VERFAHREN UND VORRICHTUNG ZUR ERZEUGUNG VON STICKSTOFF

A process for adsorptive separation of gas mixtures which in addition to nitrogen contain at least oxygen, by the cyclic charging and discharging of carbon-containing molecular sifted coke, in which the pressurized gas mixture is fed to an adsorber and in which the procedure is as follows: a) production of a pressure balance between the previously-decompressed adsorber and another pressure vessel; b) constant build-up of pressure in the adsorber to a final pressure by passing the pre-compressed gas mixture through it (production stage) and c) desorption of the adsorbed gas components by decompressing the adsorber. The product gas production takes place in only one adsorber. The product gas is then fed to a product gas store. The pressure balancing in the adsorber is effected with product gas from the product gas storage. The subsequent pressure build-up in the adsorber takes place in two stages, namely a first relatively rapid pressure-build-up stage to an intermediate pressure and a second relatively slow stage in which the pressure builds up to its final value.