Multiple stage high temperature stripping zone in a hypersorption process
OwnerBerg Clydeinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
There is disclosed an improvement in a selective adsorption process wherein a gaseous mixture of gas components is separated by contact with a compact, moving bed of particulate adsorbent having a selected adsorbency for one of the gas components which is thermally desorbed therefrom. The process of the invention comprises contacting the hot, thermally desorbed adsorbent with recycle lean gas in a sufficient amount and through a sufficient depth of stripping zone to effect substantially complete desorption of the rich gas component therefrom prior to introduction of the adsorbent into the fractionating zone of the process. The process is particularly useful for the separation of gaseous components which are extremely difficult to separate by cryogenic techniques.
Claims12
In a process for separation of a gaseous feed mixture of at least two components including a more preferentially adsorbed component and a less preferentially adsorbed component wherein a moving, compact, unfluidized bed of particulate adsorbent is passed through a plurality of gas contacting zones including, in successive order:
- (1) a cooling zone wherein hot particulate adsorbent is contacted with cool gas and is cooled thereby,
- (2) a fractionation zone wherein the cooled particulate adsorbent is contacted with the said gaseous mixture and forms a rich adsorbate enriched in the more preferentially adsorbed component and a lean gas concentrated in the less preferentially adsorbed component that flows countercurrent thereto and that is removed as a lean gas product from the upper portion of said fractionation zone;
- (3) a heating zone wherein said rich adsorbate is contacted with hot recycle gas to desorb its more preferentially adsorbed gaseous component that is removed from the upper portion of said heating zone as a rich gas product enriched in the more preferentially adsorbed component, the improvement of which comprises:
- (a) passing hot, thermally desorbed, particulate adsorbent from said heating zone through a hot stripping zone and contacting said adsorbent therein with a countercurrent flow of said lean gas with a sufficient flow of said lean gas and sufficient depth of said stripping zone to effect substantially complete desorption of the more preferentially adsorbed gaseous component therefrom;
- (b) removing, from said hot stripping zone, a purge gas mixture of said more and less preferentially adsorbed gaseous components;
- (c) cooling the removed purge gas mixture by indirect heat exchange with said hot recycle gas prior to contacting with said rich adsorbent;
- (d) recycling the cooled purge gas mixture by introducing said purge gas mixture into said fractionating zone;
- (e) introducing said lean gas product into said cooling zone as said cool gas and removing a hot lean gas from said cooling zone;
- and
- (f) cooling said hot lean gas by indirect heat exchange with said recycle rich gas prior to its introduction into said heating zone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.