Over the past twenty-five years or so,
non-cryogenic air separation processes have been commercially used in
various gas plants, especially by the relatively small-volume users of
oxygen or nitrogen. This process is commercially viable because it offers a
convenient and economical method to produce gaseous products based on
differences in molecular weights, molecular size and other properties rather
than producing products from air based on differences in boiling points as
in cryogenic processing.
There are three major processes involved in non cryogenic air separation
based on adsorption processes and membrane diffusion-separation systems. Non
cryogenic processes produce oxygen which is almost 90-95% pure or nitrogen
which is almost 95-99.5% free of oxygen. The three non cryogenic processes
are as follows:
Types
of Non-cryogenic Air Separation
