Neon-Helium Mixture Production Units
Unlike helium, Earth atmosphere is the only source for neon production. Total quantity of helium is estimated at approximately ≈60×109 metric tons.
Neon is a byproduct of oxygen and nitrogen production at large air separation units, or ASUs. Several basic steps comprise technological process of Neon production:
- primary concentrate containing 40…60% Ne-He mix is acquired in separators built into the upper column of an ASU
- enrichment of the primary concentrate and acquisition of neon-helium mixture in standalone reflux condensers
- catalytic hydrogenation at final-stage processing facilities removes hydrogen from the mixture
- purification of concentrate removing residual high-boiling impurities
- separation of Ne-He mixture and acquisition of pure neon
Moving low-concentrate mixture to distant centralized processing facilities is costly and inefficient. In order to boost concentrate enrichment Russian and Ukrainian manufacturers successfully utilize reflux condensers made by Iceblick, Ltd. capable of decreasing nitrogen contents to about 2÷8%, and significantly reducing transportation cost.
Iceblick, Ltd. maintains final purification adsorption units constructed in-house and operating on location at several centralized neon-helium mixture processing facilities. Minimal impurities content after purification in adsorbers enables the product to be routed directly to the rectification stage of the pure neon production unit operating at temperatures around 30 K. As a result of the processing, drossy stream is produced in addition to pure neon, consisting mainly of helium (about 80%) and residual neon. Several adsorption units have been designed for the express purpose of post-processing the drossy output, capable of pure(99.999%) grade-A helium production due to neon adsorption at temperatures near 66K. In addition to helium, our system also outputs neon-helium mixture containing about 85% neon. This valuable product is then re-routed back into the column for high purity neon production.
