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Cryogenic Air Separation Unit (ASU)

Separation

A simplified cryogenic air separation unit (ASU) for the production of oxygen and nitrogen. Purified air is cooled and separated in a high-pressure distillation column, after which liquid streams are expanded to a low-pressure column for further separation. The two-column process exploits the different volatilities of nitrogen and oxygen to produce nitrogen-rich and oxygen-rich product streams. The example illustrates cryogenic distillation, pressure coupling and multicolumn separation.

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Cryogenic Air Separation Unit (ASU) process diagram