8.

37 Separation Controls, Air

M. H. MACCONNELL (2005)

INTRODUCTION
TABLE 8.37b
Production Attributes of Air Separation Technologies
This section will focus on the different processes and asso-
ciated control strategies that are used in the air separation Production Range
processes. The nominal composition of air is provided in Tons per
1 Technology Purity Range Day (TPD)
Table 8.37a. Air separation processes primarily produce
oxygen, nitrogen, or argon in either the gas or the liquid Nitrogen membrane 5%1000 ppm O2 in N2 810,000 SCFH
phase. This section includes discussions of process controls Nitrogen PSA 5%500 ppm O2 in N2 4116 MSCFH
that are associated with three air separation technology 2005 ppm O2 in N2 @ 95% N2
areas: membrane, adsorption, and cryogenic distillation in 0.412 MSCFH
@ 5 ppm
the manufacture of oxygen, nitrogen, and argon.
The typical product purities and production rates of the 2-Bed oxygenVSA 9093% O2 15110 TPD
three highlighted technologies are provided in Table 8.37b. Single-bed oxygen VSA 9093% O2 45 TPD
Production volume, product mix, and product purity deter- Cryogenic distillation 99.9% O2 604000 TPD
mine the design of the individual air separation facilities. < 0.5 ppm O2 in N2
From a production volume point of view, oxygen is the most
significant product.
Oxygen is the third-most-produced industrial chemical
in the world today; the majority of the production plants use (PSA) process. In either case, the principle of operation
2
cryogenic air separation facilities. The consumption of oxy- involves creating physical conditions in a vessel that permit
gen by market is illustrated in Table 8.37c.
3 an adsorbent material that is packed in the vessel to tempo-
rarily remove or adsorb the impurities of interest. Once the
adsorbent bed is full, the physical conditions in the vessel
ADSORPTION TECHNOLOGY

The Process
TABLE 8.37c
The adsorption technologies used are either the vacuum
Consumption of Oxygen by Market
swing adsorption (VSA) or the pressure swing adsorption
United States Western Europe
Market Users % Market Users %
TABLE 8.37a
Nominal Composition of Dry Air Primary metals 49% Primary metals 40%
production production
Parts per
Chemicals and 25% Chemicals and 27%
Percent by Million by
gasification gasification
Component Volume Component Volume (ppmV)
Petroleum refineries 6% Fabricated 6%
Nitrogen 78.084 Carbon dioxide 350400 metal products
Oxygen 20.946 Neon 18.2 Welding and cutting 6% Health services 6%
Argon 0.934 Helium 5.2 Clay, glass, and 6% Petroleum 5%
Krypton 1.1 concrete products refineries
Xenon 0.09 Health services 4% Pulp and paper 4%
Methane 115 Pulp and paper 2% Water treatment 3%

Acetylene 00.5 Water treatment 1% Other 4%

Other hydrocarbons 05 Other 1%

2123

2006 by Bla Liptk

2124 Control and Optimization of Unit Operations

are switched to a different state to permit the initiation of Purge check valve
desorption of the impurities from the adsorbent bed. Desorption 10 psig spring ASL AAL % O2
phase
Adsorption processes depend on the affinity of certain 9093%
FI
natural and synthetic materials to preferentially adsorb the PI PI Oxygen
Adsorption
nitrogen or the oxygen molecules. Zeolites, for example, are phase
aluminosilicates that have nonuniform electric fields in their
void spaces that cause preferential adsorption of polar mole- O2
cules relative to nonpolar ones. For this reason, when air is Adsorber Buer
tank tank
passed through the zeolite, nitrogen is more strongly adsorbed
than are oxygen or argon molecules.
As air passes through the bed, nitrogen is retained and
an oxygen-rich stream is produced in the vessel. Carbon
KY Timer
molecular sieves can also be used as the air separation media. controls
In carbon molecular sieves, the pore sizes are approximately Adsorption Desorption
the same size as the air molecules. Because oxygen molecules phase phase
are smaller than nitrogen molecules, the oxygen molecules
diffuse more quickly into the pores than do the nitrogen Silencer
molecules. This is a kinetic adsorption process. In short, Inlet
Vent
carbon molecular sieves are selective for oxygen, and zeolites
are selective for nitrogen. Blower

Control of the Adsorption Process FIG. 8.37d

Components and controls of a small-scale vacuum swing adsorption
Typically, programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are used to unit. (Courtesy of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.)
control the VSA or PSA units. Analog, on/off, and timer func-
tions are all utilized to control product purity, to operate the
compressor and regeneration valves, and ultimately to obtain
maximum productivity and efficiency. this, the beds are switched to vacuum, and the desorption of
nitrogen occurs and the nitrogen is vented.
Locating the Adsorbate Front If the position of the adsor- In a small-scale VSA oxygen generator, a timer (KY in
bate front and the associated mass-transfer zone along the Figure 8.37d) controls the blower that, during the desorption
axial length of the adsorber is known, it can be very useful, phase, generates the vacuum in the adsorber bed, causing the
because it determines the composition and ultimate product nitrogen, moisture, and other contaminants to be desorbed
purity as well as the required timing of the regeneration and vented. When the vacuum level in the adsorber bed is
step. low enough, the adsorber vessel is purged with oxygen to
Because of the temperature and pressure variations in this sweep the remaining nitrogen from the vessel. This purge
process, the commercially available oxygen sensors are not continues for a timed period, after which the automatic four-
useable for direct on-line measurement. Therefore, the oper- way valve returns the system into the adsorption phase, and
ating parameters are established mathematically from pilot the blower pushes fresh air into the adsorber bed.
studies that infer the composition on the basis of energy When the pressure in the adsorber bed exceeds the pres-
balances and axially distributed temperature and pressure sure in the oxygen storage tank, oxygen will start flowing
4
measurements. After the product leaves the unit, its quality into the storage tank and will continue to do so until the feed
is analyzed to ensure that product specifications are met. This timer times out and the cycle starts over again. This process
analysis is also used to determine regeneration valve timing is depicted in Figure 8.37d.
based on the pilot scale-up process and operating experience. Paramagnetic oxygen analyzers (single or redundant) are
typically used to continuously monitor the product quality
and to alarm (AAL on Figure 8.37d) and initiate automatic
Vacuum Swing Adsorption
interlocks to trip the equipment (which protects the customer
Vacuum swing adsorption is principally used in the genera- by switching the oxygen supply to a backup), if purity falls
tion of oxygen gas in the purity range of 9093%. Manufac- below the 9395% range. Larger-scale VSA units operate in
turers of VSA units provide adsorbent materials that adsorb a similar manner.
nitrogen at atmospheric and slightly elevated pressures. This
permits generation of an enriched oxygen stream that can be Pressure Swing Adsorption
accumulated in a receiver. Depending on the amount of adsor-
bent, the bed will be allowed to continue adsorption of nitro- The PSA technology utilizes co-adsorption, a phenomenon
gen for a fixed period of time until it is nearly saturated. After where both nitrogen and oxygen are adsorbed, but they are

