At present, industrial oxygen production methods mainly include cryogenic air separation oxygen generation, pressure swing adsorption oxygen production and membrane separation oxygen production. Pressure swing adsorption is an advanced gas separation technology standing at an irreplaceable position in the field of onsite gas supply in the world today. Main features of pressure swing adsorption oxygen plant are as follows:
1. simple process, compact structure and low investment
2. high degree of automation- full-automatic operation for 24 hours and remote monitoring through communication interface
3. short start-up and shout-down time (usually can produce qualified oxygen within 0.5h)
4. lower cost than that of the cryogenic oxygen production technology (unit power consumption of 0.33-0.35 kWh/m3 for 100% pure oxygen)
5. operating at normal temperature and low pressure with prior safety
6. flexible load adjustment (The pressure swing adsorption oxygen plant can adjust the load according to the changes of production volume. A single plant can achieve 50%-100% load regulation)
Based on the above characteristics of PSA oxygen generation technology, it is generally believed that cryogenic oxygen production technology has certain advantages in large-scale and high-purity oxygen conditions, and pressure swing adsorption oxygen generation technology, with low cost, easy operation, flexible load adjustment and other outstanding features, is more advantageous in variable and low-purity oxygen use.