Economic Aspects of Krypton and Xenon Production Technology

The aim of the research was to analyze the stages of krypton and xenon production from air and investigate new promising sources of raw inert gases. Technical and economic studies of plants similar to Chrom-3 designed for the enrichment of the source krypton-xenon concentrated mixture were carried out. When examining technologies for obtaining more than one gas product, it is essential to estimate the prime cost of each produced gas. Two methods for distinguishing the costs for the production of krypton and xenon from the krypton-xenon mixture were considered. The first method is based on estimating the actual energy consumption in accordance with distribution coefficients. In this case, the proportions of enrichment costs for Kr and Xe are shown as functions of their concentrations, extraction degree and the characteristics of gas products at the plant outlet. The second method, which uses the results of analyzing market prices for end products, can be applied during economic decision-making processes to justify the price for a krypton-xenon mixture or assess the feasibility of introducing a certain type of enrichment technology for a Kr-Xe concentrated mixture when developing new raw materials sources.