Periodic State Heat Effects in Pressure Swing Adsorption-Solvent Vapor Recovery

Abstract

Heat effects in the pressure swing adsorption (PSA)-n-butane vapor recovery process were investigated at the periodic state by computer simulation. The PSA process utilized a two-bed, four-step, vacuum swing cycle and BAX activated carbon as the adsorbent. The heat effects were manifested by varying the heat transfer coefficient (h) from isothermal to adiabatic, while simultaneously varying the adsorbed phase heat capacity (Cp_a) from zero to that of the saturated liquid. In terms of the bed capacity factor (BCF), isothermal operation always resulted in the best performance, whereas adiabatic operation was not the worst; independent of Cp_a, the worst performance occurred at an intermediate h. Cp_a also had a significant effect on the BCF, where a larger Cp_a (i.e., a larger heat sink) always decreased the BCF and thus improved the process performance. A factorial analysis showed that the effect of Cp_a on the BCF became even more pronounced as the cycle time increased. h and Cp_a had essentially no effect on the solvent vapor enrichment under the conditions investigated. Overall, this study demonstrated that the effects of h and Cp_a are uniquely coupled; thus knowing their magnitudes is paramount to obtaining accurate predictions from a PSA-solvent vapor recovery model.