Developments in air separation

Abstract

Important developments over the past few years are reviewed. The products of air separation are key commodity chemicals in the USA. Production levels of nitrogen and argon have increased by 50 to 60% during the last decade. Significant improvements have been made to cryogenic processes to reduce the energy consumption of nitrogen and increase argon recovery. New oxygen technology has focused on integration with coal-gasification gas-turbine combined cycle power generation. Non-cryogenic separation technologies have become established for smaller scale nitrogen and oxygen production. Methods for computer modelling are aiding the development of efficient adsorption processes for oxygen and nitrogen production. New membrane materials and processes have been developed for nitrogen production.