Oxygen applications

Six major petrochemical intermediates are presently manufactured with high purity oxygen. Table 1 shows the major petrochemicals produced 

Enrichment of air with pure oxygen is sometimes used to achieve a production increase or alleviate operating problems in an existing unit. Theoretically, this is possible with any air-based oxidation as long as flammability limitations are observed. However, enrichment has only been practiced commercially with certain ones and these are noted in Table 1. 

In this chapter, each oxygen-based process is described in detail and compared to the older air-based technology to illustrate the advantages of oxygen. This may suggest air-based oxidations which will switch to high-purity oxygen in the future. 

Against these benefits are the cost of oxygen and safety issues related to higher concentrations of oxygen in the presence of hydrocarbons. Each process must be evaluated in detail to determine if the cost of pure oxygen and the measures necessary to overcome the flammability issues are justified. 

There are some general rules which can be used to assess whether pure oxygen will be economically justified. 

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Berner, R.A. (1987) Models for carbon and sulfur cycles and atmospheric oxygen application to paleozoic geologic history. Am. J. Sci., 287, 177-196. 

In other oxygen applications, metal fabrication involves cutting and welding with an oxygen-acetylene torch. Chemical manufacture use includes the formation of ethylene oxide, acrylic acid, propylene oxide, and vinyl acetate. Miscellaneous uses include sewage treatment, aeration, pulp and paper bleaching, and missile fuel. 

The specific rate of oxygen transfer per unit of liquid membrane area seems to be quite reasonable. However, methods to form and utilize effectively much smaller diameter liquid membranes, perhaps similar to those used in other liquid membrane applications, would be required to obtain enough membrane area per unit blood volume for a practical blood oxygenator. The stability of the liquid membranes does not seem to be a major problem however, more definitive liquid membrane stability information would be required before the blood oxygenator application. 

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