An air separation plant (ASP) separates atmospheric air into its primary components, typically nitrogen and oxygen, and sometimes also argon and other rare inert gases.
The most common method of air separation is low-temperature distillation. This method is used for the separation of high-purity oxygen, nitrogen, and argon in related industries. Also the only viable sources of the rare gases, like neon, krypton, and xenon comes from the distillation of air by means of at least two distillation columns.