Optimal Design Procedure of Dual-Reflux Pressure Swing Adsorption Units for Nonlinear Separations

Abstract

In the frame of dual-reflux pressure swing adsorption processes, design strategies applicable to the complete separation of binary gas mixtures are available only in the case of linear adsorption isotherms. Therefore, in this work we propose a simple and efficient design procedure which enables the selection of suitable operating conditions when sharp separation is required and Langmuir adsorption isotherms are involved. Starting from the available strategy for the linear adsorption case, we adapt it to the nonlinear case tuning properly the pressure ratio. Then, the resulting design strategy is validated by application to selected study cases involving different values of key parameters such as different levels of nonlinearity of the isotherms, but also different values of the pressure ratio, feed composition, and selectivity.