2006 by Bla Liptk

 8.37 Separation Controls, Air 2125

HIV

PT
O2
Adsorber Adsorber
AIC I PT
A Vent B

FC N2 to
Nitrogen Customer
buer FO
Vent FT

PT TE TE

Air in
Compressor

FIG. 8.37e
Process and instrumentation diagram of a pressure swing adsorption-type nitrogen generator. (Courtesy of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.)

adsorbed at different rates. The process utilizes a two-tank CMS selectivity grade. The sizing of the PSA vessel should
(or tower) arrangement (see Figure 8.37e) in which two pri- also consider the required production rate and the CMS effi-
mary processing steps, adsorption and transfer, are per- ciency rating.
formed. Unlike a desiccant-type adsorber that removes essen- In a PSA-type nitrogen generator, it is also important to
tially all of the target molecules, the PSA carbon molecular control the air-to-nitrogen ratio. If the nitrogen product has
sieve (CMS) takes advantage of the difference in adsorption to be 0.5% pure, an air-to-nitrogen ratio of 3:1 is acceptable,
rates (kinetic adsorption) to achieve the separation objectives. whereas if high-purity (510 parts per million [ppm] O2)
The production rate of the PSA process can be limited nitrogen product is required, the ratio of air to nitrogen should
by the adsorptive capacity of the adsorber, or when the bed be around 5:1.
is very cold, by the rate of desorption of oxygen from the The PSA vent dump volume largely impacts the air-to-
carbon molecular sieve. The PSA units are often installed out nitrogen ratio. It is sometimes possible to increase efficiency
of doors and need to be retuned for winter and summer oper- by using a little more air or cycling the beds faster.
ations, if ambient temperature conditions are substantially
different. Process Measurements The product purity is generally
A simplistic explanation of this temperature sensitivity measured with fuel cell-based electrochemical oxygen ana-
is that hot molecules vibrate faster than cold molecules and, lyzers (for a detailed description of the different oxygen
therefore, do not adsorb as readily into the carbon pores when analyzers and their features, see Section 8.42 in Chapter 4 in
hot. When the beds are cold, the opposite occurs, and there- the first volume of this handbook). For critical applications,
fore, it takes longer for the molecules to desorb from the it is often appropriate to install two oxygen analyzers in
carbon pores. parallel to provide redundancy and improved reliability.
Given that the PSA units are subject to wide ambient
Design Considerations The carbon in the CMS is typically temperature variation, it is important that the oxygen analyzer
an extruded pellet approximately 2 mm in diameter and 1 cm be provided with good temperature compensation. The PSA
in length. The carbon in the CMS bed is soft and can easily unit should always be provided with the capability for remote
be pulverized into dust by agitation. Therefore, the bed must monitoring of the process conditions and of the product qual-
not be agitated. ity. Because many of the PSA units are located in remote
If the carbon pellets turn to dust and the dust is vented, locations, the remote monitoring of PSA installations is also
this is uneconomical because the CMS is relatively expensive used to dispatch maintenance crews from a central location
and because the carbon dust shortens the life of the valve as needed.
seats. Therefore, PSA vessel sizing and gas flow controls As shown in Figure 8.37e, the analog measurements typ-
must guarantee that the gas velocity through the PSA unit is ically include the measurement of product composition,
low, on the order of 15 ft/s. The product purity is a function product flow rate, compressor discharge (feed) pressure and
of the gas velocity, the timing cycle of the tower, and the temperature, N2 supply pressure to the customer, product

2006 by Bla Liptk

2126 Control and Optimization of Unit Operations

Water I I
removal Fine
aerosol
Compressor PDI removal PDI PSL TSL
I
Air TIC
inlet Carbon PT TE TE
lter
LS
Super-
heater
I Drain

QIT QIC
PCV
Vent FI FT
% or ppm I
O2 Analyzer FC BPR
I Membrane
PT PT TE modules
N2 Product FO
to customer Vent
O2 rich permeate
N2 Receiver

FIG. 8.37f
Process and instrumentation diagram of a pressure membrane-type nitrogen generator. (Courtesy of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.)

buffer tank pressure, and ambient temperature. A number of Process Description

on/off status measurements are also made to monitor valve
positions and compressor status. The membrane separation process starts with an air compres-
Programmable logic controllers are used to control the sor (typically, an oil-flooded screw design) that compresses
adsorptiondesorption cycle of the plant, which essentially air to 100200 psig (Figure 8.37f). The moisture and aerosols
involves opening and closing the eight or so on/off valves on are removed from the compressed air by a carbon filter, and
a time cycle sequence. These valves are either ball or butterfly then it is superheated to prevent any condensation in the
valves, depending on the line size. The valve actuators are membrane modules. The superheated gas passes through a
typically double-acting air cylinders, except for the fail bank of parallel membranes, where oxygen permeates through
closed (FC) nitrogen product valve and the fail open (FO) to the low-pressure side of the membrane and is either vented
nitrogen product vent valve, which are spring-loaded to pro- or recycled.
vide the required safe failure positions in the event of a One or two electrochemical gas oxygen analyzers (QIT
product quality excursion or unit shutdown. in Figure 8.37f) continuously sample the high-pressure nitro-
gen product as it leaves the membrane modules. The product
quality is controlled by the manipulation of the product flow
control valve that is feeding the accumulation vessel. If the
MEMBRANE AIR SEPARATION oxygen concentration in the product exceeds the allowable
limits, the FC on/off valve on the receiver inlet trips closed
Membrane systems are used for the continuous separation of and the FO on/off valve vents the product, until purity is
components in mixed gas streams. The production volume reestablished. A back-pressure regulator (BPR) on the mem-
and the achievable purity are generally lower than from brane system outlet prevents drawing more product than is
adsorption or cryogenic processes. The most commonly used available at the specified purity.
membrane systems are in the production of nitrogen,
although membrane separation is also used in gas drying Flux and Selectivity
applications where water molecules permeate very quickly
through the membrane material. The membrane separation process is based on the difference
The predominance of nitrogen generators as membrane in permeation or diffusion rates of nitrogen and oxygen mol-
separators is because the smaller size of the oxygen mole- ecules through a polymeric membrane that separates the
cules guarantees the superior permeability of oxygen through high- and the low-pressure streams. Flux and selectivity are
the membranes. As a result of this difference in permeability, the two properties that bear directly on system design.
membrane systems can only be used to produce oxygen in a Flux determines the membrane surface area, and for a
concentration range of 2550%, whereas 99.9% nitrogen given gas, flux is a function of the partial pressure difference
purity is achievable. and inversely of the membrane thickness. In addition, each

