Process for utilizing of multi stage compressors intercoolers blowdown as a coolant for process air

Abstract

A system and a method for processing air prior to separating components of the air are disclosed. The system comprises an air cooler, one or more compression stages operated in series, and one or more intercoolers installed between two adjacent compression stages. A blowdown storage tank is configured to collect water blowdown from one or more intercoolers and provide cooling medium to the air cooler. Atmospheric air is first sprayed by the water blowdown in the air cooler to form a cooled air stream. The cooled air stream is subsequently compressed in the one or more compression stages and cooled by the intercoolers between two adjacent compression stages. The water blowdown from one or more of the intercoolers is collected and recycled as the cooling medium to cool the atmospheric air before it enters the first compression stage.

1 . A method of processing air prior to separating components of the air, the method comprising:
 cooling the air with a cooling medium to produce cooled air;   compressing the cooled air in a compressor unit that comprises one or more compression stages and one or more intercoolers to produce compressed process air; and   collecting water blowdown from the one or more intercoolers, wherein the water blowdown is used as the cooling medium.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the compressor unit is a multi-stage compressor unit. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the multi-stage compressor unit comprises at least two compression stages and at least one intercooler for cooling compressed air from the at least two compression stages. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the multi-stage compressor unit comprises at least three compression stages in series and at least two intercoolers for cooling compressed air from the at least three compression stages. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, before the cooling, measuring humidity and temperature of the air, wherein the step of cooling the air with a cooling medium is performed in response to the humidity of the air greater than a predetermined humidity value and temperature of the air greater than a predetermined temperature value. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the predetermined humidity value include a humidity ratio of 8.42×10−3. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the predetermined temperature value is about 15° C. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the water blowdown is used as the cooling medium at an air to cooling medium ratio of 37:1 to 1000:1. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the water blowdown directly contacts the air in the cooling step. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein cooling the air with a cooling medium is performed by spraying the air with the cooling medium and mixing the air with the cooling medium. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the water blowdown is collected and stored in a storage tank. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cooled air has a temperature in a range of 15 to 30° C. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cooled air has a density in a range of 1.05×10−3 to 1.25×10−3 g/cm3. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the intercooler includes a heat exchanger. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  claim, wherein the cooling medium has a temperature of 10 to 35° C. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the compressed process air is at a pressure of 0.54 to 0.59 MPa. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the compressed process air is gaseous. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the compressed process air is sent to a cryogenic separation unit and separated into one or more of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon. 
     
     
         19 . A method of processing air prior to separating components of the air, the method comprising:
 measuring humidity and temperature of the air;   if humidity of the air exceeds a predetermined humidity value and temperature of the air exceeds a predetermined temperature value, cooling the air with a cooling medium to produce cooled air;   compressing the cooled air in a multi-stage compressor unit, the multi-stage compressor unit comprising at least three compression stages and at least two intercoolers; and   collecting water blowdown from at least one of the intercoolers of the multi-stage compressor unit, wherein the water blowdown is used as the cooling medium.