A purging device for an air separation system
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202521902485.3
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-09-04
- Publication Date
- 2026-09-01
- Estimated Expiration
- 2035-09-04
AI Technical Summary
[0004]为解决现有技术存在的空分系统的吹扫时间很长，吹扫期间无法正常生产作业，造成了很大的能源消耗以及时间成本浪费，导致企业运行成本增加的技术问题，本实用新型提供了如下技术方案
[0010]本实用新型的有益效果，本实用新型在空分塔下塔的进料管线处新增了负压管线、放空管线，先由负压真空泵和负压管线将不合格的空气从空分系统内抽取进行排放，空分系统内空气检测合格后，再将压缩空气和氮气送入空分塔及各设备，逐渐进行吹扫，可有效的缩短开车吹扫时间，吹扫时间从4天左右减少到2天左右，达到节能降耗的目的。同时，负压管线处并联了低压吹扫管线，低压吹扫管线与高压吹扫管线相配合正反对吹，可有效地提高空分系统的吹扫效率，进一步有效地缩短开车吹扫时间。
Smart Images
Figure CN224700749U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This utility model relates to the field of air separation system technology, and in particular to an air separation system purging device. Background Technology
[0002] An air separation system (AS / RS) is an industrial system used to separate various components of air to produce oxygen, nitrogen, and argon. Typically, air is passed through filters to remove impurities, a compressor to pressurize it, a pre-cooling unit to cool it, a purification unit to remove impurities again, a booster compressor to pressurize it, an expander to expand it, and a heat exchanger to exchange heat before being sent to a distillation unit for rectification to obtain the desired gas. After prolonged operation, air separation systems accumulate a large amount of impurities and dirt, which reduces equipment efficiency, damages components, and shortens the equipment's lifespan. Therefore, regular purging is essential to effectively remove these impurities and dirt, thereby improving efficiency and extending the equipment's lifespan. Thus, before starting up an air separation system, it must be purged to a acceptable dew point before any cooling or liquid buildup can occur.
[0003] However, for large-scale air separation systems, the components and volume of the air separation system are relatively large, and the purging is also very difficult. The purging time required for air separation systems is often very long. The purging time of existing air separation systems is generally about four days. During the purging period, normal production operations cannot be carried out, which results in a large waste of energy and time costs, leading to increased operating costs and reduced economic benefits for enterprises. Utility Model Content
[0004] To address the technical problem of long purging times in existing air separation systems, which prevent normal production operations during purging and result in significant energy consumption, wasted time, and increased operating costs for enterprises, this utility model provides the following technical solution.
[0005] This utility model discloses a purging device for an air separation system, which is connected to an air separation tower equipped with a feed pipeline and a discharge pipeline. One side of the feed pipeline is connected to a negative pressure pipeline equipped with a negative pressure vacuum pump. The negative pressure pipeline is connected to a venting pipeline and a low-pressure purging pipeline, respectively. The discharge pipeline is connected to a high-pressure purging pipeline.
[0006] As a further technical solution, the high-pressure purging pipeline is connected to an air compressor and a nitrogen pipeline respectively.
[0007] As a further technical solution, the air separation tower is equipped with a dew point detector.
[0008] As a further technical solution, the low-pressure purging line is equipped with a gas pressure regulating valve, and the end of the low-pressure purging line is connected to the starting end of the air separation system.
[0009] As a further technical solution, the purging pressure of the high-pressure purging pipeline is 0.35-0.4MPa, and the purging pressure of the low-pressure purging pipeline is 0.2-0.3MPa.
[0010] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: A negative pressure pipeline and a vent pipeline are added to the feed line at the bottom of the air separation tower. First, a negative pressure vacuum pump and the negative pressure pipeline extract and discharge substandard air from the air separation system. After the air in the air separation system passes the test, compressed air and nitrogen are then sent into the air separation tower and other equipment for gradual purging. This effectively shortens the start-up purging time from approximately 4 days to approximately 2 days, achieving energy saving and consumption reduction. Simultaneously, a low-pressure purging pipeline is connected in parallel to the negative pressure pipeline. The low-pressure purging pipeline works in conjunction with the high-pressure purging pipeline for both positive and negative purging, effectively improving the purging efficiency of the air separation system and further shortening the start-up purging time. Attached Figure Description
[0011] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the air separation system purging device of this utility model; In the diagram: 1-Air separation tower; 2-Feed pipeline; 3-Discharge pipeline; 4-Negative pressure pipeline; 5-Negative pressure vacuum pump; 6-Vent pipeline; 7-Low-pressure purging pipeline; 8-Gas pressure regulating valve; 9-High-pressure purging pipeline; 10-Air compressor; 11-Nitrogen pipeline. Detailed Implementation
[0012] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this utility model clearer, the present utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present utility model and are not intended to limit the present utility model. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described herein can be combined with each other.
