Gas purification and liquefaction units [ Return towards Engineering & Construction ]

Air Liquide designs, owns and operates each gas purification technologies and therefore can optimize overall processing unit design.

Lurgi, pioneer in gasification technologies, expanded the know-how of Air Liquide in this area. A long-standing leader in supplying industrial gases, the Group is now also present at all points of the gasification to chemicals chain.

Hydrogen Purification by PSA

Air Liquide E&C has built and put on stream over 90 Hydrogen PSA’s (up to 130 000 Nm³/h of pure hydrogen), for chemicals, petrochemical and refining markets.

Air Liquide standards on vessel and valve skids materials and testing enable high lifetime and safe operation.

Medal membranes

Based on DuPont's polymeric fiber spinning technology, Air Liquide/ MEDAL^TM has developed and commercialized the most advanced gas separation membranes available to industry. MEDAL^TM manufactures hollow fiber membranes for air separation/nitrogen generation, carbon dioxide removal and hydrogen purification.

Further information

CO₂ Compression and Purification Units

CO₂ Compression and Purification Units are being developed to liquefy and capture CO₂ by cryogenic rectification and/or liquefaction of CO₂ “rich” streams coming from large localized CO₂ emission sources. They are large tailor-made plants designed for customers’ specific needs for carbon capture and storage: type of emission source, size, CO₂ specification, associated with transport and storage constraints

CO cold box

Cryogenic purification is the best available technology to obtain pure CO from syngas coming either from a Steam Methane Reformer or a gasification unit. Air Liquide has delivered more than 70 units worldwide and is the leader in terms of production capacities.

Nitrogen washing units

Liquid nitrogen wash is mainly used to purify and prepare ammonia synthesis gas within fertilizer plants. It removes residual impurities such as CO, Ar and CH₄ from a crude hydrogen stream. Air Liquide has its own proprietary technology and is delivering N₂ washing units for more than 40 years.

Syngas Purification Units

Syngas Purification Units consist in a combination of a E&C Lurgi patented Rectisol^® unit for the removal of acid gases and a E&C Cryogenics patented cold box unit for purification and separation. It is one of the best available technology to purify syngas streams.

Syngas Purification Units brochure.pdf

Helium liquefactors

Air Liquide has developed its own patented process to purify and liquefy helium coming from industrial or natural sources. The Group has delivered several units in the past years, among which one of the biggest in the world, in Qatar (20 millions m³ of helium).