JPH06109361A - Device and method for separating high purity argon - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify structure of a device to separate high purity argon by liquid refinement and to provide device and method for separating high purity argon which can heighten purity of argon and increase a collecting ratio of high purity argon. CONSTITUTION:Crude argon led from a crude argon tower 200 is introduced into a deoxiding tower 206 having a number of theoretical plates for its refinement, and liquid crude argon is introduced out of a tower bottom and into a crude argon tower top as a return liquid. Then, argon containing a little amount of oxygen is introduced out of the tower top and into a high purity argon tower 24 for refinement, whereby high purity argon is taken out.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for separating high-purity argon, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for separating air from a raw material and collecting component gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon. Therefore, when high-purity argon is separated and collected by the air liquefaction separation method, a step of rectifying and removing the oxygen content in the argon by a rectification tower is provided to facilitate the operation and make maintenance safe. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for separating high-purity argon by an air liquefaction separation method with reduced equipment cost.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, an example of a conventional method for collecting high-purity argon by a cryogenic air separation method will be described with reference to FIG. From the middle stage of the low pressure column (upper column) of the double rectification column 1, substantially 5 to 15% of argon as a main component of oxygen and a small amount of nitrogen as a raw material gas are extracted into a conduit 2 and sucked into the lower part of the crude argon column 3. To be done. A condenser 4 is provided on the upper part of the tower 3, and is taken out from the lower part of the intermediate pressure tower (lower tower) of the double rectification tower 1,
Liquid air whose pressure has been reduced by the expansion valve 5 is introduced from a conduit 6 as a cold source. As a result, the raw material gas that has risen in the crude argon column 3 is liquefied in the condenser 4 to form a reflux liquid, and liquefaction rectification is performed with the raw material gas that rises in the column, and 90% of argon from the top of the column Above, oxygen number% or less,
Crude argon having a composition of several% or less of nitrogen is withdrawn through the conduit 7. On the other hand, from the bottom of the crude argon column 3, liquid oxygen is returned to the upper column by the pipe 8. Further, the gas obtained by vaporizing the liquid air in the condenser 4 is introduced into the upper tower through the pipe 9.

The crude argon discharged to the pipe 7 passes through the heat exchanger 10 and cools the return gas to a substantially atmospheric temperature.
It is sent from a pipe 11 to a compressor 13 via a gas holder 12 which also serves as a storage tank and a buffer. The crude argon gas compressed to a pressure necessary for the subsequent process in the compressor 13 is discharged into the pipe 14, and the oxygen content in the crude argon is removed by the oxygen-hydrogen reaction through the pipe 16 from the hydrogen supply facility 15. After sufficient hydrogen is added to do so, it is fed into the deoxidizer 17. The deoxidizer 17 is filled with a catalyst that promotes the oxygen-hydrogen reaction, and as a result, oxygen in the crude argon reacts rapidly with the added hydrogen to produce water. . The crude argon gas containing the produced water is sent to the water separator 19 through the pipe 18 after being cooled, and is further introduced into the switching dryer 21 through the pipe 20. In this drying step, the generated crude moisture-removed crude argon gas is introduced into the heat exchanger 10 through the pipe 22, cooled, and then cooled through the pipe 23 to obtain the high-purity argon column 2.
Introduced in 4.

A reboiler 26 is formed in the lower part of the high purity argon column 24 by medium pressure nitrogen supplied from the lower part column of the double rectification column 1 through a pipe 25, and a condenser 31 is formed in the upper part. Is provided. In this condenser 31,
After being condensed and liquefied by the reboiler 26, the liquid nitrogen expanded by the valve 27 and supplied from the pipe 28 and the liquid nitrogen supplied from the lower column of the rectification column 1 through the pipe 29 and the valve 30 are supplied. . Due to the rectification of the crude argon introduced into the high-purity argon column 24, the nitrogen-hydrogen mixed gas separated at the top of the column 24 is discharged through the pipe 32, and the high-purity liquid argon is discharged from the bottom of the column 24. Are collected via tube 33.

The pipe 34 is a discharge pipe for the nitrogen gas that is vaporized as a result of the cooling provided by the condenser 31, and joins with the pipe 35 for the nitrogen gas that is discharged from the top of the upper part of the double rectification column 1.

