Separation of gases by pressure swing adsorption
US5792239A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 15, 1996 |
| Grant date | Aug 11, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 15, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02C20/40
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A natural gas feed stream containing significant quantities of nitrogen and/or carbon dioxide can be increased to a content of greater than 95 percent by volume of natural gas, and preferably greater than about 98 percent, by passing the natural gas feed stream sequentially through three adsorbent beds that are cycled through seven phases comprising: an adsorption phase to adsorb a first gas, a first depressurization phase to remove feed gas from the voids in the adsorbent bed, a recycle phase to remove a second gas from the adsorbent by the passage of a second depressurization gas therethrough and to produce a recycle gas, a second depressurization phase to reduce the adsorbent bed pressure to about ambient and to produce the second depressurization gas, an evacuation phase where the pressure in the adsorbent is further reduced and an enriched primary gas product stream recovered, a pressurization phase where the pressure in the adsorbent bed is increased using secondary product gas from a bed in an adsorption phase, and further pressurizing the adsorbent bed in a pressurization phase by the flow of the recycle gas and feed gas into the adsorbent bed. Various gases can be separate…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.