Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

The Boc Group, Inc.

Other

Ravi Kumar

Wilbur C Kratz

Charles F Watson

Shuguang Deng

Charles Franklin Watson

William Paul Schmidt

Tarik Naheiri

Rakesh Agrawal

Shivaji Sircar

David M Nicholas

Akhilesh Kapoor

Martin B&uuml;low

YuDong Chen

Simon Paul Davies

Frank R Fitch

Adeola Florence Ojo

Thomas R Gaffney

Craig S Gittleman

John F Kirner

Robin Joyce Maliszewskyj

Joseph P Bushinsky

Eric W Scharpf

Alan D Abel

Robert M Thorogood

Madhusudhan Huggahalli

Thomas Richard Gaffney

John Francis Kirner

Ravi Kumar Jain

Timothy Christopher Golden

Ramakrishnan Ramachandran

Roger Dean Whitley

Martin Bulow

William T Kleinberg

Divyanshu R Acharya

Dongmin Shen

Sudhakar R Jale

Eugene J Greskovich

Mark J Andrecovich

Robert F Weimer

Sidney S Stern

Thomas R White

David Lester Rarig

William R Koch

Gary S Roth

David Edward Guro

Charles M Woods

Kevin Francis Mansfield

Rudolph J Wolf

David E Guro

Robert Michael Thorogood

John VanSloun

William Rohrer Koch

John K Vansloun

Wilbur Clymer Kratz

Eric William Scharpf

A process for producing a purified gaseous product from a gaseous feedstream such as air containing impurities is disclosed. The impurities such as hydrogen, water vapor, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are removed from the gaseous feedstream in a vessel having layers of adsorbents and oxidation catalysts. The placement of the hydrogen to water vapor conversion catalyst downstream of the step of contacting the feedstream with a catalyst to convert the carbon monoxide to the carbon dioxide and the step of removing the carbon dioxide from the feedstream improves not only performance but also the economies of the purification system.

Purification of gases

The present invention provides for a thermal swing adsorption process for the removal of trace impurities such as oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbons from air prior to its separation by cryogenic distillation. The process may utilize three adsorbent layers, the first primarily removes water; the second primarily removes carbon dioxide; and the third layer is a composite adsorbent layer which removes the oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbons from the air stream. Another embodiment employs a two layer adsorbent system to remove the impurities. Additionally, a single layer of composite adsorbent may be used to remove water, carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and hydrocarbons from the air stream.

Thermal swing adsorption process

The present invention provides for a process for purifying atmospheric air prior to its separation by cryogenic distillation. The process utilizes three adsorbent layers, the first primarily removes water; the second primarily removes CO ; and the third layer is designed to remove displaced gas components such as N O and hydrocarbons which are displaced by the second layer. It has been found that CaX type adsorbents provide the removal of N O and hydrocarbons in the third layer.

Thermal swing adsorption process for the removal of dinitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons and other trace impurities from air

The present invention provides for a multi-composite adsorbent mixture which will remove H O, CO and nitrogen oxides and/or hydrocarbons from a feed gas stream. The improvement lies in the use of a third adsorbent which is selective for nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons or both.

Purification of gases using multi-composite adsorbent

Substantially all of the carbon dioxide is removed from a gas containing up to about 1% by volume carbon dioxide by subjecting the gas to a pressure swing adsorption process using a two layer adsorption system, wherein the first layer contains activated alumina and the second layer is a zeolite or a combination of zeolites having a silicon to aluminum atomic ratio of at least 1.5. The process is particularly suitable for removing substantially all carbon dioxide and water vapor contained in air prior to subjecting the air to cryogenic distillation.

Air purification process

The strongly adsorbed component of a gas mixture is produced in enhanced purity and yield by novel PSA cycles. The basic steps of the cycles include an adsorption vessel prepressurization step, a cocurrent nonadsorbed gas production step, a cocurrent purge step with strongly adsorbed gas product and a countercurrent depressurization step which produces the strongly adsorbed gas product that is used in the cocurrent purge step. In addition to the basic steps, a first depressurization equalization step precedes or follows the cocurrent purge step and a corresponding first pressurization equalization step follows the countercurrent depressurization step. The cycle optionally includes one or two depressurization equalization steps before the cocurrent purge step and one or two corresponding pressurization equalization steps after the first pressurization equalization step.

Multiple equalization pressure swing adsorption process

A high pressure purge is incorporated into the cycle of a PSA process designed for the recovery of strongly adsorbed product gas from a gas mixture. The high pressure purge stream is obtained by compressing the low pressure cocurrent purge step that precedes the countercurrent depressurization or evacuation step. The high pressure purge step is included in the cycle following the adsorption step of the process.