As is clear from the above description, the conventional high-purity argon sampling method uses dangerous hydrogen in the deoxidation step, and the drying step accompanying it complicates the equipment, piping, etc. Moreover, there are drawbacks such as complicated operation. Further, with the recent increase in size of the apparatus, it is clear that the above-mentioned drawbacks will increase more and more, and the solution thereof has been desired.

On the other hand, a method of purifying argon by removing oxygen in crude argon without using hydrogen is disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No.
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 41235. FIG. 3 shows steps for carrying out the method described in the publication, in which 90% of argon extracted from the crude argon column 3 into the tube 101 is used.
As described above, crude argon containing several% of each of oxygen and nitrogen is introduced into the deoxidizing tower 102 in order to remove contained oxygen. The deoxidizing column 102 is provided with a reboiler 103 at the bottom and a condenser 104 at the top in order to exert a rectification action, and the rectification section between them has oxygen with a small boiling point difference and rectification separation is difficult. In order to rectify and separate argon and argon, rectification is performed sufficiently in multiple stages up to several tens of stages, and compression means 105 for the pressure resistance caused thereby is provided in the deoxidation column 102. It is placed in the front stage.

The reboiler 103 is formed by supplying medium pressure nitrogen gas from the lower column of the rectification column 1 through a pipe 107, and the condenser 104 at the top has a reboiler 103.
The medium-pressure nitrogen liquefied in 1. is expanded by the valve 108 and adjusted to an appropriate pressure in order to maintain the temperature so that argon is not solidified in the deoxidizing tower 102, and then is supplied through the pipe 109. Further, liquid nitrogen is supplied to the condenser 104 from the lower column of the rectification column 1 through a valve 111 after adjusting the pressure to an appropriate pressure by the valve 110 as described above. As a result, from the upper portion of the deoxidizing tower 102, a purified argon gas having an oxygen content of several ppm or less and an argon content of several 95% and a purity of about 95% is introduced into the pipe 112.
And is sent to the high purity argon column 24.

The high-purity argon column 24 is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and the medium-pressure nitrogen extracted from the lower column of the rectification column 1 is supplied to the bottom of the column by a pipe 25 to form a reboiler 26. Then, liquid nitrogen condensed and liquefied by the reboiler 26 is supplied to the upper part through the pipe 28 and the valve 27, and is sent to the condenser 104 of the deoxidizing column 102. A part of the liquid nitrogen of the valve 3 passes through the branch pipe 29.
The pressure is adjusted to 0 and sent, and the condenser 31 is formed.

As a result of the rectification in the high-purity argon column 24, nitrogen gas containing a small amount of argon is discharged from the top of the column through a pipe 32, and high-purity liquid argon is collected from the bottom through a pipe 33. On the other hand, the nitrogen gas vaporized in the condenser 31 is discharged through the pipe 34, and together with the nitrogen gas vaporized in the condenser 104 of the deoxidizer 102 and discharged into the discharge pipe 114, from the top of the upper column of the rectification column 1. The extracted nitrogen gas 35 merges with the pipe 35 and is collected.

[0011]

According to the method using the above deoxidizing column, it is possible to collect argon having an oxygen content of about several ppm. In recent years, there has been a demand for high purity of various gases. Is required to have an oxygen content of 1 ppm or less even in Ar gas, and in the argon for the semiconductor industry,
We are trying to bring the oxygen content closer to the order of ppb. Furthermore, the recovery rate for argon in the raw material air was about 30 to 50% in the past, but it has been required to be in the range of 60 to 90%, and the demand for high purification and high efficiency has become stronger. ing.

Increasing the number of rectification stages in order to reduce the oxygen content in high-purity argon is a very common method, because of the pressure loss due to the increase of the rectification stages of the rectification column. Need to deal with. In addition, in order to improve the recovery rate of argon, it is necessary to increase the cooling capacity of the condensers of the crude argon column and the deoxidizer column. Liquid air from the lower column of the distillation column is used, and liquid nitrogen from the lower column is normally used for cooling the condenser of the deoxidizing column. If it increases, the amount of the reflux liquid supplied from the lower tower to the upper tower will decrease, and the rectification separation effect of the upper tower will deteriorate, and the separation effect of the air separation device as a whole will deteriorate.

