90,000 Nm³/h (90 thousand) – Ningxia Coal Industry (Air Liquide)
2026-08-17
| Section | Description |
| Project Description | Ningxia Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Conversion Mega Project of Ningxia Coal Industry (China Energy). The 90,000 Nm³/h ASU series is integrated by Air Liquide. The installations are located in a region with a high background content of chemical impurities (SO₂, mercaptans, light hydrocarbons). |
| Installation performance | Total air flow: over 410,000 Nm³/h; production of high purity oxygen: 90,000 Nm³/h (≥ 99.9%), with the possibility of obtaining a by-product. |
| Products used | New generation X-type low Si/Al ratio molecular sieve and high strength activated alumina. |
| Technical solution | Optimization of flow distribution in an ultra-large diameter adsorber using CFD modeling. The design prevents fluidization and bypass breakdowns. The CO₂ mass transfer zone is narrowed as much as possible for efficient use of the dead volume of the adsorbent during a long operating cycle. |
| Technical advantages | Reduced operating costs (OPEX) by reducing the initial pressure drop and reducing the regeneration heat load by more than 10% compared to typical schemes. Exceptional chemical resistance to toxic impurities, preventing irreversible surface decontamination (“sintering”) during alternating heating. |
| Operation results | Minimizing the overall energy consumption of the installation; increased service life of the adsorbent without loss of activity in the aggressive atmosphere of the coal chemical complex. |
Adsorbents and catalysts for air separation units (ASU)
The pre-treatment unit (PCU) of the air separation unit is a critical component that determines the safe operation of the low-temperature distillation unit. Atmospheric air contains microimpurities of water, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons (acetylene, propane, etc.). When entering a cryogenic cold block with a temperature below –170 °C, moisture turns into ice, CO₂ freezes out in the form of solid carbon dioxide, which leads to clogging of the microchannels of plate-fin heat exchangers. The accumulation of acetylene and other light hydrocarbons in liquid oxygen creates a risk of explosion in the distillation column. In this regard, BPO predominantly uses temperature-oscillatory adsorption (TSA) technology using molecular sieves with high adsorption capacity and resistance to mechanical destruction.
New generation molecular sieves for ASU, due to their pronounced polar structure, demonstrate an increase in static adsorption capacity for traces of CO₂ and moisture by more than 50% compared to traditional 13X-APG. This ensures high adsorption efficiency and long service life in extreme industrial atmospheric conditions, allows you to significantly reduce the size of adsorbers and reduce the energy consumption of compressors.