High pressure purge pressure swing adsorption process

Substantially all of the carbon dioxide is removed from a gas containing up to about 1% by volume carbon dioxide by subjecting the gas to a pressure swing adsorption process using as the adsorbent a single layer of zeolite having a silicon to aluminum atomic ratio in the range of 1.5 to 70. The process is particularly suitable for removing substantially all carbon dioxide and water vapor contained in air prior to subjecting the air to cryogenic distillation.

A process for producing hydrogen gas by reacting steam with a gas mixture containing carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce a hydrogen-enriched product gas and subjecting the product gas to pressure swing adsorption to produce a high purity hydrogen product and a hydrogen-depleted waste gas is improved by drying, where necessary, part of the gas mixture and subjecting the dry gas mixture to pressure swing adsorption using a carbon monoxide-selective adsorbent to produce a high purity carbon monoxide product gas and a carbon monoxide-depleted waste gas. Where the gas mixture is produced by endothermic reaction, one or both of the hydrogen-depleted waste gas and the carbon monoxide-depleted waste gas can be used as fuel to supply heat for the endothermic reaction.

Production of carbon monoxide from syngas

An activated alumina adsorbent used in a PSA air prepurification process for removal of carbon dioxide from the air is thermally regenerated when the carbon dioxide content remaining in the adsorbent following an adsorbent regeneration step of the PSA process reaches a certain level.

Air purification process with thermal regeneration

Petrochemicals are produced by the vapor phase reaction of a hydrocarbon with air in the presence of a suitable catalyst. The petrochemical product is removed from the product gas stream, and unreacted hydrocarbon in part or all of the remaining gas stream is recovered by subjecting the gas stream to a TSA process in which the adsorbed hydrocarbon is desorbed at elevated pressure by purging the adsorbent with hot compressed air, the air being heated by compression. The compressed air-desorbed hydrocarbon mixture is recycled to the reactor.

Process for the production of petrochemicals

An adsorption process in which high and low pressure feed streams are introduced into a plurality of beds to produce product streams by adsorbing one or more preferentially adsorbed components within the beds. Each bed is subjected to a low pressure feed stage to produce a low pressure product stream followed by a high or higher pressure feeding stages to produce one or more high pressure product streams. Thereafter the beds are regenerated through depressurization and purge stages. The cycle is conducted out of phase so that one of the beds is producing the high pressure product stream while another bed is producing a low pressure product stream.

Adsorption process

An air separation method in which a pre-purification unit is provided with three or more beds which are subjected to a pressure swing adsorption process. Each of the beds is subjected to feed, pressurization, purge and repressurization stages. The purge stages are conducted with a waste stream from the air separation unit and the duration of the purge stage is equal to the total time of the cycle divided by the number of beds.

Integrated air separation process

A process for separating a feed gas mixture into a more strongly adsorbable component and a less strongly adsorbable component in a plurality of adsorbent beds containing an adsorbent selective for the more strongly adsorbable component using cocurrent depressurization to provide purge gas and pressurization by product end to product end pressure equalization between beds simultaneous with cocurrent ambient and elevated pressure feed pressurization, and countercurrent evacuation. Oxygen product can be recovered from air at high recovery and adsorbent productivity levels using the process.

VSA adsorption process with feed/vacuum advance and provide purge

A method of rectifying a multicomponent mixture by pressure swing adsorption to separate primary and secondary components of the mixture. Two groups of adsorbent beds are used in the method and adsorbent beds of the two groups are employed in a paired relationship and subjected to feed, co-current depressurization, evacuation, and countercurrent repressurization stages. In the feed stages, pairs of the adsorbent beds are pressurized with the mixture to adsorb the primary component in a first group of the adsorbent beds and in an entry section of a second group of the adsorbent beds. Also during the feed stage, the secondary component is adsorbed in the second group of adsorbent beds in remaining sections thereof. During co-current depressurization, any of the secondary component adsorbed in the first group of adsorbent beds and part of the primary component is driven to the second group of adsorbent beds. The adsorbent beds are individually evacuated to produce primary and secondary product streams rich in the primary and secondary components, respectively. Countercurrent repressurization is effected with a waste stream comprising the effluent from the feed stage. The countercurrent repressurization stage functions to bring the adsorbent beds back up to operating pressure and to drive the primary component back into the first group of adsorbent beds.

Pressure swing adsorption process for fractionating a multi-component

Growing community of inventors

Allentown, PA, United States of America

Ravi Kumar