Patent Application
20130152629
The present invention relates to an air cooling and purification apparatus intended for a cryogenic air distillation unit.
In an apparatus that separates air by cryogenic distillation, the air is compressed in a compressor and then cooled by direct exchange of heat with air in a cooling tower. The cooled air is then purified. The purification processes in the air separation units chiefly remove water and CO2 from the air before it enters the cryogenic distillation unit positioned in a cold box. A set of valves and pipework allow carriage of the air that is to be purified and of the impure nitrogen used for regenerating the purification cylinders. This set of valves and piping is laid “flat” on the ground where it occupies a great deal of space. The ratio of the height to the length of the set is close to 1.
When installing this set of valves and piping inside a new building (for reasons of excessive cold or heat or for any other reason) it is advantageous to reduce the width of this set in order to reduce the width of the building that has to be erected. Likewise, to install this set on an existing building (which tends to be somewhat long and not very wide), reducing the width of this set of pipework and valves can be of considerable help.
One of the ways of reducing the width of this set is, through a different design of pipework, to lengthen this set. The ratio between the height and the width of the set then becomes very much smaller than 1.
As a result, the inter-axis distance of these purification cylinders connected to this set will also lengthen.
An apparatus according to the preamble of claim 1 is described in EP-A-1672301.
According to the invention, the air cooling tower that cools by direct contact with the water is installed between the two purification cylinders.
One subject of the invention provides an apparatus for cooling and purifying a stream of air, comprising a cooling tower that cools by direct contact with water, two purification cylinders, each of vertical axis, a pipe for conveying water to the cooling tower, a pipe for conveying air to the cooling tower, the tower being located between the two cylinders, a pipe for conveying cooled air from the tower to the purification cylinders and a set of valves and piping connecting the two cylinders to the cooling tower, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a building, the set being situated inside the building and the two cylinders and the tower being outside the building, the two cylinders and the set being positioned on either side of a wall of the building, with the cylinders positioned along the wall.
According to other optional features of the apparatus:
Another subject of the invention provides an air separation apparatus comprising a cooling and purifying apparatus as described hereinabove.
The air separation apparatus may comprise a compressor inside the building which is an air compressor connected to the cooling tower and/or a turbine, inside the building, which is an air turbine connected to the purification cylinders and/or a distillation column inside the building and connected to the purification cylinders.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, claims, and accompanying drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only several embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the invention's scope as it can admit to other equally effective embodiments.
The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the figure.
The apparatus comprises a cooling tower 1 that cools by direct contact with water, two purification cylinders 3A, 3B for purifying the air with respect to water and with respect to CO2 and a building 5 containing at least one set 7 of piping and valves to allow the air from the tower 1 to be conveyed to the cylinders 3A, 3B. Some of the piping of the set 7 passes through the wall 9 of the building 5. The wall 9 is the longest wall of the building 5 which is of rectangular section. The ratio between the length of the wall 9 and the width of the building is preferably greater than 2.
The ratio between the dimension of the set 7 in the vertical direction and the dimension in the horizontal direction is less than 1.
The two cylinders 3A, 3B and the tower are arranged along the wall 9 in such a way that their centres, viewed from above, form a straight line parallel to the wall. The tower is positioned on the mid-line between the two cylinders.
The tower 1 can be slightly closer to or further away from the wall 9 than the two cylinders 3A, 3B, so that the centres of the tower and of the two cylinders form an obtuse-angled triangle.
The building 5 may also contain a compressor and/or a turbine and/or a distillation column of the air separation apparatus of which the cooling and purification apparatus forms part.
The air separation apparatus may comprise a compressor inside the building 5 which is an air compressor connected to the cooling tower 1 and/or a turbine, inside the building 5, which is an air turbine connected to the purification cylinders 3A, 3B and/or a distillation column inside the building 5 and connected to the purification cylinders 3A, 3B.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1055603 | Jul 2010 | FR | national |
This application is a §371 of International PCT Application PCT/EP2011/060417, filed Jun. 22, 2011, which claims the benefit of FR1055603, filed Jul. 9, 2010, both of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP11/60417 | 6/22/2011 | WO | 00 | 3/4/2013 |
