Energy-saving methods for nitrogen production units
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Ladies and gentlemen: All chemical plants have nitrogen production units; we use Atlas air compressors and Ruigi’s nitrogen generation systems. The nitrogen flow rate is 260 m³ per hour. Currently, 400 m³ is actually used per day. However, the air compressor unit operates almost continuously, as the required inlet pressure for the nitrogen generator is 0.8 MPa, and its gas consumption is 14 m³/min (while the air compressor’s output is 20 m³/min). As is well known, once the nitrogen generator is turned on, the two adsorption towers begin to operate continuously. Although the flow rate of nitrogen is quite low, the unit continues with the nitrogen production process and keeps working non-stop. This causes the air compressor to keep loading and unloading, leading to energy waste and frequent failures in the compressor’s loading/unloading mechanism. Do anyone have any good suggestions?
Could you briefly introduce your production process and some of the process parameters?
Could you provide detailed parameters for nitrogen generators?
Nitrogen production equipment requires an air compressor as one of its gas supply sources. No matter how low the flow rate of nitrogen is, the air compressor must be turned on; without a gas supply, there can be no nitrogen Atlas air compressors are quite good compressors in the nitrogen production industry.
You can turn to Ruiqi to solve this problem; the headquarters phone number is 021-51361111
Ruiqi can be equipped with automatic control devices that enable the reduction of the compressor’s operation at lower nitrogen consumption levels
A nitrogen buffer tank with a larger capacity can be added to ensure a steady supply of nitrogen for a certain period of time; this way, it’s possible to stop the operation of the air compressor and the nitrogen generator, and that isn’t difficult at all.
Reply to 7# jovew: I agree with what was said above; just implement pressure control.
This post was last edited by cdbaian on 2011-2-14 at 14:25. The method described on page 7 is effective; it can increase the interval between startups and shutdowns of the air compressor. It is also possible to add a large nitrogen storage tank at the backend, allowing the air compressor and the nitrogen generator to be in standby mode simultaneously, so that the nitrogen generator does not have to operate continuously ； Alternatively, an additional line can be added behind the air compressor to lead to other air-consuming points or for venting, so that the air compressor can keep running without having to shut down frequently. If it’s just left idle, it’s very inefficient in terms of energy use
There are many methods; four of them are introduced here: 1. It involves a higher cost, but by matching an inverter to the air compressor, energy savings can be achieved with excellent results； 2. Use pressure control; add a compressor and a larger storage tank later (the specific configuration needs to be determined through process calculations). Also, introduce a standby mode for the pressure swing adsorption unit. When it is in standby mode, the air compressor will automatically shut down, and it will remain in standby mode after being shut down for an extended period of time. This approach is rather complicated ； 3. It merely involves adding pressure control along with a pressure swing adsorption standby scheme; the downside of this approach is that it can lead to frequent startups and shutdowns if there are large fluctuations in the backend system ； 4. If your company has areas that require compressed air, simply route a line to the compressed air pipeline network. There are many manufacturers that can do these. I won’t recommend it, to avoid the appearance of advertising.