2006 by Bla Liptk

 8.37 Separation Controls, Air 2127

type of membrane material has a characteristic proportionality as their ability to liquefy a portion of the total output. Storage
constant called permeability. Selectivity is the ratio of the of liquefied product in vacuum-insulated tanks serves as
permeability of the gases that are to be separated. In other backup for gaseous product systems during outages or for
words, permeability is the ratio of the speeds at which the the liquid filling of truck trailers for merchant sales.
respective gases diffuse through the membrane. This section will describe the low-pressure (LP) cycle
and the associated process controls in a typical operation.
Membrane System Sizing Cryogenic processes utilize the same distillation principles
as do higher temperature processes, except that the distilla-
Sizing of the membrane system is based primarily on two tion equipment, heat exchangers, and associated piping are
parameters: the length of the membranes in each module and located inside an insulated enclosure referred to as a cold
the number of modules installed in parallel. For a given box or can, depending on whether the enclosure is rectangular
amount of flow, the length of the membrane modules tends or cylindrical in shape, respectively.
to determine the purity of the product. In general terms, the
product purity is a function of the flow rate through the Front-End Air Purification
modules, while the number of parallel modules determines
the volumetric production capacity. The cryogenic air separation process consists of two main
The efficiency of a particular membrane module is a operations. The first is the front-end purification of the air
measure of the amount of nitrogen produced from a unit of feed before it is sent to distillation. This step is described in
air consumed. The efficiency and production capacity depend Figure 8.37g. Once the air is purified, the air stream is split
on the overall permeability and selectivity of the membranes, in two and both streams are sent to the cryogenic distillation
because there is always a certain amount of nitrogen that is (cold box) operation, which is shown in Figure 8.37h. The
lost with the oxygen. Therefore, a given membrane combi- main heat exchanger is shown on both figures, completely
nation will produce a known amount of nitrogen product of on Figure 8.37h and partially on Figure 8.37g.
a specific purity, if the unit is operating normally.
Feed Air Preparation The most commonly used process for
Physical Description The membranes are hollow polymeric the production of oxygen and/or nitrogen is the low pressure
fibers. The diameter of the fibers is on the order of some or double column cycle. In this process, the main feed air is
hundreds of microns. The fibers are composed of any of a compressed to a range of 60200 psia, the heat of compres-
number of polymers, including polysulfones, polycarbonates, sion is removed by a cooler, and the high boiling impurities
and polyimides. The fibers are bundled together in a fashion (H2O, CO2, N2O, and certain hydrocarbons) are removed by
similar to that of a shell and tube heat exchanger The bundle an adsorption system (Figure 8.37g).
of fibers of specified length is effectively sealed on both ends The purified air is divided into two streams, one of which
to tube sheets. is compressed with a booster compressor (shown on Figure
During operation, the higher-pressure air passes through 8.37h, which is a continuation of Figure 8.37g) to a range of
the inside of the fibers, and oxygen is permeated to the outside 1001200 psia. Both feed air streams are cooled in the main
(the shell side). The entire membrane adsorption system is heat exchanger (schematically shown in both Figures 8.37g and
packaged in a cabinet with operator controls conveniently 8.37h) by indirect heat exchange with cryogenic return streams.
located on the front panel. Cabinets are normally installed
indoors at the customer location. Reversing Heat Exchangers Prior to 1980, most air separa-
tion plants used reversing main heat exchangers to remove
the high boiling impurities such as moisture and carbon diox-
CRYOGENIC AIR SEPARATION ide (CO2) from the feed air. In these early plants, the moisture
and CO2 in the feed air to the cold box were allowed to freeze
The term cryogenic refers to any material or process that in the main heat exchanger that was cooled by the counter-
operates at very low temperatures, typically below 120K flow of cryogenic gas.
(243F, or 153C). The use of distillation to separate air into This accumulation was allowed to continue for a set time
its component is a mature technology. The use of cryogenic period or until the exchanger began to increase its pressure
engineering in the liquefaction of air was initially used at the drop or began to lose some of its heat-transfer capability. At
beginning of the 20th century. that point, the flow direction through the exchanger was
Cryogenic processes produce oxygen, nitrogen, argon, reversed, and dry, CO2-free waste gas was sent through it to
and other rare gases from atmospheric air. The selection from purge the accumulated impurities to an atmospheric vent.
among these processes and cycles depends on the product The reversing heat exchangers were very large and tended
volume, phase, and purity requirements as well as on the to require substantial maintenance due to leaks, which were
capital cost and energy consumption constraints. caused by frequent and severe temperature cycling. Moreover,
An advantage of cryogenic over adsorption processes is unlike the type of front-end adsorber systems shown in
their ability to coproduce oxygen, nitrogen, and argon as well Figure 8.37g, the reversing exchanger also suffered from an

2006 by Bla Liptk

2128 Control and Optimization of Unit Operations

H2O CO2
Air to booster (Continued on Fig. 8.37h
FIC QIT QIT
compressor as stream #1)

Molecular
sieve controls

PT PT
To timed TSA TSA
actuated vent TIC QIT
valves or PSA or PSA
H2O
Vent
Steam FIC
TS TS

Air If TSA
inlet Main heat
> exchanger
PY Chilled water
Air to HP
FIC PIC = Silencer column
LIC
(#2 on Fig. 8.37h)
Regeneration
Cooler CWR
gas from LP
Multi-stage centrifugal column
compressor If TSA
(#3 on Fig. 8.37h)
with intercoolers
HP - High pressure
LP - Low pressure
PSA - Pressure swing adsorption
TSA - Temperature swing adsorption

FIG. 8.37g
The equipment and main instrumentation used in the feed section of the cryogenic distillation process. (Courtesy of Air Products and
Chemicals, Inc.)