Therefore, the present invention simplifies the structure of the apparatus for separating and collecting high-purity argon by liquefaction rectification using air as a raw material, and can achieve high purification and improvement of recovery rate.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for separating high-purity argon and an apparatus therefor capable of reducing the oxygen content in argon to 1 ppm or less.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, the method for separating high-purity argon of the present invention comprises compressing, purifying and cooling air, and liquefying and rectifying oxygen and nitrogen in a double rectification column. In the method of separating high-purity argon by air liquefaction separation, which collects high-purity argon with a crude argon column and a high-purity argon column, the crude argon derived from the crude argon column is deoxidized with a large number of theoretical stages. Introduced into the column for rectification, the liquid crude argon is discharged from the lower part of the column, and this is introduced as a reflux liquid to the top part of the crude argon column, and argon having a low oxygen content is discharged from the top part of the column. Is introduced into a high-purity argon column, and rectification is performed to collect high-purity argon.
Further, in the configuration, the deoxidizing tower has 70 or more stages,
Preferably, it has 100 or more theoretical plates, the deoxidizing column has a condenser at the top, and the cold source thereof is oxygen-enriched liquefied air or a lower column derived from the lower part of the lower part of the double rectification column or Liquid nitrogen from outside the system, the deoxidizing column has a condenser at the top and a reboiler at the bottom, and the fluid serving as the heat source of the reboiler is nitrogen gas derived from the upper part of the double rectification column lower column or Air or air-like composition gas derived from the lower part of the lower tower, and nitrogen or air or air-like composition gas liquefied by heating the bottom liquid in the reboiler is introduced into the condenser at the top of the deoxidizing tower. The deoxidizing tower is provided by vaporizing and supplying cold, and adjusting the amount of the fluid serving as the cold source of the condenser of the deoxidizing tower and the amount of the fluid serving as the heating source of the reboiler of the tower. Adjusting the reflux ratio of the Raising the temperature of the crude argon gas derived from the Rougon tower, pressurizing it with a crude argon compressor, and then cooling it again and introducing it into the deoxidizing tower, or the crude argon gas derived from the crude argon tower is cooled to a low temperature. As it is pressurized and introduced into the deoxidizing tower, or operating the deoxidizing tower under a negative pressure, or, the argon derived from the top of the deoxidizing tower is discharged in liquid form, or liquefied after discharging. Then, after pressurizing with a liquid column pressurization, introducing into the high purity argon column, argon derived from the top of the deoxidizing column is introduced into an adsorption column or a reaction column filled with a getter, if necessary. It is characterized by removing a small amount of residual oxygen.

The high-purity argon separator of the present invention comprises a double rectification column for liquefying and rectifying compressed, purified and cooled air into oxygen and nitrogen, and an argon feed from the middle part of the upper column of the double rectification column. In a device for separating high-purity argon by air liquefaction separation, which comprises a crude argon column for collecting high-purity argon and purifying this by purifying gas and a high-purity argon column,
A deoxidizer having a reboiler at the bottom, a condenser at the top, and 70 or more theoretical plates is provided, and a conduit for introducing crude argon derived from the top of the crude argon column to the lower part of the deoxidizer, A conduit for introducing liquid crude argon from the bottom of the column and introducing it to the top of the crude argon column without a condenser, and withdrawing argon with a low oxygen content from the top of the deoxidizing column to a high purity argon column. It is characterized in that it is provided with a pipe line for introducing, further, the deoxidizing column is a packed column filled with a packing material, which will be described later as a low temperature crude argon gas derived from the crude argon column. A heat exchanger for exchanging heat with the heated crude argon gas after compression, a crude argon compressor for pressurizing the heated crude argon gas, and a tube for introducing the pressurized and cooled crude argon gas into the deoxidizing tower. From the top of the deoxidizer tower A vacuum pump or a blower for sucking the argon gas to be introduced into the high-purity argon column is provided, or the argon derived from the top of the deoxidizing column is discharged as a liquid, or a liquid column is liquefied after the discharge. It is characterized in that it is equipped with a liquid column pressurizer that pressurizes by pressure and introduces it into a high purity argon column.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The same elements as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The crude argon extracted from the top of the crude argon column 200 is supplied to the crude argon heat exchanger 2 through a tube 201.
02, introduced into the crude argon blower 204 through the pipe 203 to heat to room temperature by exchanging heat with the pressurized crude argon, from 0.05 to 0.1 Kg / m ² to 0.3 to 0.5 K
After being pressurized to about g / m ^2, it is introduced into the crude argon heat exchanger 202 through the pipe 205, cooled by the crude argon from the pipe 201, and introduced into the lower part of the deoxidizing tower 206.

