Patent ID: 8177886
Filing Date: 2012-05-15
Classification: B01D,F01D

Abstract:
1. A method of removing nitrogen from a blast furnace exhaust stream containing air and unburned hydrocarbons to form a supplemental feed to a gas turbine engine, comprising the steps of: removing substantially all of the entrained solid particulates in said blast furnace exhaust stream to form a substantially particulate-free gas stream; passing said substantially particulate-free gas stream through a first one of a plurality of separator beds operating in parallel, with each separator bed comprising an adsorptive material capable of adsorbing nitrogen from air in said particulate-free gas stream and wherein said adsorptive material forms a molecular sieve comprising beads of zeolite, activated carbon, silica gel or alumina; adsorbing substantially all of the nitrogen in said particulate-free gas stream as interstitial nitrogen on solids within said first one of said plurality of separator beds; feeding non-adsorbed hydrocarbon fuel and oxygen components in said substantially particulate-free gas stream to said gas turbine engine following the adsorption of said nitrogen by said first one of said separator beds; and simultaneously exhausting adsorbed nitrogen from a second one of said plurality of separator beds.