inability to remove acetylene and other particular hydrocar- is then vented to atmosphere. There are a number of opera-
bons, which could then concentrate in the liquid oxygen and, tional differences between the two technologies that will be
thereby, cause an unsafe condition, having the potential for described in the paragraphs that follow.
energy release. Programmable control systems provide the required valve
To address this safety concern, plants that use reversing switching logic for the operation. This logic is based on a
heat exchangers continuously process all their liquid oxygen variety of process measurements and timing functions. Because
in the distillation system through adsorption beds to remove the front-end system does not completely remove all impuri-
the hydrocarbons. The adsorbers are then periodically regen- ties, the distillation system must be periodically shut down and
erated with nitrogen. defrosted. This defrosting operation is either scheduled on a
preventive maintenance basis (typically 35 years) or sched-
Feed Air Adsorption Systems Today, most cryogenic air sep- uled sooner if dictated by deteriorating operating conditions
aration plants are built with an adsorption system front end such as increasing pressure drops across heat exchangers.
that features either temperature swing adsorption (TSA) or
pressure swing adsorption (PSA), similar to the process illus- Temperature Swing Adsorption The TSA process consists
trated in Figure 8.37g. of two or more vessels that are packed with a bed of adsorbant
In either case, two or more vessels packed with alumina material. These vessels are switched from on-line to regener-
beads or with a molecular sieve are used, which packing has ation modes every 5 to 12 hr, depending on the design of the
an affinity for high boiling impurities such as moisture, car- plant. While one vessel is on-line and is removing impurities
bon dioxide, nitrous oxide, acetylene, and a number of other from the compressed air feed, the other is being regenerated
impurities. Removal of these impurities is critical, because by a countercurrent purge flow of high-temperature dry and
if they freeze in the cryogenic section of the plant, they CO2-free waste gas (stream #3 on Figure 8.37g).
obstruct the flow passages. The TSA waste gas heater uses whatever heat source is
Both the TSA and the PSA processes consist of two or most economical. This could be low-pressure steam, electri-
more vessels packed with adsorbant beds. During operation, cal, or direct-fired natural gas heat. The TSA beds have
one vessel is on-line and is removing the impurities from the greater affinity for adsorption when operated at lower tem-
compressed feed air, while the other vessel is being regener- peratures. For this reason and to enhance removal efficiency,
ated by being purged with dry and CO2-free waste gas, which the compressed feed air is cooled with a direct contact after

2006 by Bla Liptk

 8.37 Separation Controls, Air 2129

FIC
FIC ppm O2
PIC
GOX to QIT % O2
GAN LIN PIC
pipeline QIT
Booster compressor < 1 ppm O2
Air from adsorption PIC >
front end (#1) FIC
Pure PIC FY
After
FIC cooler N2 LIN
LP GAN to
reactivation (#3) % O2
PIC % O2 LIC
LP GAN to QIT
compressor QIT
FIC Vent
Waste to PIC
reactivation LPC
(#3)
FIC
Air from Sidearm
adsorbers FIC Column
(#2) %O2
FIC QIT FIC
5%Ar, 95%O2,
HP GAN QIT
Trace N2 THC
~ 95% Ar
Crude Argon
Main heat To Pure
exchanger LIC
QIT Argon
% O2 99+% O2 LIC Distillation
QIT Reboiler/
ppm THC condenser
Pure PIC
ppm O2 QIT N2
TIC

Liqueed HPC
Expander
air

Air 3040% LIC

TIC FT
O2 LOX to
Storage
GAN
LOX Pump Crude LOX
LOX to
Subcooler Disposal
GAN - Gaseous nitrogen
GO - Gaseous oxygen
HP - High pressure
HPC - High pressure column
LIN - Liquid nitrogen
LOX - Liquid oxygen
LP - Low pressure
LPC - Low pressure column

FIG. 8.37h
The equipment and main instrumentation used in the cryogenic distillation process in which the pumped liquid oxygen (LOX) cycle produces
N2, O2, and crude argon. (Courtesy of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.)

cooler (DCAC) that uses chilled water that is generated by the is on-line removing impurities from the feed air, the other is
cooling effect of the excess cryogenic nitrogen waste gas that being regenerated by being purged with dry CO2-free waste
is not used to regenerate the beds. By operating at lower tem- gas, which is then vented.
perature, the impurity removal capacity is increased. This is
because the required size of the TSA unit increases with water Comparison of TSA vs. PSA TSA adsorber beds are most
load, which in turn increases with air temperature. commonly used in the newer air separation plants while PSA
is considered a niche application that is most often used in
Pressure Swing Adsorption The PSA process also consists smaller plants. The PSA process is sometimes favored if there
of two or more vessels that are packed with a bed of adsorbant is no economical heat source available for regenerating the
material. These vessels are also switched from on-line to TSA, such as low-pressure steam or natural gas.
regeneration modes but they are switched several times per The PSA does utilize a simpler, less capital-intensive
hour, much more frequently than with TSA. While one vessel compressor after cooler, as compared to the more expensive

2006 by Bla Liptk

2130 Control and Optimization of Unit Operations

DCAC, which is most often associated with TSA. The PSA Argon Product Argon is produced at the top of the sidearm
process depends on pressure difference to separate impurities column where impurities include oxygen at a range of 1 ppm
from the air and requires more regeneration gas than does to 4.0% and nitrogen at the ppm levels. If pure argon is required
TSA, which uses heat to regenerate. and the product from the sidearm column contains unaccept-
Because the PSA process is often oversized to obtain the able oxygen levels (e.g., up to 4%), then oxygen is removed
required capacity, PSA cycling can result in a variation in the through additional purification steps. Pure argon is produced
feed airflow to distillation. Finally, TSA provides a secondary either directly from distillation or through a process that uses
benefit if there are airborne contaminants that need to be catalytic deoxidation of a crude argon stream.
scrubbed, because its DCAC tower does also provide scrubbing.
Waste Gas The last remaining major process stream is the
Cryogenic Distillation (Cold Box) Process waste stream that is extracted from the upper portion of the
LPC and contains principally nitrogen but also some small
The equipment, piping, and basic instrumentation used in the fractions of oxygen and argon, depending on the recovery
cryogenic distillation (cold box) process is shown in characteristics of the plant. This purge stream provides refrig-
Figure 8.37h. Here, the higher-pressure air from the booster eration for the main heat exchanger and dry, CO2-free regen-
compressor on Figure 8.37h is liquefied and fed through a eration gas for the reactivation of the front-end purifiers
Joule Thompson (JT)-type expander valve. In Figure 8.37h, (stream #3 in Figures 8.37g and 8.37h).
the liquefied air stream is shown as a feed to the high-pressure
column (HPC), but it could also be fed to either or both the
HPC and LPC columns. Stream #2, the lower-pressure air CRYOGENIC INSTRUMENTATION
stream, is shown as a feed gas to a point lower in the HPC.
Severe-Service Control Valves
Oxygen Production Figure 8.37h describes the design of the The LOX control valves or air JT valves often operate at
pumped liquid oxygen cycle, the Pumped LOX cycle. As pressure drop of 1000 psig or more, where flashing or cavi-
the name implies, in a pumped LOX plant, the liquid oxygen tation normally occurs (Figure 6.1y in Chapter 6 describes
(LOX) is pumped from the low-pressure column (LPC) sump some anticavitation valve designs). The valve seats in such
to serve other process needs; this will be described in more severe services must be hardened, using such material as
detail later. stellited trim. It is also desirable to keep the flow velocities
Oxygen is purified at the bottom of the LPC and is as low as possible to reduce erosion of the valve trim and to
removed to storage either as gaseous oxygen (GOX) or LOX, minimize noise (see Section 6.14 in Chapter 6 for details).
depending on the customer requirements. The boiling point Flashing and cavitation can cause severe erosion of the
and relative volatility of argon is between that of nitrogen control valve trim, which can destroy the valve. It is for this
and oxygen. In the mid-section of the LPC column, the argon reason that special valve designs are required for such ser-
concentration is about 10%, and it is drawn off as feed to a vices. These valves always require positioners.
sidearm column that produces crude argon. The outlet area of severe-service valves should be max-
All the oxygen, which enters with the gaseous air (stream imized to better handle the expanding gas and to limit or
#2 in Figure 8.37h), leaves in the bottoms from the high- prevent cavitation as much as possible. Design is complicated
pressure column as impure or crude LOX, in which the oxygen in multicomponent streams when flashing and cavitation pro-
concentration is in the range of 3040%. The crude LOX is cess conditions exist. Still, one can properly specify and size
flashed down to a lower pressure and is either fed to an inter- control valves for cavitating service, while flashing is a con-
mediate stage in the low-pressure column, or if argon is to be sequence of process conditions and cannot be eliminated
recovered, it is used to operate the sidearm condenser and then through valve selection or design.
fed to the low-pressure column as a more vapor-rich stream.
Impulse and Sample Lines
Nitrogen Production Nitrogen, having a greater relative vol-
atility than oxygen, concentrates as it rises through the HPC. All impulse or sample lines must include blow-down connec-
The vapor from the top of the column is condensed against tions for periodic defrost operations. The impulse lines serving
boiling liquid oxygen in the reboiler/condenser. The con- pressure transmitters, differential flow transmitters, and differ-
densed overhead is divided into a reflux stream that is returned ential pressure level transmitters should be provided with liq-
to the HPC and a reflux stream that is sent to the top of the uid sealed legs inside the cold box. This design prevents large
LPC. frost accumulations on the impulse lines and on the valves that
Nitrogen is purified at the top of both the HPC and LPC, are located outside the cold box, caused by the boiling of
and this product can be extracted from either column over- cryogenic liquid and freezing of ambient moisture.
head, depending on the process cycle, but is often withdrawn On the other hand, continuously flowing cryogenic liquid
from the LPC overhead to prevent limiting the HPC reboiler/ samples to analyzers should not have seal loops, because
condenser of reflux. these loops can cause the boiling of the sample inside the cold

