Inert gas purifier for bulk nitrogen without the use of hydrogen or other reducing gases

Claim 1

A process for the purification of a bulk inert gas stream, wherein the bulk inert gas stream contains oxygen, carbon monoxide and hydrogen impurities and wherein the time-averaged molar concentration of the carbon monoxide plus hydrogen impurities exceeds two times the molar concentration of the oxygen impurity, comprising the sequential steps of: (a) reacting the oxygen present in the bulk inert gas stream with the carbon monoxide and hydrogen present in the bulk inert gas stream in the presence of a reduced copper containing catalyst at a temperature from 150° to 250° C. to form carbon dioxide and water; (b) reacting the unreacted carbon monoxide and hydrogen from step (a) with a copper oxide containing catalyst at a temperature from 150° to 250° C. to form carbon dioxide and water and thereby reducing a portion of the copper oxide in the copper oxide containing catalyst to form reduced copper; and (c) removing water and carbon dioxide by adsorbing the water and carbon dioxide onto an adsorbent.