How to Generate Nitrogen Gas

Transcription

1 How to Generate Nitrogen Gas

2 who we are Founded in 2017 by Alan Hopkins and Chris Styles 14 years experience in compressed air system design and nitrogen gas generation First company in Ontario dedicated to modular, premium efficiency nitrogen gas generation systems as a core business Accepted by Haltech Regional Innovation Centre in 2017 Our services include: turn key support design engineering, supply, installation and maintenance compressed air & nitrogen auditing Save on Energy retrofit submissions

3 agenda Why nitrogen generation? How to generate nitrogen gas PSA technology Applications & purity Price of purity Q & A

4 purchasing nitrogen purchasing gas can have many problems: expensive unreliable delivery varying costs waste evaporation of liquid waste unusable balance or cylinder restrictive & long term contracts (5 years) numerous surcharges fuel, delivery & handling shortage of drivers no end in site

5 purchasing nitrogen nitrogen can be purchased in various forms: bottled gas (most expensive) $3.00 $15.00 per M3 liquid dewar (more expensive) $1.50 $3.00 per M3 liquid bulk tank (expensive) $0.40 $1.50 per M3 * Typical range in cost of various types of conventional sources of gas supply in the Canadian marketplace

6 solution nitrogen generation rapid return on investment low operating cost (energy & maintenance) generate nitrogen at desired purity environmentally friendly easy to install & maintain no price increases compact design safe & reliable fits any application

7 cost comparison - delivered N2 vs. N2 generation $18.40 Delivered Supply ($/M3) $0.14 Nitrogen Generation ($/M3) $16.40 $14.40 $0.12 $12.40 $10.40 $8.40 $6.40 $4.40 $2.40 $0.10 $0.08 $0.06 $0.04 $0.40 Delivered Supply $0.02 Nitrogen Generation Bulk Liquid Liquid Dewar Cylinder 95% - 97% 99.5%

8 how it works N 2 N 2 N 2 O 2 ambient air is made up of: 78% nitrogen 21% oxygen 1% argon, hydrogen, trace gases smaller oxygen molecules are trapped as compressed ambient air passes through the bed of carbon molecular sieve (CMS) O 2 N 2 = 3.16 Å (Angstrom) O 2 = 2.96 Å (Angstrom)

9 PSA nitrogen generator operation a small portion of nitrogen is used to purge the regenerating bed high purity nitrogen exits the generator to the buffer vessel the purge air travels through the regenerating bed directing the evacuating oxygen molecules towards the exhaust silencer the compressed air moves through the on-line bed of carbon molecular sieve (CMS) where oxygen is removed compressed air enters the on-line column from the pre treatment dryer

10 PSA nitrogen generator operation pressure equalization saves compressed air at each column switchover resulting in higher Unit Flow Rates improved air/n2 ratios extended CMS Life at the end of the adsorption /regeneration cycle the upper and lower pressure equalization valves (PEV) open allowing pressure from on-line column to off-line column

11 technology - modular N2 generators efficient design saves floorspace easily adaptable and expandable reduced bank operation and air flow during low demand periods redundancy built in to multibank systems CRN certified as a complete unit integrated purification

12 multi-bank design simply add generators as your application requirements grow multibank installations create system redundancy offline banks will enter ecomode during low demand periods

13 energy savings ecomode energy saving controls this unique control feature monitors outlet pressure to reduce energy consumption during no flow saves valuable compressed air reduces wear on supply air compressor and N 2 generator ensures a continuous uninterrupted nitrogen supply while minimizing power consumption automatic start / stop function

14 technology - twin tower N2 generators heavy and difficult to install large footprint & difficult to service regeneration of entire bed during low demand periods unable to adapt to increasing purity and flow variations large, wide pressure vessels lead to air channeling through the CMS bed resulting in low optimization and low efficiency

15 nitrogen purity by application food (MAP) laser fire prevention electronics plastics chemical medical beverage imaging (bottling) pharmaceutical

16 food & beverage (MAP) application compressed nitrogen is injected into beverage or food package displacing oxygen which maximizes product shelf life coffee & tea nuts, chips, trail mix, snacks cheese juices & edible oils beer & wine N2 purity range: % purity

17 electronics (wave & selective soldering) electronics nitrogen is introduced into soldering area to help reduce oxidation / dross and improve process efficiency reduction in dross & oxides reduction of expensive solder wastage less cleaning & maintenance improved wettability & surface tension better component / PCB joints reduced flux consumption & acidity reduced defects lower cost solder alloys less rework N2 purity range: 30 ppm (selective) 1% (open wave)

18 laser cutting assist gas application compressed nitrogen is injected into laser nozzle to displace oxygen. This helps reduce laser burn and improves cut finish laser cutting metal with varied thickness high pressure nitrogen required ( psig) often booster compressor is necessary N2 purity range: 99% %

19 chemical & pharmaceutical application compressed nitrogen is injected into piping and tanks for chemical and pharmaceutical product transfer and storage paints, solvents & adhesives pharmaceutical powders, liquids & finished products standard pressures (100 psi g & below) N2 purity range: 95% - 99%

20 heat treatment of metals application nitrogen is injected into heat treating equipment to ensure a quality finish and uncompromising product quality furnace atmospheres annealing wire production extrusions aluminum de-gassing autoclaves N2 purity range: 98% %

21 fire prevention application compressed nitrogen is introduced to reduce oxygen content and eliminate combustion critical environments such as server and document storage rooms alternative fuel production firing furnaces N2 purity range: 95% - 98% (low to mid purity)

22 price of purity Scenario: A wine bottling facility is using 3,000 scfh of nitrogen gas at 80 psi and considering nitrogen generation technology. What is the cost impact of producing nitrogen gas various purities? 95% 97% 99% 99.9% 99.99% %

23 cfm price of purity - compressed air 400 Compressed air required to generate nitrogen gas at varying purities Purity 95% 97% 99% 99.9% 99.99% %

24 Annual kwh price of purity - energy 700, ,000 Energy required to generate nitrogen gas at varying purities (24/7 operation) 593, , , , , , , , , , ,000 0 Purity 95% 97% 99% 99.9% 99.99% %

25 Annual Cost price of purity - cost $100, $90, Cost to generate nitrogen gas at varying purities ($0.15/kWh) $89,070 $80, $70, $60,254 $60, $50, $40, $30, $26,197 $28,817 $35,366 $44,535 $20, $10, $- Purity 95% 97% 99% 99.9% 99.99% %

26 summary Converting to nitrogen generation rapid ROI low operating costs safe & reliable environmentally friendly Technology easy to install and maintain energy savings during periods of low load (ecomode) expandable and adaptable system redundancy integrated purification Air : N2 Purity produce nitrogen at the minimum purity the application requires modular technology can adapt to future increasing purity requirements

27 THANK YOU! Questions? Feedback? Comments?