2006 by Bla Liptk

 8.37 Separation Controls, Air 2131

box and, thereby, cause the distilling of the sample, which time of the measurement, bypass purge flow is provided
makes it nonrepresentative. around the analyzer. This also helps to minimize the impact
The design of impulse and sample tubing/piping must also of leaks in the sample line.
consider the stress caused by thermal expansion and contrac- The sample system response time is computed from the
tion of cryogenic equipment, as well as the weight loads sum of the sample and bypass flows, taking into account the
imposed by the insulation (typically perlite) that is packed in transport system volume and pressure. The primary sample
the cold box. is taken from a tap that is situated in an ideal location, and
sample stream-switching capability is provided at the ana-
Flow Elements lyzer panel, to use alternative samples taken from auxiliary
sample taps, when necessary.
Venturi and nozzle-type flowmeters (Section 2.29 in Chapter 2
in Volume 1) work well and are frequently used for the mea- Product Quality Analysis Product quality analysis is required
surement of cryogenic liquid and gas flows. In some cases, for the monitoring and control of the oxygen, nitrogen, and
cryogenic flows are approximated on the basis of the opening argon products of the plant.
of control valves and of the pressure drop across them. The primary analytical method used for measuring the
Outside the cold box, elbow meters (Section 2.29 in purity of the oxygen product is paramagnetic (Section 8.42
Chapter 2 in Volume 1) are occasionally used where line sizes in Chapter 8 in Volume 1). The sensor in the paramagnetic
are very large and where it is desired to minimize the pressure analyzer is pressure-compensated and is either the dumbbell
drop across the flow sensor, such as in the case of measuring or the thermal wind variety. The specification for the oxygen
TSA or PSA regeneration gas flows. The nominal 4:1 turn- product calls for 99% + purity, and the main impurity in this
down capability of the differential flow devices is usually stream is argon.
acceptable, because this rangeability exceeds the turndown The specification for the nitrogen product requires that
requirement of the ASU plant itself. its oxygen impurity be at the parts per million level. This is
The turndown capability of cryogenic liquid flow mea- measured electrochemically by fuel cell, zirconium oxide, or
surement applications is often limited by the flashing that Coulometric sensors (Section 8.42 in Chapter 8 in Volume 1).
occurs at low flows, as the control valve is throttled to the The product specifications for the argon product limit the
point where flashing starts. Nonetheless, smart transmitters impurities of oxygen nitrogen and total hydrocarbon (THC)
can provide wider turndown than is possible with conven- to trace amounts. The trace oxygen analysis is made by the
tional differential pressure transmitters in flow measurement same methods that are used for the measurement of trace
applications. oxygen in the nitrogen product.
In order to increase plant efficiency, it is important that The trace nitrogen in argon can be measured by either
the instrumentation and control valves used will provide the gas chromatography (Section 8.12 in Volume 1) or by spec-
required accuracy and rangeability. Inversely, if the control trographic quartz plasma-type analyzers. THC is measured
loop components are improperly specified or sized, they will with a flame ionization detector (FID), and the results are
not be able to accurately meet the controller set points, and reported as methane-equivalent THC.
this can cause sustained upsets. Normally, all three products are analyzed for moisture
(dew point or ppm), and this is typically done by analyzers
Temperature Measurement having aluminum oxide or quartz crystal microbalance sen-
Temperature measurements are made by thermocouples and sors (Section 8.33 in Chapter 8 in Volume 1).
resistance temperature devices (RTDs). They are described Trace levels of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, helium, and
in detail in Sections 4.10 and 4.13 of the first volume. They neon are also present in atmospheric air. They are likely to
are provided with bar stock thermowells that are welded into pass through the HPC and concentrate in the nitrogen product
the process lines and vessels as needed. and reflux. It is sometimes necessary to install a noncondens-
Thermocouple extension wire or RTD cables are run from able purge on the condensing side of the LPC reboiler to
the temperature element head to junction boxes on the outer purge these gases.
face of the cold box. Similarly, small traces of krypton and xenon, which are
present in ambient air, will also process through the system
Process Analysis in ASU and concentrate in the LOX product in the HPC sump. These
trace components can also be recovered and concentrated by
The three major purposes of using analyzers in an air sepa- specialized processes. The processing of krypton and xenon
ration plant are the monitoring and control of product quality, must also include the removal of hydrocarbons, because if
the performance of process control, and the continuous main- they are allowed to concentrate in the oxygen, unsafe condi-
tenance of process safety. tions can evolve.
In a typical sampling system, the pressure of the sample
drawn from the process is reduced, and this sample gas is Safety Analyzers For the purpose of safety, carbon dioxide
sent to a remote analyzer panel. In order to lower the dead and total hydrocarbons are measured in the ppm range or lower.

