The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 12, 1997
Filed:
Feb. 23, 1996
Charles Franklin Watson, Orefield, PA (US);
Rakesh Agrawal, Emmaus, PA (US);
Paul Anthony Webley, Macungie, PA (US);
Joseph Gerard Wehrman, Macungie, PA (US);
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, PA (US);
Abstract
A vacuum swing adsorption process for separating a feed gas mixture into a more strongly adsorbable component and a less strongly adsorbable component in a process employing two vacuum pumps and three adsorbent beds containing an adsorbent selective for the more strongly adsorbable component using countercurrent depressurization and cocurrent ambient feed repressurization simultaneous with product end to product end pressure equalization and a common-shaft machinery arrangement which allows the expansion energy contained in the countercurrent depressurization and cocurrent ambient feed repressurization streams to be recovered and utilized to reduce overall process power consumption. Addition of three valves and an expander element will also allow expansion energy in the product purge and pressure equalization streams to be recovered. Oxygen product can be recovered from air at low cost using the process.