Separation of gas mixtures by partial condensation

TLDR: In this article, the authors present a process for the separation of a gas mixture at superatmospheric pressure by partial condensation at cryogenic temperatures, where the separated condensate and uncondensed vapor are passed back as returning streams in indirect countercurrent heat exchange relationship with the incoming feed mixture.

Abstract: In a process for the separation of a gas mixture at superatmospheric pressure by partial condensation at cryogenic temperatures and wherein the separated condensate and uncondensed vapor are passed back as returning streams in indirect countercurrent heat exchange relationship with the incoming feed mixture, the power required for providing the refrigeration and energy requirements for the separation are reduced by supplying said requirements by means of a heat pump alone or together with at least one separate refrigeration cycle and/or some Joule-Thomson expansion of the condensate, and in the heat pump a compressed multi-component gaseous medium is condensed by heat exchange with said returning streams over a first temperature range and then expanded by Joule-Thomson expansion, and the expanded condensate is evaporated by heat exchange with the feed gas mixture over a lower temperature range than said first temperature range, and recycled for recompression.