2006 by Bla Liptk

2132 Control and Optimization of Unit Operations

Samples are typically taken from the feed air supply to the the disadvantage of using a radioactive source and therefore
plant and from the liquid oxygen streams. The trace carbon requiring special permits and are rarely used today.
dioxide is typically measured with non-dispersive infrared
(NDIR) methods that utilize the Luft principle or by gas filter
correlation (GFC) methods (Section 8.27 in Volume 1). REGULATORY AND FEEDFORWARD CONTROLS
Analysis of total hydrocarbon is typically performed
using flame ionization detector analyzers, and the results are The controls described in the following paragraphs refer to the
reported as methane equivalent hydrocarbon in ppm. subsystems of the process shown in Figures 8.37g and 8.37h.
If thermal deoxidation units (Deoxo) are used to remove The control loops are not shown in detail, and the feedforward
oxygen from crude argon, a safety analyzer is required to and logic/safety controls are not shown at all. Therefore, the
monitor the oxygen level in the crude argon feed to the Deoxo reader is asked that for in-depth, detailed discussions of the
process to prevent high oxygen levels from causing unsafe related algorithms, dead times, time constants, and tuning,
thermal runaway of the catalytic bed. A paramagnetic or refer to Chapters 2 and 8, where they are discussed.
electrochemical method is used to monitor the percentage of Both regulatory and advanced process controls are used to
oxygen in the feed to the Deoxo process. optimize the production of a specified product mix and to main-
Occasionally, safety analyzers are used to monitor for the tain product purity at minimum operating cost. In controlling
unlikely situation where high levels of oxygen (> 21%) con- the air separation processes, these control strategies have to be
taminate the waste gas stream used to purge the front-end adapted to optimize production against purity and energy con-
adsorbers. Such monitoring can become necessary because straints, while also correcting disturbances that would upset the
adsorbers that are constructed of incompatible materials may steady-state operation.
present a risk of fire when exposed to enriched oxygen. Regulatory controls serve to respond to upsets caused by
Finally, area monitors are used to analyze the air quality feed airflow disturbances, which can be caused by upsets
in occupied rooms to ensure that ventilation is adequate and resulting from TSA or PSA regeneration or from diurnal
to provide alarms if either an oxygen-depletion or an oxygen- variations in cooling water temperature, which can affect heat
enrichment condition is evolving, with the corresponding risk transfer. Advanced control technology is also used to provide
of asphyxiation or oxygen fire. load-following optimization strategies so as to ramp plant
production in response to variations in customer gas demand.
Process Control Analyzers Process control systems used to implement these objec-
tives include large distributed control systems (DCSs), which
The product purity analyzers discussed earlier are also used are often linked to supervisory control computers for imple-
in controlling the air separation process. The product purity mentation of advanced controls by means of various forms
or safety analyzers also trigger alarms and safety interlocks. of model predictive control (MPC).
Other process control-related analytical loops include the In the following paragraphs, some specific control prob-
control of excess hydrogen in the crude argon from the Deoxo lems and solutions will be discussed.
process. The concentration of hydrogen is measured by ther-
mal conductivity type analyzers (Section 8.57 in Chapter 8 in Main Air Compressor Flow
Volume 1).
Carbon dioxide in the feed air is measured after the front- As illustrated in Figure 8.37i, the compressed air is vented
end adsorption system and is monitored by NDIR-type ana- to provide the added throughput required to keep the main
lyzers (Section 8.9 in Chapter 8 in Volume 1). air compressor (MAC) out of surge. (See Section 8.15 for
Dew point is detected by aluminum oxide sensors details on compressor control and optimization.)
(Section 8.33 in Chapter 8 in Volume 1) on the outlet of the The surge flow measurement is typically inferred from
TSA regeneration gas steam heat exchangers and compressor differential pressure measurement across the compressor
aftercoolers. In case a leak causes the dew point to rise, an stages. The surge line for the compressor is confirmed by surge
alarm is actuated. tests. Some compressor suppliers do not use surge control, but
The hydrogen supply to the Deoxo systems is monitored only open the vent when a maximum operating pressure is
for trace methane, because this methane is not removed by the reached. The level of control sophistication applied is a func-
Deoxo process or by argon distillation, and it would become tion of the relative importance to save energy by reducing the
an impurity in the pure argon product. surge margin.
Nitrogen in the sidearm column feed is either inferred
on the basis of LPC operating conditions or is directly mea- Stabilization of Pressure Surge
sured by gas chromatography or by ion mobility spectrome-
ters. The gas chromatograph first removes the oxygen and During regeneration of the front-end adsorbers, it is important
then chromatographically separates the nitrogen and argon to minimize the pressure surges, because these upsets have
for analysis. The ion mobility analyzers provide an effective the potential of causing a disruption of the downstream dis-
method of nitrogen analysis in this mixed gas stream but have tillation process, which in turn can disrupt the argon product

2006 by Bla Liptk

 8.37 Separation Controls, Air 2133

Users in the low ppm range. Nitrogen excursions in excess of frac-

tions of a percent in the sidearm column could vapor-lock
Compressor the condenser and cause loss of vapor flow and reflux, result-
Pd
ing in the draining of the contents of the sidearm column into
Ratio the LPC.
P relay After a dumping episode, the reestablishing of oxygen
PT PY
Pi purity in the LPC and also of the proper operation of the
sidearm column can take many hours to complete. The chal-
m(P) + b
lenge is in managing the sidearm column feed to maximize
SP FCV
h
argon concentration while preventing too much nitrogen,
FT FIC FO which will cause the sidearm column to dump.
Surge PI
measurement DA On the other hand, if the plant is operated conservatively
To vent or with little or no nitrogen in the sidearm, argon will ultimately
recycle be lost in the waste and recovery will be lower than otherwise
Surge valve opens if possible. Control of nitrogen in the sidearm is implemented
h < m(P) + b
by determination of composition in the sidearm or at a loca-
Surge line tion several stages above the sidearm feed point by direct
Compressor
speeds analytical measurement (see QIT in Figure 8.37h).
Pressure increase Pd Pi, PSI

Operating personnel will tend to run the distillation col-

100% umn more conservatively to limit the nitrogen concentration
in the sidearm to very low levels, but this also reduces recov-
90%
ery because incrementally more argon will be lost in the
80% waste stream. Therefore, to maintain high argon recovery, the
plant requires precise control of sidearm composition, and
70%
advanced control systems are capable of providing it.
60%
50%
Product Purity Control

