Patent ID: 6539748
Filing Date: 2003-04-01
Classification: F25J,Y02P,Y10S

Abstract:
In a process for the production of gaseous oxygen (â€œGOXâ€ ), said process comprising:cooling and at least partially condensing feed air (1) by heat exchange using heat exchange means (E1) having a warm end and a cold end to produce cooled and at least partially condensed feed air (2); distilling said cooled and at least partially condensed feed air (2) in a distillation column system (C1, C2) to produce liquid oxygen (â€œLOXâ€ ) product; removing a stream (8) of said LOX product from the distillation column system (C1, C2) and vaporizing said LOX product stream (8) by heat exchange (E1) against the feed air (1) to produce GOX; and separately from the LOX product, vaporizing LOX refrigerant (10) from an external source by heat exchange (E1) against the feed air (1) to produce vaporized refrigerant (11) thereby providing a portion of the refrigeration duty required to cool and at least partially condense the feed air; the improvement consisting of injecting the LOX refrigerant into the heat exchange means (E1) at a pressure greater than that of the LOX product entering the heat exchange means.