Energy-Saving Technologies in Industrial Neon Production Plants

A scheme of technological sequence of waste-free neon-helium mixture processing is presented. It is shown that an important standby for minimizing cost of cryogen supply of adsorbers is reduction of concentration of absorbed components. A phase separation process at T = 66-78 K was used to reduce the load of the absorbers for removing N-2 from the Ne-He mixture. A membrane module, in which the flow is enriched with helium due to extraction of 30% Ne, is proposed as a preliminary stage before the adsorbers for He extraction. Equations were derived to calculate the flow characteristics of the membrane module which ensure optimal operation of the fractionating unit for neon production. Individual modules of the plant for waste-free Ne-He mixture processing, in which energy-saving technical solutions are implemented, are shown.