In general, for a plant with a liquid product and a fixed air

Dierential pressure h, PSI
flow, the product purity is inversely related to the flow rate
FIG. 8.37i of product that is being removed from the plant. Therefore,
The flow across the compressor (h) is kept above the surge limit by product flow control is often used to control product purity.
venting, if the user demand is insufficient to keep it out of surge. This control strategy is complicated by the fact that control
loops often interact, necessitating feedforward control algo-
rithms and model predictive control strategies for optimal
quality profile. Unlike the reversing exchangers that cycled load-following.
multiple times per hour, the TSA adsorbers are regenerated The performance of a load-following optimization sys-
only once in several hours. tem is dependent upon the maximum ramping rate of the air
If one has properly determined the process dead times separation plant, the severity of demand changes, and the
and time constants, feedforward control can be used to atten- capacitance of the system. The objective is to minimize the
uate these disturbances. The feedforward loop might include venting of overproduction, while avoiding (minimizing) sup-
a ramping function to increase the main air compressor flow plemental liquid vaporization, which makes up for production
(the multistage centrifugal compressor in Figure 8.37g), in deficiencies.
order to compensate for the increased airflow required when
the off-line adsorber vessel is being pressurized after regen- Oxygen Recovery Controller
eration. After the regenerated unit is on-line and the beds are
switched to regenerate the other adsorber vessel, the main air In steady-state operation, where the customer has specified a
compressor flow is ramped back to its normal operating flow. constant GOX production rate, the oxygen purity is a function
of the oxygen recovery. The fixed GOX customer flow being
Sidearm Nitrogen Control the independent variable, the supplied airflow to the plant is the
primary manipulated variable that impacts oxygen recovery.
The feed flow disruption caused by adsorber regeneration is Therefore, the oxygen purity controller (QIT at the bot-
particularly important when argon is being produced, because tom of LPC in Figure 8.37h) can act as a cascade master to
the argon composition profile in the LPC is sensitive to feed manipulate the ratio of feed air to product flow. This manip-
flow, and feed flow upsets introduce a risk of excess nitrogen ulation affects the power consumption of the plant, and for
entering the sidearm column. Nitrogen impurity is normally a fixed number of distillation stages, increasing the feed

2006 by Bla Liptk

2134 Control and Optimization of Unit Operations

airflow will improve the product purity. The control loop is Today, taking a portion of the air after it has been purified
configured as a triple cascade where the O2 recovery control- (stream #1 in Figure 8.37g), boosting the pressure with a
ler (QIT, %O2) is the cascade master of the purity controller booster compressor, cooling the stream, and then expanding
(QIT, ppm THC), which is the cascade master of the feed it through a mechanical expander provides the refrigeration
flow controller (FIC on the compressor in Figure 8.37g). required for liquefaction.

Front-End Purity and Hydrocarbon Accumulation Expander Configuration

Methane, ethane, propane, and to a certain extent ethylene The refrigeration required in oxygen plants to make up for the
are not adsorbed in the TSA or PSA-type front-end air puri- heat leak from the environment is provided by machinery that
fication processes. Acetylene, which is dangerous due to low expands a portion of the feed airflow to the low-pressure col-
solubility, is captured in the TSA or PSA molecular sieve. In umn. The work done by the expander can be recovered as
addition, there are impurities that can accumulate and plug electrical power. The recovery can be achieved by using a
equipment, such as traces of CO2 that slip through the front- generator-loaded expander, or by taking that portion of the feed
end adsorbers. that is to be expanded and first compressing it to a higher
Plugging increases the potential for accumulating local pressure by a compressor that is mounted on the same shaft
concentrations of hydrocarbons by blocking passages in the as the expander. This machine is commonly referred to as a
LOX sump reboiler/condenser section (bottom of HPC column compander.
in Figure 8.37h), which normally are continuously flushed by In a plant making GOX only, gaseous air would be taken
siphon action. from the TSA, cooled in the main heat exchanger, and
Trapped oxygen may create a localized concentration of expanded directly into the LP column. More refrigeration is
hydrocarbons as a result of dry boiling in the blocked pas- needed if either some amount of liquid oxygen product is
sages and may eventually leave a residue of pure hydrocarbon also needed or if the expander flow is starting to impact the
in a pure oxygen atmosphere that could potentially autoignite, oxygen recovery. In such a case, a compander can be used
with potentially severe consequences. (instead of recovering the work as electricity), to boost that
Normally, in a pumped LOX plant, it is the front-end CO2 fraction of the air that is to be expanded. This way, a higher
removal characteristics that determine the minimum amount pressure ratio can be obtained across the expander.
of LOX that must be removed as a product or in a purge stream.
Refrigeration Balance Controller
Hydrocarbon Concentration Factor Refrigeration to the plant is typically controlled by manipu-
lation of expander flow. Normally, an expander flow is so
A hydrocarbon concentration factor can be determined on a
selected as to match the cooling needed to produce a little
material-balance basis by determining how much LOX is
more than the minimum LOX production required. At a con-
being removed from the LPC reboiler compared to the total
stant expander flow, the liquid oxygen sump level controller
oxygen in the air that is entering the system. In a pumped
(LIC at bottom of HPC in Figure 8.37h) will provide steady-
LOX plant, the concentration factor is approximately 5
state operation.
because the entire oxygen product is leaving the column as
a liquid. In a plant that produces gaseous oxygen, where most
Main Heat Exchanger Control
of the oxygen product is generated as GOX, with only a small
amount as LOX being produced, the concentration factor On a pumped LOX plant, high-pressure air from the booster
might be in the range of 100500. compressor is condensed in the main heat exchanger, and the
Total hydrocarbon is continuously measured at several JT valve essentially controls the liquid level in the exchanger,
points in the plant. These include either the LPC sump (pure while the booster compressor discharge pressure effectively
oxygen) or the crude liquid oxygen from the sidearm column controls the vapor inventory in the exchanger.
condenser sump. The oxygen in the feed to the plant is an independent
variable based on customer oxygen flow requirements, and
the booster compressor discharge pressure is held constant.
REFRIGERATION CONTROLS By maintaining a constant discharge pressure, the molecules
that condense in the exchanger are effectively offset by the
In the early days of cryogenic air separation, the feed air was oxygen molecules that are vaporized.
liquefied using a so-called split cycle that involved com- The liquid level measurement in the exchanger is diffi-
pressing the air to approximately 2000 psig and then cooling cult, particularly, because above the critical pressure, the
the compressed gas. After that, the cold gas was sent through vapor/liquid interface disappears. Knowledge of the liquid
an expander valve to cool it by the Joule Thompson effect. level is important, as this determines the available surface
This expander valve is referred to as a Joule Thompson valve area for condensation as well as the magnitude of the tem-
or JT valve. perature approach. The temperature approach translates into

2006 by Bla Liptk

 8.37 Separation Controls, Air 2135

a pressure ratio between the high-pressure air and the oxygen Gv

that is boiling in the exchanger.
There are multiple complex positioning strategies for the
temperature element of the temperature controller (TIC) that
throttles the JT control valve. Proper tuning of this controller Load
is also important to provide the required refrigeration.
Valve gain Load
(Gv) m
m1 (u)
ADVANCED CONTROL + +
Gc Gp

