Air separation method and apparatus

摘要

In a method and apparatus for separating air a distillation zone is employed to separate air into an oxygen-enriched liquid fraction and a nitrogen-enriched vapor-fraction. A first stream is taken from the nitrogen-enriched vapor fraction and is mixed with a stream taken from the oxygen-enriched liquid fraction. At least part of the resultant mixture is employed to perform a refrigeration duty, for example the condensation of nitrogen-enriched vapor to provide reflux for the distillation column.