An air separation unit (ASU) is an industrial facility designed to separate atmospheric air into its main components. Fullcryo’s low-temperature air separation oxygen production plant produces oxygen on-site through this method.
The products separated by the air separation unit (ASU) mainly include nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and in some cases, other rare gases. It is composed of various elements such as an air compressor, an air purification system, a heat exchanger, a low-temperature cooling system and a distillation column.
Low-temperature oxygen production equipment is a type of air separation device that mainly uses low-temperature technology to produce oxygen and can generate oxygen in both liquid and gaseous forms. Cryogenic liquids have extremely low temperatures. Under atmospheric pressure, the main components of air have specific condensation/boiling points: nitrogen is -320.4 °F, oxygen is -297.3 °F, and argon is -302.5 °F.
Fractionation is the main method used in low-temperature air separation oxygen production equipment to separate nitrogen and oxygen from the air. It achieves separation by taking advantage of the differences in boiling points among various components in the air.
Air compression: Sending atmospheric air into a compressor for compression.
Air purification: The compressed air is sent into the purification system to remove impurities such as moisture, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons.
Air liquefaction: The purified air passes through a heat exchanger and is cooled into a low-temperature liquid (liquefied gas with a boiling point below -90 degrees Celsius).
Distillation column separation: Liquefied air is sent into a high-pressure distillation column. Here, due to the different boiling points of oxygen from other gases such as nitrogen and argon, oxygen is separated. Oxygen has a relatively high boiling point and will form at the bottom of the tower.
Purification up to standard: The oxygen at the bottom of the distillation column is distilled until it meets the commercial purity standard.
Storage: Liquid oxygen is stored in cryogenic storage tanks.
Low-temperature air separation equipment mainly includes the following low-temperature devices:
Main air compressor (MAC) : Responsible for compressing atmospheric air.
Front-end purification system: Remove impurities from compressed air.
Cold box: It houses heat exchangers and distillation columns, providing a controlled environment for low-temperature processes.
Expander: It helps in the cooling process and enables air liquefaction.
Liquid argon system: It participates in the separation and production of argon gas, which is usually a by-product of this process.
Purity: It can produce high-purity oxygen and is suitable for application scenarios that require ultra-high purity.
Scale: It is highly suitable for large-scale oxygen production.
Process: Air is liquefied by low-temperature cooling and then separated through fractionation.
Purity: The purity of the produced oxygen is 90-93%.
Scale: Not suitable for large-scale production of high-purity oxygen.
Application: It is more suitable for small-scale or specific scenarios with low purity requirements. ,
More knowledge about VPSA oxygen production
https://www.fullcryogas.com/what-is-vpsa-oxygen-plant/
Above picture is about VPSA Oxygen Production
Liquid storage is more economical and effective than gaseous storage, and there is no leakage problem. It is worth noting that 1 liter of liquefied oxygen is equivalent to 840 liters of gaseous oxygen.
Material of storage tanks usually be made of high-strength materials to withstand extreme temperatures and pressures, and comply with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) code standards. And with special materials need to be used to shield the surrounding heat. The oxygen production equipment is ofen equipped with a vaporization pump, which can convert liquid oxygen into gaseous oxygen when needed.
Fullcryo supplies liquid oxygen storage tanks for storing liquid oxygen produced in large quantities
https://www.fullcryogas.com/what-is-liquid-oxygen-cryogenic-storage-tank/
Medical Oxygen are used in therapies for treating various respiratory diseases.
It is an essential item for life-saving equipment and hospital beds in operating rooms and intensive care units.
Provide support for the use of ventilators for critically ill patients. With the increase in demand, high-purity liquid oxygen ensures an uninterrupted supply that meets established standards.
Steelmaking: Oxygen is used to enhance combustion efficiency and improve overall production efficiency.
Chemical manufacturing: O2 serves as a reactant or even a catalyst in chemical operations.
Aerospace: Oxygen is used as fuel for rocket engine systems, providing support for numerous advancements in engineering and manufacturing.
Environmental protection: Enriching water bodies with oxygen to control eutrophication problems.
Laboratory application: Used in research fields that require high-purity oxygen.
Power generation: Used in systems designed for the synthesis and storage of hydrogen fuel.
It is the most common type of air separation equipment, capable of producing gases such as only oxygen, oxygen and nitrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and argon, or only nitrogen.
The incompletely purified gas is used for refrigeration and then discharged into the atmosphere.
When the product comes out of the cold box, the pressure is relatively low and the temperature is the ambient temperature. The product compressor needs to be used to increase the pressure to the required main pipe pressure. In some processes, liquid products are pumped through the main heat exchanger and heated to the ambient temperature at the required pressure.
It can usually produce comprehensive products ranging from 10 to 2,000 short tons.
It is usually regarded as a commercial factory, and all the required products are liquefied so that they can be transported by low-temperature transport trailers or railway carriages.
Generally, liquid oxygen (LOX), liquid nitrogen (LIN) and liquid argon (LAR) are produced. In some oil and gas production areas, there are large-scale air separation units that only produce liquid nitrogen.
The products are transported to the low-temperature storage tanks at the user’s site. Before use, they are either heated back to the gaseous state or used directly in the liquid state. Only specific users such as food freezers, oilfield service companies or processes that require extremely low temperatures will use liquid products.
This type of equipment produces both liquid and gaseous products, combining the characteristics of the above two types to meet the needs of different users.
Fullcryo’s air separation equipment is manufactured in China and its business covers the world. It supplies cryogenic equipment and gases to all over the world and is renowned for its outstanding reliability. Its high-quality products are suitable for various harsh environments.
As a manufacturing enterprise that has been fully certified by ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016, Fullcryo ensures to provide customers with the highest quality products through its quality management system.
Fullcryo have a leading internal engineering team with rich experience in on-site gas production.
We offer a flexible portfolio of gas products, with gas equipment ranging from containerized and modular air separation units to custom-designed turnkey plants, with daily production capacities ranging from a few tons to 2,500 tons.
The purity range is from low to ultra-high, which can meet the requirements of specific applications.