The deoxidizer 206 is provided with a reboiler 207 at the bottom and a condenser 208 at the top, and the rectification section 209 has a large difference in boiling points between oxygen and argon, and therefore has a large number of rectification stages. That is, in order to make the oxygen content in the crude argon 1 ppm or less, it has 70 or more, preferably 100 or more theoretical plates. Therefore, although the pressure in the lower part of the deoxidizing column 206 becomes high, the crude argon column 200
Since the low-pressure crude argon taken out from the reactor is increased in pressure to the required pressure by the crude argon blower 204, the increase in the number of stages of the deoxidizer 206 does not pose a problem.

In the reboiler 207 at the bottom of the deoxidizing tower,
The medium-pressure nitrogen gas discharged from the upper part of the lower part of the double rectification column 1 is supplied by the pipe 107, and is liquefied by the reboiler 207 and discharged to the pipe 210 of the condenser 208 at the top of the deoxidizing column.
The liquid nitrogen decompressed by the valve 211 is introduced, and the liquid nitrogen at the top of the lower column is introduced after the pressure is adjusted via the pipe 212 and the valve 213.

As a result, rectification is carried out in the deoxidizing tower 206, and the oxygen content from the upper part of the tower 206 is 1 ppm or less,
Deoxidized argon containing a few percent of nitrogen was withdrawn into tube 214,
It is sent to a high purity argon column 24. Since this high-purity argon column can be configured in the same manner as in FIGS. 2 and 3, detailed illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, the liquid taken out from the bottom of the deoxidizer 206 into the pipe 215 is pressurized by the liquid pump 216 as necessary, and then returned to the upper part of the crude argon column 200 as a reflux liquid to be condensed. The nitrogen gas vaporized in 208 is led to the pipe 217.

As described above, by providing the deoxidizing column 206 having a theoretical plate number of 70, preferably 100 or more, between the crude argon column 200 and the high-purity argon column 24,
Oxygen in the crude argon can be separated and removed without using hydrogen, and the oxygen-containing liquefied argon derived from the bottom of the deoxidation column 206 is used as the reflux liquid of the crude argon column 200 to remove the oxygen from the top of the crude argon column. The condenser can be omitted, and the cost of the device can be reduced.

Further, the deoxidizing tower 206 is provided with a rectifying section 209.
The pressure loss during the rectification operation can be reduced by using a packed column filled with regular or irregular packing material in the crude argon blower 2 even if the theoretical plate number is 100 or more.
A small capacity 04 can be used and economical operation can be performed.

In the above embodiment, the liquid nitrogen from the reboiler 207 and the liquid nitrogen from the lower tower are used as the cooling source for the condenser 208 of the deoxidizing tower 206, but the liquid air drawn from the lower portion of the lower tower is used. Alternatively, a cold source such as liquid nitrogen may be introduced from outside the device. Also, as the heating source used for the reboiler 207, in addition to the nitrogen gas from the upper part of the lower tower, air or an air-like composition gas derived from the lower part of the lower tower, and a part of the raw material air before being introduced into the lower tower are used. It is possible to The liquid or gas used for these cooling source and heating source is appropriately selected according to the type, form, amount, etc. of the product set in this air liquefaction separation device, and is the lower part of the double rectification column 1. Tower,
Yield of oxygen and nitrogen other than high-purity argon by setting the optimum type of liquid or gas according to the rectification operating conditions of the upper tower, or by introducing these from a device other than the device concerned. It is possible to perform efficient operation without damaging the.

