Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25J—LIQUEFACTION, SOLIDIFICATION OR SEPARATION OF GASES OR GASEOUS OR LIQUEFIED GASEOUS MIXTURES BY PRESSURE AND COLD TREATMENT OR BY BRINGING THEM INTO THE SUPERCRITICAL STATE
  • F25J3/00—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification
  • F25J3/02—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream
  • F25J3/04—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream for air
  • F25J3/04763—Start-up or control of the process; Details of the apparatus used
  • F25J3/04769—Operation, control and regulation of the process; Instrumentation within the process
  • F25J3/04812—Different modes, i.e. "runs" of operation
  • F25J3/04836—Variable air feed, i.e. "load" or product demand during specified periods, e.g. during periods with high respectively low power costs
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25J—LIQUEFACTION, SOLIDIFICATION OR SEPARATION OF GASES OR GASEOUS OR LIQUEFIED GASEOUS MIXTURES BY PRESSURE AND COLD TREATMENT OR BY BRINGING THEM INTO THE SUPERCRITICAL STATE
  • F25J3/00—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification
  • F25J3/02—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream
  • F25J3/04—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream for air
  • F25J3/04006—Providing pressurised feed air or process streams within or from the air fractionation unit
  • F25J3/04109—Arrangements of compressors and /or their drivers
  • F25J3/04115—Arrangements of compressors and /or their drivers characterised by the type of prime driver, e.g. hot gas expander
  • F25J3/04133—Electrical motor as the prime mechanical driver
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25J—LIQUEFACTION, SOLIDIFICATION OR SEPARATION OF GASES OR GASEOUS OR LIQUEFIED GASEOUS MIXTURES BY PRESSURE AND COLD TREATMENT OR BY BRINGING THEM INTO THE SUPERCRITICAL STATE
  • F25J3/00—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification
  • F25J3/02—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream
  • F25J3/04—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream for air
  • F25J3/04472—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream for air using the cold from cryogenic liquids produced within the air fractionation unit and stored in internal or intermediate storages
  • F25J3/04496—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream for air using the cold from cryogenic liquids produced within the air fractionation unit and stored in internal or intermediate storages for compensating variable air feed or variable product demand by alternating between periods of liquid storage and liquid assist
  • F25J3/04503—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream for air using the cold from cryogenic liquids produced within the air fractionation unit and stored in internal or intermediate storages for compensating variable air feed or variable product demand by alternating between periods of liquid storage and liquid assist by exchanging "cold" between at least two different cryogenic liquids, e.g. independently from the main heat exchange line of the air fractionation and/or by using external alternating storage systems
  • F25J3/04509—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream for air using the cold from cryogenic liquids produced within the air fractionation unit and stored in internal or intermediate storages for compensating variable air feed or variable product demand by alternating between periods of liquid storage and liquid assist by exchanging "cold" between at least two different cryogenic liquids, e.g. independently from the main heat exchange line of the air fractionation and/or by using external alternating storage systems within the cold part of the air fractionation, i.e. exchanging "cold" within the fractionation and/or main heat exchange line
  • F25J3/04515—Simultaneously changing air feed and products output
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25J—LIQUEFACTION, SOLIDIFICATION OR SEPARATION OF GASES OR GASEOUS OR LIQUEFIED GASEOUS MIXTURES BY PRESSURE AND COLD TREATMENT OR BY BRINGING THEM INTO THE SUPERCRITICAL STATE
  • F25J3/00—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification
  • F25J3/02—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream
  • F25J3/04—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream for air
  • F25J3/04763—Start-up or control of the process; Details of the apparatus used
  • F25J3/04769—Operation, control and regulation of the process; Instrumentation within the process
  • F25J3/04812—Different modes, i.e. "runs" of operation
  • F25J3/0483—Rapid load change of the air fractionation unit
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
  • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
  • H02J3/00—Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
  • H02J3/28—Arrangements for balancing of the load in a network by storage of energy
  • H02J3/32—Arrangements for balancing of the load in a network by storage of energy using batteries with converting means
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25J—LIQUEFACTION, SOLIDIFICATION OR SEPARATION OF GASES OR GASEOUS OR LIQUEFIED GASEOUS MIXTURES BY PRESSURE AND COLD TREATMENT OR BY BRINGING THEM INTO THE SUPERCRITICAL STATE
  • F25J2230/00—Processes or apparatus involving steps for increasing the pressure of gaseous process streams
  • F25J2230/22—Compressor driver arrangement, e.g. power supply by motor, gas or steam turbine
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
  • Y02E60/10—Energy storage using batteries

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for separating air by cryogenic distillation.
