Pressure-swing adsorption process scaling

Warmuzinski, K. and M. Tanczyk, Multicomponent pressure swing adsorption. Part I. Modeling of large-scale PSA installations, Chem. Eng. Process., 36, 89-99, 1997. 

Pressure-swing adsorption. Although adsorption is most often used as a purification process to remove small amounts of material, a number of applications involve separations of gas mixtures with moderate to high concentration of adsorbates. These are called bulk separations, and they often use different operating procedures than for gas purification. Pressure-swing adsorption (PSA) is a bulk separation process that is used for small-scale air separation plants and for concentration of hydrogen in process streams. 

In the development of the steam-reforming route to ammonia, for many years there has been a desire to eliminate the steam-reforming furnace for reasons of capital cost, efficiency, and reliability. This technology has now been demonstrated on a commercial scale by ICI with the LCA process. With this process the plant is simplified by the use of a Gas Heated Reformer (GHR) in which the primary reformer receives heat directly from the process gas leaving the secondary reformer. This compact pressurized reformer eliminates the massive furnace structure and the high-pressure steam system of a conventional plant. A pressure swing adsorption... 

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