Comparison between MOF UTSA-16 and BPL activated carbon in hydrogen purification by PSA

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the application of Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) UTSA-16 in hydrogen purification PSA processes since UTSA-16 can adsorb/desorb CO, CH4 and specially CO2 (typical impurities of a SMR off-gas). PSA experiments (Skarstrom type PSA cycles) for hydrogen purification from a typical SMR off-gas mixture (CH4, CO and CO2 as impurities) were carried out using two adsorbents: MOF UTSA-16 and BPL activated carbon (BPL AC). A simulation tool developed at the University Complutense of Madrid, PSASIM®, has been used to simulate the experimental PSA cycles. The model has been validated by reproducing the experimental results. Finally, a PSA cycle with operating conditions of hydrogen purification processes Tomita et al. (1987) has been simulated with PSASIM® with layered beds, containing UTSA-16/Zeolite 5A and BPL AC/Zeolite 5A. The results obtained from the simulations showed that BPL AC performs better results than UTSA-16 in terms of hydrogen purity and hydrogen recovery.