• Cryogenic distillation air separation units are supplied with large amounts of high voltage and/or medium voltage electricity for the motors of air compressors and possibly product compressors.
• WO2012056245 describes a method of operating a power plant supplying an air separation device where the energy sent to the compressors of the air separation device is varied according to the demand for electricity on the network. It provides for the elimination of air separation in the event of a high demand for electricity on the network.
• Load shedding refers to cutting off the power supply to devices connected to an electrical network in order to reduce the overall load on the network. Erasure can consist of completely cutting off the power to a device or reducing its consumption; in the latter case, we will speak of partial erasure to designate this situation.
• Demand response consists, in the event of an electricity supply-demand imbalance, in temporarily reducing the physical consumption of a given site compared to its "normal" consumption. Fading is triggered by external stimulation, typically during peak daily or seasonal power consumption. It can simply smooth the demand for electricity or even avoid a break in the supply of electricity in extreme cases.
• the present invention relates to an air separation process by cryogenic distillation capable of rapidly reducing its consumption of electricity from a network.
• the object of the invention is not to reduce the maximum consumption of the separation apparatus. Nor is the objective necessarily to consume less energy when it is expensive (because this would be achieved without accumulators for a lower investment).
• the invention aims above all to provide a service to the electricity network by being able to quickly erase itself (in a few seconds) when there is a lack of electricity production capacity.
• the invention makes it possible to quickly reduce the power required by the separation device at key moments, thanks to the use of accumulators allowing the modulation of the power over periods ranging from 2 to 15 minutes.
• the present invention relates to an air separation process by cryogenic distillation, the consumption of electricity from a network of which can be reduced by using an electrochemical energy storage system such as an electrochemical accumulator. This process makes it possible to erase the energy consumption of an air separation device more quickly.
• the method preferably uses at least one cryogenic liquid storage, which may be an air storage, a liquid oxygen storage or a liquid nitrogen storage.
• the electricity supplied to an air separation device can have three uses:
• the invention proposes, in addition to the use of at least one accumulator, to use a storage of liquid oxygen and a storage of liquid air or possibly liquid nitrogen such as described in FR2924203 and FR3066809.
• Figure 5 of FR3066809 shows the case where the liquid oxygen is stored in a storage upstream of the pump and the liquefied air is stored in a liquefied air storage.
• the invention proposes, in addition to the use of at least one accumulator, to use a thermal storage consisting of an inexpensive medium with high thermal capacity by mass and/or volume by example quartz balls, iron ore pellets or encapsulated liquid and/or solid water. It is also possible to use a means that is more expensive but more effective since it has a liquid-solid phase change either with pure substances or with mixtures.
• WO 2010/093400 lists a number of molecules which could be used as phase change materials.
• the invention proposes, in addition to the use of at least one accumulator, to reduce or stop the air compression associated with the air cycle and/or to reduce or stop nitrogen compression associated with the nitrogen cycle.
• WO2015/003809 describes a method according to the preamble of claim 1 but does not present a solution for minimizing the increase in electricity consumption supplied by the electrical network during a change of gear which increases consumption.