Further, in the above embodiment, the deoxidizing tower 20
Liquid nitrogen is introduced into the cooling source of the condenser 208 of No. 6 from the top of the lower tower. This liquid nitrogen is sufficient as a cooling liquid for condensation at the top of the deoxidizing column, but depending on the cooling temperature, the problem of solidification of argon in the deoxidizing column 206 occurs. That is, the solidification temperature of argon at atmospheric pressure is −189.2 ° C., and the evaporation temperature of nitrogen at atmospheric pressure is −195.8 ° C. Therefore, when liquid nitrogen is used on the cooling side of the deoxidizer, The pressure of liquid nitrogen must be adjusted to a temperature at which does not solidify. For this reason, when liquid nitrogen is used, the evaporated nitrogen gas becomes pressurized nitrogen, so it is possible to effectively use the pressure of the gas by introducing this nitrogen gas into the expansion turbine at a later stage. Is.

Regardless of which liquid or gas is used as the cooling source or the heating source, the temperature and flow rate of the cooling source introduced into the condenser 208 and the temperature and flow rate of the heating source introduced into the reboiler 207 are adjusted to remove the desorption. The reflux ratio in the acid tower 206 can be set to an optimum state, and thereby the oxygen content in the argon discharged from the upper part of the tower can be reduced to 1 ppm or less.

On the other hand, the crude argon extracted from the crude argon column 200 has a low pressure and must be pressurized in order to be introduced into the deoxidation column 206, but normally, as shown in this embodiment, the crude argon is If the crude argon extracted from the argon tower 200 is recovered in temperature by the crude argon heat exchanger 202, pressurized by the crude argon blower 204 to the required pressure, cooled again by the crude argon heat exchanger 202, and introduced into the deoxidizing tower. Good. However, in the case of heating up to normal temperature and increasing the pressure in this way, the compression pressure becomes a pressure to which the pressure loss in the crude argon heat exchanger 202 is added, and a heat exchanger is necessary and additional equipment is required. There is also a problem.

On the other hand, by using the low temperature compressor, the crude argon heat exchanger 202 for recovering the temperature of the crude argon is not required, and the compression power is reduced by the low temperature compression. There is also a decrease in power due to the loss of pressure in the heat exchanger and the reduction of the compression ratio.
Further, since the loss due to the temperature difference at the warm end of the heat exchanger is eliminated, it is possible to reduce the power cost. Even if the compression heat is generated, if the compression ratio is small as in the present embodiment, there is almost no problem.

Further, the purified argon discharged from the upper part of the deoxidizing tower 206 is sucked by a vacuum pump or a blower, and the deoxidizing tower is operated under a negative pressure to relatively increase the pressure on the crude argon side. The pressurization of argon can be omitted, and further, the heights of the crude argon column 200 and the deoxidizing column 206 are adjusted and a liquid column pressurizer is provided, and the crude argon is liquefied after being discharged by the gas. Then, the liquid head of liquid argon may be pressurized and introduced into the deoxidizing column 206.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the amount of oxygen in the argon sent from the deoxidizing column 206 to the high purity argon column 24 can be reduced to 1 ppm or less. When it is necessary to reduce the amount of oxygen, a desorption column 206 is provided with an adsorption column filled with an adsorbent that adsorbs oxygen, or a reaction column filled with a getter is provided in the deoxidation column 206. The amount of oxygen can be further reduced by treating the derived purified argon with these adsorption columns or reaction columns.

In this case, the amount of oxygen in the purified argon sent from the deoxidizing column to the high purity argon column may be several ppm instead of 1 ppm or less. This is because if the oxygen content is in this range, it is possible to perform sufficient deoxidation with an adsorbent or a getter, not with a deoxidation method by a catalytic reaction by continuously adding hydrogen. This is because it is sufficiently suitable for the purpose of the present invention to eliminate the deoxidation step by.

[0032]

As described above, according to the method and apparatus for separating high-purity argon of the present invention, the amount of oxygen in argon can be reduced to 1 by rectification operation without using hydrogen gas.
It can be reduced to ppm or less, which not only improves the safety but also simplifies the equipment, thereby reducing the equipment cost and the operating cost. In particular, since the pressure loss can be reduced by forming the deoxidizing column as a packed column, 1
Oxygen can be separated and removed more efficiently by setting the number of theoretical stages to 00 or more.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a high-purity argon separator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing an example of a conventional high-purity argon sampling apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a system diagram showing a conventional high-purity argon sampling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Double rectification tower 24 ... Highly pure argon tower 200 ... Crude argon tower 204 ... Crude argon blower 206 ... Deoxidizer tower 207 ... Reboiler 208 ... Condenser

