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A flexible air separation process: 1. Design and steady‐state optimizations
Author(s) -
Caspari Adrian,
Offermanns Christoph,
Schäfer Pascal,
Mhamdi Adel,
Mitsos Alexander
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.16705
Subject(s) - air separation , separation (statistics) , process engineering , process (computing) , range (aeronautics) , electricity , separation process , power (physics) , production (economics) , computer science , environmental science , engineering , chemistry , electrical engineering , chemical engineering , oxygen , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , machine learning , economics , macroeconomics , aerospace engineering , operating system
The flexible operation of energy‐intensive processes, such as cryogenic air separation, has economic potential due to increasing fluctuations of the electricity markets. Multiproduct air separation processes with high ratios of liquid product are very promising for flexible operation due to storable products. We present a process design with an integrated liquefication cycle and liquid assist operation, that facilitates a high liquid product ratio and a flexible process operation. We use a mechanistic dynamic process model in steady‐state process optimizations covering the wide operational range of the proposed process. The optimization results show that the power demand can be varied in a range from 3.5 to 28 MW without violating operational constraints by changing the nitrogen and oxygen production rates. Thus, the proposed process is a promising air separation candidate for flexible operation with respect to fluctuating electricity markets.