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US 8,709,136 B2Granted
Adsorption process
AssigneeAir Products and Chemicals, Inc.
InventorsKuo-Kuang Hsu, Jonathan James Berg, Jianguo Xu, Edward Landis Weist, Jr.
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AssigneeAir Products and Chemicals, Inc.
InventorsKuo-Kuang Hsu, Jonathan James Berg, Jianguo Xu, Edward Landis Weist, Jr.
Estimating the term…
A process for separating a first gas, for example CO2, from a feed gas mixture comprising the first gas and a second gas, for example H2, in five or more adsorption beds each containing an adsorbent selective for the first gas. The process comprises subjecting each of the adsorption beds to a repetitive cycle comprising, in sequence, (a) a feed step, (b) a rinse step, (c) a pressure decreasing equalization step, (d) a blowdown step, (e) an evacuation step, (f) a pressure increasing equalization step, and (g) a repressurization step. The feed gas mixture may be a reformate from a steam-hydrocarbon reforming process.
A process for separating a first gas from a feed gas mixture comprising the first gas and a second gas in a plurality of at least five adsorption beds each containing an adsorbent selective for the first gas, the process comprising subjecting each of the adsorption beds to a repetitive cycle comprising, in sequence, (a) a feed step, (b) a rinse step, (c) a pressure decreasing equalization step, (d) a blowdown step, (e) an evacuation step, (f) a pressure increasing equalization step, and (g) a repressurization step, wherein:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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With stationary adsorbents: pressure swing adsorption
Pressure swing adsorption: vacuum pressure swing adsorption
Separation of hydrogen or hydrogen-containing gases from gaseous mixtures, e.g. purification: by contacting with solids; Regeneration of used solids
Inorganic adsorbents: carbon
About 6 years of term left · ends 16 Oct 2032 (estimated)
The production of hydrogen by the steam reforming of hydrocarbons is well known. In the basic process, a hydrocarbon, or a mixture of hydrocarbons, is initially treated to remove trace contaminants such as sulfur and olefins, which would adversely affect the reformer catalyst.
The pretreated hydrocarbon is typically compressed, e.g. to about 1.5 MPa to 3 MPa, and combined with high pressure steam, which is at about 5 MPa, before entering the reformer furnace. The reformer itself conventionally contains tubes packed with catalyst through which the steam/hydrocarbon mixture passes. An elevated temperature, e.g. about 860° C. is maintained to drive the reaction which is endothermic.
The effluent from the reformer furnace is principally H2, CO, and CO2 in proportion close to equilibrium amounts at the furnace temperature and pressure with a minor amount of methane. The reformate is conventionally introduced into a one- or two-stage shift reactor to form additional H2 and CO2. The shift reactor converts the CO to CO2 with the liberation of additional hydrogen by reaction at high temperature in the presence of steam. The combination of hydrocarbon/steam reformer and shift converter is well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram for an exemplary 5 bed adsorption system.
FIG. 2 is a cycle chart for a 5 bed adsorption cycle.
FIG. 3 is a schematic illustrating the relationship of gas flows for the cycle chart of FIG. 2.
The articles “a” and “an” as used herein mean one or more when applied to any feature in embodiments of the present invention described in the specification and claims. The use of “a” and “an” does not limit the meaning to a single feature unless such a limit is specifically stated. The article “the” preceding singular or plural nouns or noun phrases denotes a particular specified feature or particular specified features and may have a singular or plural connotation depending upon the context in which it is used. The adjective “any” means one, some, or all indiscriminately of whatever quantity. The term “and/or” placed between a first entity and a second entity means one of (1) the first entity, (2) the second entity, and (3) the first entity and the second entity. The term “and/or” placed between the last two entities of a list of 3 or more entities means at least one of the entities in the list.
The phrase “at least a portion” means “a portion or all.” The at least a portion of a stream may have the same composition as the stream from which it is derived. The at least a portion of a stream may include specific components of the stream from which it is derived.
As used herein, concentration percentages are mole percent.