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. An air liquefaction separation in which air is compressed, purified, cooled, liquefied and rectified in a double rectification column to collect oxygen and nitrogen, and high purity argon is collected in a crude argon column and a high purity argon column. In the method for separating high-purity argon according to, the crude argon derived from the crude argon column is introduced into a deoxidizing column having a large number of theoretical plates for rectification, and liquid crude argon is derived from the lower part of the column, This is introduced into the top of the crude argon column as a reflux liquid, and argon with a low oxygen content is introduced from the top of the column and introduced into a high purity argon column, and rectification is performed to collect high purity argon. A method for separating high-purity argon. 2. The method for separating high-purity argon according to claim 1, wherein the deoxidizing column has 70 or more theoretical plates. 3. The deoxidation column has a condenser at the top, and the cold source is oxygen-enriched liquefied air derived from the lower part of the lower part of the double rectification column or liquid nitrogen from the lower part or outside the system. The method for separating high-purity argon according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The deoxidation column has a condenser at the top and a reboiler at the bottom, and the heat source of the reboiler is a nitrogen gas derived from the upper part of the lower part of the double rectification column or a lower part of the lower part of the double rectification column. Derived air or air-like composition gas, nitrogen or air or air-like composition gas liquefied by heating the bottom liquid in the reboiler is introduced into the condenser at the top of the deoxidation column to vaporize and cool. The method for separating high-purity argon according to claim 1, wherein the argon is supplied. 5. The reflux ratio of the deoxidizing tower is adjusted by adjusting the amount of the fluid serving as the cold source of the condenser of the deoxidizing tower and the amount of the fluid serving as the heating source of the reboiler of the tower. The method for separating high-purity argon according to claim 4, wherein the method is adjusted. 6. The crude argon gas discharged from the crude argon column is heated, pressurized by a crude argon compressor, cooled again, and then introduced into the deoxidizing column. High-purity Argon Separation Method. 7. The method for separating high purity argon according to claim 1, wherein the crude argon gas derived from the crude argon column is pressurized at a low temperature and introduced into the deoxidizing column. 8. The method for separating high-purity argon according to claim 1, wherein the rectification in the deoxidizer is performed under a negative pressure. 9. Argon discharged from the top of the deoxidizing column is discharged as a liquid, or is liquefied after being discharged and pressurized by a liquid column, and then introduced into the high purity argon column. Item 1. The method for separating high purity argon according to Item 1. 10. The method for separating high-purity argon according to claim 1, wherein argon introduced from the top of the deoxidizing column is introduced into an adsorption column to adsorb and remove a very small amount of residual oxygen. 11. The method for separating high-purity argon according to claim 1, wherein the argon discharged from the top of the deoxidizing column is introduced into a reaction cylinder filled with a getter to remove oxygen remaining in a very small amount. . 12. A double rectification column for liquefying and rectifying compressed, purified, and cooled air into oxygen and nitrogen, and an argon feed gas derived from the middle part of the upper column of the double rectification column to purify it. In a separation apparatus for high-purity argon by air-liquefaction separation equipped with a crude argon column for collecting high-purity argon and a high-purity argon column, a reboiler is provided at the bottom, a condenser is provided at the top, and 70 or more theoretical plates are provided. A deoxidizing tower is provided, and a conduit for introducing crude argon derived from the top of the crude argon column to the lower part of the deoxidizing column, and liquid crude argon derived from the bottom of the column are introduced into the crude argon without a condenser. An apparatus for separating high-purity argon, which is provided with a pipe introduced into the top of the column and a pipe introduced into the high-purity argon column by discharging argon having a low oxygen content from the top of the deoxidizing column. 13. The high-purity argon separation device according to claim 12, wherein the deoxidizing column is a packed column filled with a packing material. 14. A heat exchanger for exchanging heat between a low temperature crude argon gas derived from the crude argon column and a heated crude argon gas described below, and a crude argon compressor for pressurizing the heated crude argon gas. The apparatus for separating high-purity argon according to claim 12, further comprising: a pipe line for introducing crude argon gas after pressure cooling into the deoxidizing column. 15. A vacuum pump or a blower for sucking argon gas discharged from the top of the deoxidizing tower and introducing the argon gas into the high purity argon tower.
High purity argon separator as described.