Shorter Communication: Effect of pressure equalization on power requirements in PSA systems

The principle objectives of the pressure equalization step in a pressure swing adsorption system are to conserve energy, to enhance recovery of the weakly adsorbed species and to smooth the flow of the strong adsorptive. Over time, complex processes have been developed to take advantage of this step...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical engineering science 2002-04, Vol.57 (8), p.1475-1478
Main Author: Warmuzinski, K
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The principle objectives of the pressure equalization step in a pressure swing adsorption system are to conserve energy, to enhance recovery of the weakly adsorbed species and to smooth the flow of the strong adsorptive. Over time, complex processes have been developed to take advantage of this step. However, while much data makes it possible to quantitatively assess the effect of this step upon fractional recovery of the light product, no attempt seems to have been made to provide a general measure of the amount of energy that can be saved by introducing this step. This paper proposes a rule of thumb measure of energy gains based on certain easily definable operating and geometric parameters for a given system. These are: the adsorption and purge pressures, pressure prevailing in the column after the pressure equalization step, the amount of gas introduced into the column during adsorption and pressurization, and the amount of gas already present in the bed voids at the beginning of the pressurization step.
ISSN:0009-2509