• a process for separating air by cryogenic distillation in which during a first operation, a first flow of air is compressed in at least one compressor, it is cooled and it is separated in a system of columns, a first flow of a first distillation product is produced, the high or medium voltage electricity needs of the compressor(s) of the process are supplied from an electricity network, during a second run, the compressor is compressed a second air flow lower than the first air flow in the at least one compressor, the second flow is cooled and separated in the column system, a second flow of a first product is produced from the column system distillation, lower than the first flow rate of the first product, high or medium voltage electricity requirements of the compressor being lower than during the first run and during an intermediate run taking place after the first run and before the second run and the electricity consumption from the electricity network of the compressor or compressors is lower than that during the first run and greater than or equal to that during the second run, characterized in that during the intermediate run, at least part of the electricity requirements of the process operating during the
• an air separation apparatus by cryogenic distillation comprising at least one compressor for compressing air, means for cooling and purifying the compressed air, a system of columns comprising at least one air distillation column for separating the air into oxygen and nitrogen, a motor for driving at least one of the at least one compressors, means for supplying the motor with high and/or medium voltage electricity coming from a network, at least one electrochemical accumulator, means for supplying the motor with high and/or medium voltage electricity coming from the at least one accumulator, means for interrupting the supply of electricity to the motor from the network and means for interrupting the supply of electricity to the motor from the at least one accumulator, the means for interrupting the supply of electricity being controlled from a control system, means for sending a prem first flow of air to be compressed in the at least one compressor during a first operation, means for sending a second flow of air lower than the first flow of air to be compressed in the at least one compressor during a second operation, means for connecting the at least one accumulator to the
• the device in response to a request for deletion, preferably originating from a control unit, the device comprises means for connecting the at least accumulator to the motor, so that the motor is partially powered by the at least one accumulator and partially by the electrical network (partial erasure) or otherwise entirely by the at least one accumulator, at least during the intermediate operation.
• the apparatus may comprise means for interrupting the sending of electricity from the at least accumulator to the motor after a given time and/or according to a signal from the control unit.
• the apparatus comprises means connected to the column system for supplying a product of the distillation and at least one storage of cryogenic liquid connected to these means. This allows constant production to be maintained even when the column system receives less air.
• This device represents variable parameters of an air separation apparatus by cryogenic distillation.
• This device is part of a plurality of consumer units connected to an electrical production and consumption system supplying electricity to a plurality of consumers.
• This electrical network R comprises a control unit adapted to transmit to the consumption units, including the air separation device, modulation instructions and in particular load shedding instructions.
• deletion instructions can be made by any appropriate means, for example a physical medium (CPL, radio, ADSL) or via the Internet.
• a) shows that during a first run, the electricity network R sends a first quantity of electricity H ASU to an air separation device by cryogenic distillation.
• This electricity is mainly used to operate the motor(s) of the compressor(s) of the device, whether it is a main air compressor, an air booster, a product compressor.
• the network sends less electricity to the air separation device (quantity B ASU ).
• an electricity accumulator is switched on to supply the separation device, which is still operating at full speed, with the quantity of electricity which is lacking.
• At least part of the electricity requirements of the process are supplied from at least one electrochemical accumulator A and the electricity consumption from the electricity network is lower than that during the first step and greater than or equal to that during the second step.
• the air separation device is still powered by the same quantity of electricity as during the first operation.
• Accumulator A operates during an intermediate operation, the time that the air separation process adapts to the reduction of electricity coming from the network. During this intermediate operation, the production of electricity from the at least one accumulator A decreases regularly to be zero at the end of the intermediate operation at time t 1 .
• the production of electricity from the network R is at a low value B corresponding to that of the second step ( has)).
• the consumption of the air separation process drops during the intermediate run to arrive at a low value B ASU and the compressed flow of the main air compressor drops at the same time, so that the motor consumes less electricity.
• the air booster can have a constant flow rate for at least two of the steps: first step, second step and middle step.
• the production of oxygen d) vaporized by the supercharged air does not vary in this case.
• At least a portion of oxygen may be provided by a liquid oxygen storage fed by a column of the separation apparatus. So we see in d) that the production of total oxygen OG does not vary, the quantity of oxygen missing from the production of the columns being supplied by the storage of liquid oxygen.
• a purified air booster is driven by a motor.
• the quantity of electricity supplied by the network during the intermediate operation can drop immediately to an intermediate value between H ASU and B ASU or can reduce from T 0 regularly to reach the B ASU value only at t 1 .
• the high and/or medium voltage electrical consumption of the process is reduced, preferably once the supply from the accumulator has started.
• the process When the accumulator no longer produces electricity, the process operates at low speed, possibly producing less product. In this case, the electrical consumption of the process reduces before the production drops because of the time required to carry out the distillation.
