On-site adsorptive oxygen generators and helium purification systems: Design, optimization and scale-up

氧气解决方案公司(OSI)是一家总部位于埃德蒙顿的公司，由Benchmark International所有，生产用于从空气中产生氧气(100至7000 SCFH O2)的真空摆动吸附(VSA)系统，用于水产养殖、采矿、废水处理等。该联盟项目的主要目标是：1.提高性能和扩大氧气发电机组的范围，以期在这个市场上保持竞争力。2.开发基于吸附的氦提纯工艺，目标是最近在艾伯塔省和萨斯喀彻温省发现的氦气井，这是一个有前景的多样化市场。该项目将通过1.工艺建模2.开发先进的工艺配置；3.基于计算机的工艺配置的优化；4.探索先进的吸附剂和5.利用计算流体力学设计新的气体分配系统来实现这些目标。所开发的流程将在由现场视察专门为该项目建造的全仪器化试验台上进行测试。来自试验台的反馈将允许改进工艺模型，并将能够确定适合大型装置的运行条件。最后，该项目中设计的先进配置和气体分布器将被放大并在商业装置上实施。该项目将培训7名高素质的人员，他们将在建模和实验方面获得宝贵的经验。他们还将从与OSI工程师的密切合作中受益。该项目的成功将使OSI成为氧气发生器和氦提纯技术供应的世界领先者，从而使加拿大受益，并通过增加出口和创造就业机会来实现经济增长。

Oxygen Solutions Inc (OSI) is an Edmonton-based company, owned by Benchmark International, manufacturing vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) systems for oxygen(O2) generation (100 to 7000 SCFH O2) from air for aquaculture, mining, waste water treatment, etc. The VSA systems employ a molecular sieve and a unique operating configuration (called cycle) in order to concentrate O2 from air. The key objectives of this Alliance project are: 1.Improve the performance and expand the range of O2 generation units with an aim to remain competitive in this market. 2. Develop adsorption-based processes for Helium purification, targeted at Helium wells recently identified in Alberta and Saskatchewan, as a promising market to diversify.This project will aim to achieve these goals through 1. Process modelling 2. Development of advanced process configurations; 3. Computer-based optimization of process configurations; 4. Exploration of advanced sorbents and 5; Design of novel gas distribution systems through the use of computational fluid dynamics. The processes developed will be tested in a fully instrumented test-bed that will be built by OSI specifically for this project. The feedback from the testbed will allow the improvement of process models and will enable the identification of suitable operating conditions for large-scale units. Finally the advanced configurations and gas distributors designed in this project will be scaled-up and implemented on commercial units. The project will train 7 Highly qualified personnel who will gain valuable experience in modeling and experimentation. They will also benefit from working closely with Engineers at OSI. The success of this project will benefit Canada by positioning OSI as a world leader in the supply of O2 generators and helium purification technology and result in economic growth through increased exports and creation of employment opportunities.