How Oxygen and Nitrogen generators are used in manufacturing companies

How Oxygen and Nitrogen generators are used in manufacturing companies

The air we breathe contains two gases that are extremely useful in industry: oxygen (about 21%) and nitrogen (about 78%). Adding oxygen to a process enables better control of heating patterns, higher furnace efficiencies (for lower fuel consumption) and reduction in particulate and NOx emissions. It’s used with fuel gases to enhance processes including gas welding, gas cutting, oxygen scarfing, flame cleaning, flame hardening and flame straightening. Oxygen is a raw material in many oxidation processes and to regenerates catalysts. Nitrogen gas is used for purposes ranging from inerting and purging to flushing and sterilizing to product transfer and packaging. Many such processes remove undesirable oxygen from a manufacturing process or environment, preventing oxidation that can damage metal parts and sensitive electronics. Nitrogen is also used in refining and gas separation processes. Since oxygen and nitrogen occur together in the air, they must be separated before they can be used. The right tool for the job is an oxygen generator or a nitrogen generator.

    How an Oxygen plant works

    Oxygen molecules are separated from the other molecules within a clean, dry compressed air stream. Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) is a simple, reliable and cost-effective technology that enables continuous, high-capacity oxygen flow at the desired level of purity (90% to 95%). Adsorption happens when atoms, ions or molecules from a substance (compressed air in this case) adhere to a surface of an adsorbent. PSA technology isolates oxygen molecules from other molecules (nitrogen, CO2, water vapor and trace gases) to leave high purity oxygen at the outlet of the generator. The process takes place in two separate pressure vessels (tower A and tower B), each filled with a carbon molecular sieve, that switch between a separation process and a regeneration process.

    How a Nitrogen generator works

    Nitrogen molecules are separated from other molecules within a clean, dry compressed air stream. Pressure Swing Adsorption technology is used here as well, to isolate nitrogen molecules from other molecules in compressed air to leave nitrogen at the desired purity at the outlet of the Nitrogen plant. For some applications, such as tire inflation and fire prevention, relatively low purity levels (between 90% and 97%) are required. Other applications, such as food/beverage processing and plastic molding, require higher levels of purity (from 97% to 99.999%).

    RO and DI filters use different physical reactions to clean water. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is used to partially clean-up tap water to make it roughly 90% to 99% pure. Deionization (DI) filters exchange positive hydrogen and negative hydroxyl molecules for positive and negative contaminant molecules in water. DI filtering and other processes are sometimes referred to as "water polishing."

    Understanding the difference between reverse osmosis (RO) and deionized (DI) is important when identifying the right water purification unit for your lab. Having access to high quality water is essential for laboratories to carry out their daily processes and workflows. By taking a closer look at different methods of producing both types of water, RO and DI, you can feel confident in your decision regarding water purification systems.

    This deep cold air separation adopts molecular sieve purification and supercharged turbo expander to supplement the cooling capacity of the device, and at the same time adopts the process of producing argon without hydrogen through full distillation. This process is safe, reliable, and economical. The main reasons are:

    1. Good safety The whole set of equipment has low operating pressure, simple process, high equipment safety, long switching cycle of molecular sieve system, long service life of switching valve, and reduced safety hazards. The main cooling (K1) adopts 1% liquid oxygen emission to ensure that the accumulation of hydrocarbons is minimized.

    2. High reliability A large amount of surplus nitrogen can be sent to the water cooling tower, reducing the load of the chiller, reducing the energy consumption of the air separation unit, reducing the use cost, and further improving the reliability of the device.

    3. Convenient operation and maintenance, simple process

    Regenerative desiccant dryers are used in compressed air systems that require dew points to be below the minimum that refrigerated dryers can produce (generally 40 degrees Fahrenheit). Three types of regenerative desiccant dryers are widely used throughout industry: heatless, heated and blower purge.

    The following discussion doesn’t address heat-of-compression (HOC) desiccant dryers, even though they require the least amount of energy to operate. The use of HOC dryers is limited to lubricant-free compressors.

    Many plants require air quality that only regenerative desiccant dryers can produce. Unfortunately, in too many cases, the decision about which type of regenerative dryer to purchase is based on initial capital cost alone. This decision basis ignores the cost of energy that will be required to operate the dryer. Including energy cost can alter the economics of a purchase decision dramatically.

    Some of the first known filters were created to remove unwanted contaminants from water. This process was pioneered by the Romans, but it has also been cited as having other origins. The word "filter" actually comes from the Latin word "filtrum" or "feltrum," which is related to felt or compressed wool, providing a means to filter contaminants when water passes through it. The development of filters for oil cleanliness did not occur until the early 1900s through the progression of crude oil refining and the automobile industry.