• the second step starts at time t1.
• a second airflow lower than the first airflow is compressed in a compressor, the second flow is cooled and separated, a second flow of a first distillation product is produced, possibly lower than the first flow of the first product, the high or medium voltage electricity requirements being lower than during the first run.
• the network again produces energy at the initial quantity H.
• the accumulator begins to charge at t 2 or after t 2 to finish charging at t3.
• the air separation device increases its energy consumption to arrive at the value H ASU at t 3 .
• the at least one electrochemical accumulator does not supply medium and/or high voltage electricity to the process during the first and second steps or possibly during the first or second step.
• the at least one electrochemical accumulator supplied no longer supplies medium and/or high voltage electricity to the process at the end of the intermediate run.
• the electrochemical accumulator provides during the intermediate operation a quantity of electricity decreasing over time.
• the difference between the electricity consumption of the air separation process in the first stage and that in the second stage is X MW, where X is a number greater than zero and the maximum amount of electricity supplied during the intermediate stage is at least 0.9X MW of electricity, preferably at least X MW of electricity.
• the at least one electrochemical accumulator is powered by the same electricity network as the process compressor(s).
• the electrochemical accumulator is charged with electricity when the price of electricity is below a threshold and/or when the electricity consumption is below a threshold and/or at night.
• At least part of the electricity needs of the process are supplied from an electrochemical accumulator in the event of a reduction in the quantity of electricity available on the network.
• the accumulator is not necessarily on the same site as the air separation unit.
• the invention can also implement several accumulators and several air separation devices located on different sites but electrically connected to the same network.
• the invention can also be implemented to improve the adequacy at any time between the consumption of one or more air separation units with the production of one or more installations for the production of intermittent renewable electricity such as the wind or solar.
• the method uses a storage of liquefied air and/or a storage of a liquefied product.
• Liquefied air and/or liquid product from the air separation unit can be stored during the first run.
• the apparatus comprises means for sending a first flow of air to be compressed in the at least one compressor during a first operation, means for sending a second flow of air lower than the first flow of air to be compressed in the at least one compressor during a second run.
• These means consist of a pipe and regulation means.
• the apparatus also comprises means for connecting the at least one accumulator to the motor during the intermediate run taking place after the first run and before the second run in response to an erase request signal.
• the device is connected, for example, to a control unit which sends a request for erasure signal to indicate that the air separation device should reduce its electricity consumption from the network.
• means In response to an erasing request, preferably coming from a control unit, means allow electricity to be sent from the at least accumulator to the motor, so that the motor is partially powered by the at least an accumulator and partially by the electrical network (partial erasure) or otherwise entirely by the at least one accumulator, at least during the intermediate operation.
• Means are also provided for interrupting the sending of electricity from the at least accumulator to the motor after a given time and/or according to another signal from the control unit.
• the apparatus for separating air by cryogenic distillation comprises at least one compressor C for compressing air to a pressure of at least 5 bars, means ER for cooling and purifying the compressed air, a columns K comprising at least one air distillation column for separating the air into oxygen OG and nitrogen, a motor M for driving at least one of the at least one compressor, means for supplying the motor with high and/or medium electricity voltage coming from a network R, at least one electrochemical accumulator A, means for supplying the motor with high and/or medium voltage electricity coming from the at least one accumulator, means for interrupting the supply of electricity to the motor from the network and means for interrupting the supply of electricity to the motor from the at least one accumulator, the means for interrupting the supply of electricity being controlled from a control system S.
• This control system can be the electrical network control unit.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Separation By Low-Temperature Treatments (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=74759148

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Family Cites Families (12)

• 2021
  • 2021-01-25 FR FR2100666A patent/FR3119226B1/fr active Active
• 2022
  • 2022-01-25 AU AU2022211608A patent/AU2022211608A1/en active Pending
  • 2022-01-25 WO PCT/EP2022/051578 patent/WO2022157379A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2022-01-25 CN CN202280011121.9A patent/CN116783440A/zh active Pending
  • 2022-01-25 EP EP22701955.1A patent/EP4281719A1/de active Pending
• 2023
  • 2023-07-18 CL CL2023002092A patent/CL2023002092A1/es unknown

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events