utilizes a class of ion transport membranes formed from multicomponent metallic oxides wherein permeance of such membranes had been believed to be permanently degraded by water and the like under conventional process operating temperatures. This invention provides a continuous process for restoring oxygen permeance of such membranes caused by deleterious interaction between the membrane and components such as carbon dioxide, water or hydrocarbons at elevated process temperatures.

Process for restoring permeance of an oxygen-permeable ion transport

The present invention involves an efficient process for separating selected components of a gas stream by integrating a cryogenic separation unit and a membrane separation unit. Two embodiments provide for the concurrent generation of an argon-rich stream in the gas or liquid phase, along with a nitrogen-rich product stream, both being produced from a stream normally comprising oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, e.g., air. Broadly, the novel system uses a membrane means to preferentially reject the oxygen component from the recycle stream of the cryogenic unit, concurrently accumulating the argon component to allow its separation as an argon-enriched product stream.

Hybrid membrane - cryogenic generation of argon concurrently with

The present invention relates to an improvement to a cryogenic air separation process having an argon sidearm column. The improvement to the process for maximizing argon recovery comprises effectuating the intimate contact of the liquid phase stream and the vapor phase stream in the low pressure column and the argon sidearm column of an integrated multi-column, e.g. three column, cryogenic distillation system by utilizing a structured or ordered packing.

Air separation process using packed columns for oxygen and argon recovery

The present invention is an improved process for the production of nitrogen and oxygen that uses a double distillation column arrangement. The improvement to the process is the recycling of at least a portion of the oxygen-enriched waste stream to the bottom of the high pressure column. As a result of this improvement, the process is capable of making a nitrogen product with high purity (e.g., 5 ppm oxygen product) at high pressures (e.g., 40 to 150 psia) while simultaneously producing high purity oxygen (e.g., 99.6% oxygen). Nitrogen is produced only from the high pressure column.

Air separation process with waste recycle for nitrogen and oxygen

The present invention relates to a three stage process using copper, copper oxide and molecular sieve adsorbent beds for the sequential removal of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and water from an inert feed gas. The process is especially suited to the purification of nitrogen gas from an air separation plant, which can be purified from a contaminant level of 30 vppm oxygen+carbon monoxide+hydrogen to less than 10 vppb each of oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and water, without the addition of hydrogen or another reducing gas to the process.

Inert gas purifier for bulk nitrogen without the use of hydrogen or

A process is set forth for recovery of nitrogen from a feed gas stream, containing nitrogen and oxygen, using a cryogenic separation wherein a recycle stream having an oxygen content above that of the feed gas stream is recycled separately and independent of the feed gas stream to the cryogenic separation zone without any intervening process step that would decrease the oxygen content of the recycle stream.

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Macungie, PA, United States of America

Robert M Thorogood