Description of the nitrogen generator

Background  of the nitrogen generator

1. Field of the nitrogen generator

The present invention is directed to nitrogen generators, and in particular, portable cryogenic nitrogen generators.

2. Description of the Related Art

Inert gases are widely used in many industrial processes. For example, nitrogen gas is commonly used in conjunction with operation of a drilling rig for oil, gas, or geothermal wells, as well as for post drilling operations. In particular, nitrogen is injected into the down-hole region during a drilling operation, to remove drill cuttings

Summary of the nitrogen generator

One drawback of non-cryogenic devices is that efficiency drops off rapidly as purity increases. For example, it has been found that portable membrane separation units can provide 95% pure nitrogen gas at a flow rate sufficient for drilling operations.

One aspect of the present invention includes the realization that PSA oxygen generator can be made sufficiently portable to provide practicable sources of higher purity nitrogen gas for drilling operations.

Another aspect of the present invention includes the realization that standard sized containers can be used to provide a protective housing during transportation and operation of the cryogenic nitrogen generator for coal mine. By using standard size containers to form a housing for a cryogenic nitrogen generator, such as a cryogenic distillation and associated heat exchanger unit, the device can be shipped to a drilling site and efficiently and quickly assembled into an operative state. For example, a cryogenic nitrogen generator can include an air preparation unit and a cryogenic distillation and associated heat exchanger unit. The air preparation unit typically will include an absorption device, such as a Pressure Swing Absorption ( PSA nitrogen generator) or a Temperature Swing Absorption (TSA) unit. Optionally, the air preparation unit can also include one or a plurality of air compressor units. The air preparation unit can be configured to fit within a standard ISO container resting horizontally. However, a cryogenic distillation unit is quite tall. For example, typical cryogenic distillation units, also known as "cold boxes," can be as tall as 30 feet or more to produce Nitrogen gas of better than 99% purity. Thus, the distillation unit can be separately housed in a standard ISO container.

Author SIG

PSA nitrogen generator

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