Systems and methods for acetylene purification

A system for removing diacetylene and vinylacetylene from a hydrogen-dominant acetylene-hydrogen gaseous stream, wherein the hydrogen-dominant acetylene-hydrogen gaseous stream comprises less than one percent each of diacetylene and vinylacetylene, the system comprising:

• a first vessel comprising a first adsorbent bed supported in a direction that is transverse to a long axis of the first vessel;
• a first process gas circuit in fluid communication with the first vessel, comprising a process gas inflow line entering the first vessel through a process gas inlet upstream of the first adsorbent bed for inflow of the hydrogen-dominant acetylene-hydrogen gaseous stream, and further comprising a purified-gas outlet downstream from the first adsorbent bed for outflow of a purified gaseous stream from the first vessel, wherein the hydrogen-dominant acetylene-hydrogen gaseous stream containing diacetylene and vinylacetylene enters the process gas inlet and passes across the first adsorption bed, wherein the diacetylene and vinylacetylene are adsorbed onto the first adsorbent bed to form a first saturated adsorbent bed, and wherein the purified gaseous stream exiting the purified-gas outlet contains less than about 25 ppm each of the diacetylene and vinylacetylene, said first process gas circuit possessing a first set of control valves proximal and distal to the first vessel, the first set of control valves being programmed to permit or prevent flow of process gas through the first process gas circuit;
• and
• a first regeneration gas circuit in fluid communication with the first vessel, comprising a regeneration gas line entering the first vessel through a regeneration gas inlet at a first end of the first adsorbent bed for inflow of a regeneration gas, and a regeneration gas outlet exiting the first vessel at a second end of the first adsorbent bed for outflow of a contaminated regeneration gas, wherein the regeneration gas passes across the first saturated adsorption bed from the first end to the second end thereof, and wherein the regeneration gas desorbs the diacetylene and vinylacetylene contaminants from the first saturated adsorption bed in transit across thereof to form the contaminated regeneration gas, said first regeneration gas circuit possessing a second set of control valves, the second set of control valves being programmed to permit or prevent flow of regeneration gas through the first regeneration gas circuit;
• wherein, when gas is flowing through the first process gas circuit across the first adsorption bed, no gas is flowing through the first regeneration gas circuit across the first adsorption bed, and wherein when gas is flowing through the first regeneration gas circuit across the first adsorption bed, no gas is flowing through the first process gas circuit.