There is no doubt that advanced controls can improve the For stable

Controller

Process
plant efficiency, as well as argon recovery, over what is pos- control:

gain
(Gc)

(Gp)
gain
Gc Gv Gp Gs = 0.5
sible through regulatory controls alone. Advanced control sys-
tems can interface with the distributed control system using Load Load
e
supervisory computers that are used for regulatory process c
control to assist in control and optimization. Advanced control + b
Sensor
systems, using model predictive control, can predict evolving Set gain
conditions and, as such, can optimize the operation through point (r) (Gs)
model-based anticipation. Gs
Without advanced control, the plant will still run reliably
and will deliver good product, but operators tend to pick safe
controller set points, which can be further away from operat-
ing or safety constraints than necessary. The safety margins
Load
used by the operator are usually a function of both their
motivation and their experience/education. Therefore, while FIG. 8.37j
the plant will run reliably under manual operator control, its If the process gain varies with load, it is necessary to compensate for
operation will not be optimized. Such unoptimized operation that nonlinearity. This can be done by characterizing the control valve
is likely to result in significant losses in argon recovery and (shown above) or can be done by characterizing the measurement.
is a significant increase in air compressor power consumption.
The advanced controls monitor the operating constraints
while meeting the production target at minimum waste of either
the nonlinearity from the measurement (of nitrogen purity,
product or energy. In the air separation process, advanced con-
in this specific case) by a compensator. Such characterizer
trols can improve the production and purity of GOX, the side-
arm feed composition, the flow and purity of argon, and the can take the logarithm of the product quality signal, for
total cryogenic liquid production. example, to arrive at a constant loop gain.

Characterizers to Compensate Process Nonlinearity Operating Close to Constraints

Nitrogen purity can be controlled by using the nitrogen purity The most efficient plant operation is obtained if the process
controller as the cascade master of the airflow controller that is run close to the limitations that are set by the equipment
sets the gaseous air feed flow to the HPC as its slave, if its set used, the available raw material and utility supplies, market
point is not already controlled by GOX purity. While linear conditions, product quality requirements, power consump-
response is assumed between the composition of the overhead tion, and so on. If one focuses on the objective of minimizing
product (GAN) and changes in boil-up and reflux ratio, these energy consumption, then airflow should be reduced until the
relationships are not linear over the whole range of the operation. limitations set by the purity requirements of the product are
As the column approaches a state of operation that cor- approached. This is because an increase in airflow also
responds to minimum reflux and maximum recovery, it increases the boil-up and reflux rates, which in turn results
becomes difficult to recover any more nitrogen, and the bot- in higher product purity, but at a higher investment of energy.
tom liquid (LOX) will approach equilibrium with the air feed. The ratio of the power consumption and the production
If, under these conditions, more nitrogen is taken off, the rate of a plant expresses its energy efficiency. Air separation
process gain drastically changes and product purity drops plants can have six or more constraints that are alternately
(oxygen impurity in the nitrogen rises). approached during operation. When a constraint is ap-
In general terms, if the process gain varies with load, proached, the control system should load or unload the plant,
stability of the loop can only be maintained if the variation as needed to maintain a margin from the constraint. The more
in the process gain is compensated, because stable control constraints are approached at the same time, the more difficult
requires a stable gain product of the loop components of the control challenge becomes, but selective control can han-
about 0.5 (Figure 8.37j). One way to achieve this is to remove dle that task.

2006 by Bla Liptk

2136 Control and Optimization of Unit Operations

Therefore, good plant design should eliminate the possi- LOX Liquid oxygen
bility of the plant operation being able to approach multiple LPC Low pressure column
constraints that require conflicting control responses. For MAC Main air compressor
example, no extra stages of distillation should be added in MPC Model predictive control
order to obtain better purity than the purity needed at near NDIR Non-dispersive infrared
ideal recovery. ppmV Volumetric parts per million
PSA Pressure swing adsorption
THC Total hydrocarbon
CONCLUSIONS TPD Tons per day
TSA Temperature swing adsorption
In this section, the process controls for air separation pro- VSA Vacuum swing adsorption
cesses using adsorption, membrane, and cryogenic technol-
ogies have been discussed.
Cryogenic plants are the economic choice for most medium References
to large-scale oxygen and nitrogen production applications,
because of their lower unit power consumption and econo- 1. Parker, S. P., Ed., Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, Volume 3,
mies of scale. They represent the only choice for argon pro- 8th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.
2. www.airproducts.com.
duction. LOX, LIN, and LAR facilities are available for
3. SRI International, CEH, November 1999.
backup and peak shaving to gaseous supply systems and are 4. Beh, C. C. K., and Webley, P. A., A Method for the Determination of
readily available on-site, using the same equipment that pro- Composition Profiles in Industrial Air Separation, Pressure Swing
duces the gaseous products. This eliminates the need for add- Adsorption Systems, Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash
on liquefiers or the use of supply contracts. University, October 2002.
Adsorption systems for the production of oxygen can
supply 8595% oxygen and are best suited for applications
requiring less than 100 tons per day production. Nitrogen- Bibliography
producing PSA and nitrogen membrane systems are econom-
Butricia, A. J., Out of Thin Air, Praeger, 1990.
ical for smaller scale production volumes and where the high Castle, W. F., Air Separation and Liquefaction: Recent Developments and
purity products of cryogenic systems are not required. Prospects for the Beginning of the New Millennium, International
Journal of Refrigeration, 25, pp. 158172, 2002.
Murphy, K., Odorski, A., Smith, A., and Ward, T., Oxygen Production
ABBREVIATIONS Technologies for Non-Ferrous Smelting Applications, Air Products
and Chemicals, Inc., 1987.
Safe Operation of Reboilers/Condensers in Air Separation Units, Docu-
ASU Air separation unit ment 65/99, Brussels, Belgium: European Industrial Gas Association,
CMS Carbon molecular sieve Industrial Gas Committee.
DCAC Direct contact after cooler Safe Practices Guide for Cryogenic Air Separation Plants, CGA P-8,
Chantilly, VA: Compressed Gas Association.
Deoxo Deoxidation unit
Schmidt, W., Kovak, K., Licht, W., and Feldman, S., Managing Trace
GFC Gas filter correlation Contaminants in Cryogenic Air Separation, AIChE Spring Meeting,
GOX Gaseous oxygen Atlanta, GA, March 59, 2000.
HPC High pressure column Schmidt, W., Winegardner, K., Dennehy, M., and Castle-Smith, H., Safe
Design and Operation of a Cryogenic Air Separation Unit, Process
JT Joule Thompson
Safety Progress, Vol. 20, No.4, pp. 269279, December 2001.
LAR Liquid argon Standen, A., Ed., Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 2nd Edition, New
LIN Liquid nitrogen York: Interscience, Volume 14, 1967.

2006 by Bla Liptk