Nitrous oxide in air separation plants.

Today nitrous oxide forms a quite new problem for air separation plants that is enlarging within the last years. This excess nitrous oxide sometimes leads to problems in air separation plants, i.e. plugging of tubes and heat exchangers, accumulation in the columns, increased contamination of products, especially of rare gases. Therefore, nitrous oxide and its behaviour in air separation plants is becoming an important and interesting field of investigations. Special attention should be focused on material data (solubility, vapour pressure etc.), adsorption, and catalytic destruction of nitrous oxide.