ZENG Haitao, XU Feng, YU Zhipeng, et al. Energy Efficiency Optimization of the Cryogenic Air Separation Process for Electronic-Grade Ultra Pure Nitrogen[J]. Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 2026, 60(7): 97-108.
DOI:
ZENG Haitao, XU Feng, YU Zhipeng, et al. Energy Efficiency Optimization of the Cryogenic Air Separation Process for Electronic-Grade Ultra Pure Nitrogen[J]. Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 2026, 60(7): 97-108.DOI: 10.7652/xjtuxb202607010.
Energy Efficiency Optimization of the Cryogenic Air Separation Process for Electronic-Grade Ultra Pure Nitrogen
To meet the increasing demand for electronic-grade ultra-pure nitrogen and to minimize energy consumption during production of such nitrogen via cryogenic air separation,cryogenic air separation process models were developed using Aspen Plus,and a multi-obj ective optimization analysis was conducted.Firstly,the simulation results of two nitrogen production processes were compared under equivalent nitrogen product specifications.Secondly,based on the superior performance of the dual-column process with gas extraction from the low-pressure column(LPC),the sensitivity of specific power consumption to four design variables—separation pressure of the high-pressure column(HPC),separation pressure of the LPC,and the number of theoretical stages in both columns—was investigated using the Box-Behnken response surface methodology. The interactions between these design variables and their effects on specific power consumption were analyzed,and predictive models relating the design variables to four response variables were established.An optimal parameter combination was subsequently identified,followed by a comparative exergy analysis between the optimized and initial conditions.The results indicate that the predictive models exhibit high accuracy,with a relative error of only 0.02% between the predicted and simulated values under optimal parameter combination. Most of the exergy destruction comes from the air compression unit,distillation unit,and main heat exchanger. After optimization,nitrogen production increased by 7.30%,specific power consumption decreased by 3.74%,and exergy destruction per unit of nitrogen production was reduced by 6.33%.Consequently,the system exergy efficiency was enhanced from 45.13% to 47.05%.
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