Separation of solutes in gaseous solvents

A process of separating from each other at least two solutes dissolved in a gaseous solvent under conditions where a chemical potential of a first solute of the at least two solutes dissolved in the gaseous solvent decreases as a density of the gaseous solvent increases, the process comprising the steps of:

• passing a first gaseous solution of the at least two solutes dissolved in the gaseous solvent at a first density in a first direction through a bed of sorbent so as to sorb the first solute of the at least two solutes without sorption of a second solute of the at least two solutes to form a purified gaseous solvent;
• collecting the purified gaseous solvent;
• acting on a volume of the purified gaseous solvent to bring it to a second density, so that the purified gaseous solvent has increased solvent affinity for the first solute;
• passing the volume of the purified gaseous solvent at the second density through the bed of sorbent in a second direction opposite the first direction to desorb the first solute from the bed of sorbent and to dissolve the first solute in the volume of the purified gaseous solvent to form a second gaseous solution;
• collecting the second gaseous solution to recover the first solute.

A process of purification of impure steam under conditions where a chemical potential of at least one impurity in the impure steam decreases as a density of pure steam increases, the process comprising the steps of:

• passing the impure steam at a first density through a bed of sorbent in a first direction so as to adsorb the at least one impurity in the impure steam and so as to recover a portion of pure steam;
• acting on a portion of pure water, so as to produce pure water at a second density;
• passing the pure water at the second density through the bed of sorbent in a second direction opposite the first direction so as to desorb the at least one impurity from the bed of sorbent and to dissolve the at least one impurity in the pure water;
• recovering the water containing the at least one impurity desorbed from the sorbent.

A process for separating at least one solute dissolved in a gaseous solvent from the gaseous solvent under conditions where a chemical potential of the at least one solute dissolved in the gaseous solvent decreases as a density of the gaseous solvent increases, the process comprising the steps of:

• passing the gaseous solvent containing the at least one solute through a bed of sorbent in a first direction so as to sorb the solute onto the bed of sorbent, producing a purified gaseous solvent;
• acting upon the purified gaseous solvent to increase a solvent capacity of the purified gaseous solvent for the at least one solute to produce an increased capacity gaseous solvent;
• passing the increased capacity gaseous solvent through the bed of sorbent in a second direction opposite the first direction so as to dissolve the at least one solute in the increased capacity gaseous solvent to produce a gaseous solution including the solute;
• and
• recovering the at least one solute from the gaseous solution.

A process of separating a first solute of at least two solutes dissolved in a gaseous solvent under conditions where a chemical potential of the first solute dissolved in the gaseous solvent decreases as a density of the gaseous solvent increases, the process comprising the steps of:

• passing the gaseous solvent containing the at least two solutes through a bed of sorbent in a first direction to sorb the first solute to the bed of sorbent to produce a first purified gaseous solvent;
• collecting a second solute of the at least two solutes from the first purified gaseous solvent;
• acting on the first purified gaseous solvent to increase its affinity for the first solute to produce an increased affinity gaseous solvent;
• passing the increased affinity gaseous solvent through the bed of sorbent in a second direction opposite the first direction to desorb the first solute from the bed of sorbent and to dissolve the first solute in the increased affinity gaseous solvent, producing a second gaseous solvent;
• and
• recovering the first solute from the second gaseous solvent.

A process of purifying impure steam containing impurities, comprising the steps of:

• passing the impure steam containing impurities through a bed of sorbent in a first direction so as to sorb the impurities in the steam onto the bed of sorbent to remove the impurities from the steam and to produce a purified steam;
• acting on pure water so as to produce a second purified steam having an increased solvent capacity for the impurities;
• passing the second purified steam through the bed of sorbent in a second direction opposite the first direction so as to desorb the impurities from the bed of sorbent, producing a second impure steam containing the impurities;
• acting on the second impure steam to form water containing the impurities;
• and
• recovering the water containing the impurities.

A process for separating at least one solute dissolved in a gaseous solvent from the gaseous solvent under conditions where a chemical potential of the at least one solute dissolved in the gaseous solvent decreases as a density of the gaseous solvent increases, the process comprising the steps of:

• passing the gaseous solvent containing the at least one solute through a bed of sorbent in a first direction so as to sorb the at least one solute onto the bed of sorbent and to produce a purified gaseous solvent;
• acting upon the purified gaseous solvent so as to increase the solvent capacity for the solute, producing an increased capacity gaseous solvent;
• and
• passing the increased capacity gaseous solvent through the bed of sorbent in a second direction opposite the first direction to produce a second gaseous solvent including the at least one solute.

A process of separating a first solute of at least two solutes dissolved in a gaseous solvent under conditions where a chemical potential of the first solute of the at least two solutes dissolved in the gaseous solvent decreases as a density of the gaseous solvent increases, the process comprising the steps of:

• passing the gaseous solvent containing the at least two solutes through a bed of sorbent in a first direction to sorb the first solute of the at least two solutes from the gaseous solvent, producing a first purified gaseous solvent;
• collecting a second solute of the at least two solutes from the first purified gaseous solvent;
• acting on the first purified gaseous solvent to increase its affinity for the first solute, producing an increased affinity gaseous solvent;
• passing the increased affinity gaseous solvent through the bed of sorbent in a second direction opposite the first direction to desorb the first solute from the bed of sorbent to produce a second gaseous solvent.

A process of purifying impure steam containing at least one impurity under conditions where a chemical potential of the at least one impurity in the steam decreases as a density of the steam increases, the process comprising the steps of:

• passing the impure steam through a bed of sorbent in a first direction so as to remove the at least one of the impurities from the steam and to produce a purified steam;
• increasing a solvent capacity for the at least one of the impurities to produce an increased affinity steam by acting on one selected from the group consisting of pure water and a portion of the purified steam;
• and
• passing the increased affinity steam through the bed of sorbent in a second direction opposite the first direction so as desorb the at least one impurity from the bed of sorbent.