NITROGEN PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES
Our company has successfully mastered the nitrogen gas extraction technology using adsorption, membrane and cryogenic methods. These technologies are widely used in industry to produce high-purity nitrogen.
Adsorption Technology
The adsorption method for nitrogen production is based on the Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) process, which is a separation of air gases due to a molecular sieve capable of adsorbing the gas under pressure.
A nitrogen generator consists of two separating columns filled with an adsorbent called a carbon molecular sieve. When compressed air pressurizes the column, nitrogen flows directly towards the outlet to the consumer, while other gases are gradually retained in the column by the adsorbent.
Membrane Technology
The membrane air separation process is based on the selective permeation principle by utilizing the characteristic permeation rate of each gas depending on its ability to dissolve and diffuse through the membrane. The module where nitrogen and oxygen are separated is a cylindrical bundle of hollow fiber membranes.
Each bundle contains several million fibers. Pressurized air enters at one end of the fibers and passes through their cavities to the opposite end of the module. Gas separation occurs when the compressed air comes in contact with membranes. “Fast” gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor quickly pass through the fiber walls and exit through a vent on the side of the module case.
Nitrogen, as a slower gas, does not pass as quickly through the fiber under these feed conditions and arrives as a produced gas at the end of the membrane module. Typically, membrane-based units are used in industry to produce nitrogen, with purities ranging from 95.0 to 99.999 % vol.
Cryogenic Technology
Practical operation of cryogenic plants is based on air liquefaction and its subsequent separation into gases including nitrogen. First of all, the air is compressed by a compressor, then, after overcoming heat exchangers, it expands in a detander with a temperature drop to -180 °C and turns into a liquid.
Further separation takes place due to the different boiling points of the ingredients, with the liquid air evaporating in stages. Thus, nitrogen in liquid or gaseous structure is obtained at the outlet of the unit.
