Pressure swing adsorption applications

Competing Processes Membranes are not the only way to make these separations, neither are they generally the dominant way. In many applications, membranes compete with cryogenic distillation and with pressure-swing adsorption in others, physical absorption is the dominant method. The growth rate for membrane capacity is higher than that for any competitor. 

Cyclic adsorption processes such as parametric pumping, cycling zone adsorption and heatless adsorption have received much attention both theoretically and experimentally in the past several years (3j. Skarstrom (4J has reviewed applications of heatless adsorption (synonymous with pressure swing adsorption) to air drying, hydrogen purification and air fractionation. 

The objectives of the present study were to decrease the basic complexity of PSA and to increase its productivity - the amount of product produced per unit time per unit weight of adsorbent. Success in both of these areas should further enhance process economics and increase the potential application for pressure-swing-adsorption-based processes. 

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) processes are widely applied industrially for gas separations. Applications are numerous and include hydrogen and helium recovery and purification, air drying, the production of oxygen from air, and the separation of normal paraffins from isoparaffins. 

The vast majority of possible applications of reactive adsorption aim at the improvement of the product yield by shifting the equilibrium in the required direction. In contrast to the nonreactive adsorption techniques, such as simulated moving beds and pressure-swing adsorption, and despite its great potential [for example, a 12-fold higher conversion per pass in oxidative methane coupling (67)], the... 

Dr. T.L Thomas participated in the earliest research on adsorption/desorption kinetics, air separation, pressure swing adsorption systems, liquid phase separations, and ion exchange applications. He directed many of the application studies between 1955 and 1959. 

For applications in which N2 is not needed, such as H2 or alcohol production, pressure swing adsorption is used. The process flow diagram is shown in Fig. 7.14. 

Specific properties of molecular sieves are the reason for which these materials found application as adsorbents for separation of gas mixtures, especially air [2]. In fact, one can say that carbon-based molecular sieves played fundamental role in commercialisation of the pressure swing adsorption process (PSA) used for separation of nitrogen from air [3]. 

We have synthesized carbon materials from hydrolysis lignin and tested them in the separation of gaseous mixtures He-CR. The a orbents show a helium concentration capacity of up to He no 95-99 %vol. They appear proved to be promising for application in the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants for Hj h He concentration. 

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