Method for managing a fault in a pressure swing absorption gas treatment unit

A method for managing a pressure swing adsorption gas treatment unit, the unit comprising:

• at least N adsorbers, N being a number greater than or equal to 6, the N adsorbers being arranged in G groups each comprising n=N/G adsorbers, n being an integer greater than or equal to 2, each adsorber comprising an instrumentation means,
• a control device allowing the unit to operate selectively on an N-adsorber nominal cycle and on a downgraded cycle, the downgraded cycle excluding at least one group by comparison with the nominal cycle,
• a plurality of connections allowing the control device to access the instrumentation means of each adsorber,
• wherein, after a period of operation of the unit in the normal cycle, and when a first group and a second group each comprise at least one operational adsorber and at least one defective adsorber and when the first and second groups combined comprise at least n operational adsorbers, the method comprises:
• a) shutting down the unit,
• b) fluidically isolating the defective adsorbers from the rest of the unit,
• c) configuring the connections to swap the instrumentation means of a defective adsorber of the at least one defective adsorber of the first group with the instrumentation means of an operation al adsorber of the at least one operational adsorber of the second group, so that the first group once again, so far as the control device is concerned, comprises n operational adsorbers,
• d) setting the control device so that it controls the unit by running the downgraded cycle, excluding the defective adsorbers.