[0013] In the description of this utility model, it should be understood that the terms "upper" and "lower" are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings and are only for the convenience of describing this utility model and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this utility model. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. In the description of this utility model, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.
[0014] like Figure 1As shown, this utility model discloses a purging device for an air separation system, connected to an air separation tower 1 equipped with an inlet pipeline 2 and an outlet pipeline 3. The air separation tower 1 is existing technology. The purpose of this utility model is to purge an air separation system, with the air separation tower 1 as the main component. In this embodiment, the purging device is described with the air separation tower 1 as the main component. Other components of the air separation system, such as the compressor, turbine expander, and heat exchanger, are not illustrated or described in detail.
[0015] In a preferred embodiment, the feed line 2 is connected to a negative pressure line 4 on one side of the lower tower of the air separation tower 1. The negative pressure line 4 is equipped with a pneumatic check valve and a negative pressure vacuum pump 5, which is used to extract and vent unqualified air from the air separation system. Before the compressed air enters the air separation tower 1, the negative pressure vacuum pump 5 and the negative pressure line 4 first extract and discharge the unqualified air from the air separation system. After the air in the air separation system passes the test, the compressed air and nitrogen are then sent into the air separation tower 1 and various equipment for gradual purging. This can effectively shorten the start-up purging time and achieve the purpose of energy saving and consumption reduction.
[0016] In a preferred embodiment, the discharge pipeline 3 is connected to a high-pressure purging pipeline 9, which is used to perform high-pressure purging on the air separation system. At this time, the high-pressure purging pipeline 9 is connected to an air compressor 10 and a nitrogen pipeline 11. The air compressor 10 can introduce compressed air into the high-pressure purging pipeline 9 to facilitate purging of the air separation tower 1. Simultaneously, the nitrogen pipeline 11 can further purify the air separation system until the dew point within the air separation system is within acceptable limits. The air separation tower 1 is equipped with a dew point detector, which can directly measure the dew point temperature to ensure the smooth operation of the air separation system.
[0017] In a preferred embodiment, the negative pressure line 4 is connected to the vent line 6 and the low-pressure purging line 7. The vent line 6 is used to discharge unqualified air. When the air quality in the air separation system 1 is qualified, the high-pressure purging line 9 purges the air separation tower 1. At the same time, the negative pressure vacuum pump 5 is turned on, the vent line 6 is closed, and the low-pressure purging line 7 is turned on. Part of the purging gas from the high-pressure purging line 9 will enter the negative pressure line 4 and the low-pressure purging line 7. The end of the low-pressure purging line 7 is connected to the starting end of the air separation system, and its purging direction is opposite to that of the high-pressure purging line 9. At this time, the forward and reverse purging can effectively improve the purging efficiency of the air separation system and effectively shorten the start-up purging time, thereby achieving the purpose of energy saving and consumption reduction.
[0018] It should be noted that the low-pressure purging line 7 is equipped with a gas pressure regulating valve 8, and the high-pressure purging line 9 is also equipped with a gas pressure regulating valve. The purging pressure of the high-pressure purging line 9 is 0.35-0.4 MPa, and the purging pressure of the low-pressure purging line 7 is 0.2-0.3 MPa. This is because 0.2-0.4 MPa is the normal pressure range for pipeline purging; the lower limit of 0.2 MPa ensures sufficient purging kinetic energy, and the upper limit of 0.4 MPa avoids impacting the pipeline system.
[0019] The preferred embodiments and examples of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and examples. Within the scope of knowledge possessed by those skilled in the art, various changes or equivalent substitutions can be made without departing from the concept of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, and all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims of this application are within the scope of protection of the present invention.
Claims
1. A system for purging of an air separation unit, connected to an air separation column (1) provided with a feed line (2) and a product line (3), characterized in that: The feed line (2) is connected to a negative pressure line (4) equipped with a negative pressure vacuum pump (5) on one side. The negative pressure line (4) is connected to a vent line (6) and a low-pressure purging line (7) respectively. The discharge line (3) is connected to a high-pressure purging line (9).
2. The air-spaced system purging apparatus of claim 1, wherein: The high-pressure purging line (9) is connected to an air compressor (10) and a nitrogen line (11).
3. The air-spaced system purging apparatus of claim 1, wherein: The air separation tower (1) is equipped with a dew point detector.
4. The air-spaced system purging apparatus of claim 1, wherein: The low-pressure purging line (7) is equipped with a gas pressure regulating valve (8), and the end of the low-pressure purging line (7) is connected to the starting end of the air separation system.
5. The air-spaced system purging apparatus of claim 1, wherein: The purging pressure of the high-pressure purging line (9) is 0.35-0.4 MPa, and the purging pressure of the low-pressure purging line (7) is 0.2-0.3 MPa.