Review of Oxygen Separation and Enrichment Technology

Oxy-combustion has established itself as one of the most attractive combustion technologies. Recycled fuel and flue gases are combusted with oxygen-enriched air resulting in a flue gas primarily composed ofCO2 and water vapor. Oxy-combustion can offer benefits such as increased efficiency reduced emissions improved temperature stability and heat transfer increased productivity improved ignition characteristics and lower risk. Distillation adsorption and membranes are three technologies that have been developed to respond to high concentrations of oxygen to improve combustion efficiency. A single pass through the membranes can increase the concentration of oxygen in the air by 35% and a double pass through the membranes can increase the concentration by 50%. The increased oxygen flow slightly improves the combustion process and slightly increases the maximum temperature inside the reaction zone.