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AssigneeThe BOC Group, Inc.
InventorsRamachandran Krishnamurthy, Steve L. Lerner, Donald L. MacLean
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The inclusion of one or more tanks in a two-bed pressure swing adsorption system provides for a further reduction in the pressure from which each bed is vented. According to the invention, following a bed pressure equalization step, the bed which is to undergo regeneration is equalized with at least one tank, which is at a lower pressure, in order to transfer part of the gas located in the bed void volume. After the bed is regenerated, it is again equalized with the same tank, now at a higher pressure than the bed, in order to return the conserved gas. This process increases yield by decreasing the loss of gas attributable to bed void volume. The combination of the two-bed process with one or more pressure equalization tanks for conserving void gas for subsequent bed repressurization rather than use as purge gas is unique to the present invention. It is best applied to multicomponent gas mixtures, in which a moderately adsorbed component is distributed between a higher pressure primary product stream containing a mildly adsorbed component and a lower pressure secondary product or vent stream containing a strongly adsorbed component. The present process has been applied to increase the yield of argon which is separated from a mixture consisting of hydrogen, argon, nitrogen and methane.
A cyclical process for the separation of a multicomponent gaseous mixture at a high pressure, said multicomponent gaseous mixture comprising at least three components, said cyclical process utilizing a pressure swing adsorption system comprising two beds and at least one tank, wherein said two beds contain an adsorbent material of different selectivity with respect to each of said three components, and said tank is adapted to communicate with both beds, said process comprising in sequence:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.