Journal article

Separation of Methane and Nitrogen Using Heavy Reflux Pressure Swing Adsorption: Experiments and Modeling

Guoping Hu, Yalou Guo, Qinghu Zhao, Gongkui Xiao, Kevin Gang Li, Eric F May

Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research | American Chemical Society | Published : 2023

Abstract

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is commonly used for the challenging task of separating methane (CH4) and nitrogen (N2) gas mixtures. Previously we used pilot-scale tests and process simulations to demonstrate how PSA cycles can be optimized for methane-nitrogen separations by adjusting the feed flow, cycle step time, and desorption pressure for a given column size. However, to produce a high-value product stream, dilute feeds with <25% CH4 generally require greater enrichment than can be achieved with optimized conventional cycles. In this work, we investigated the effects of including a heavy product reflux/purge step in PSA cycles on the separation of CH4/N2 using ionic liquidic zeolites ..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council


Funding Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support from the Global Innovation Linkage (GIL) awarded by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science entitled "Development ofUnconventional Gas Technologies for Sustainable Energy Security," the Discovery Project awarded by the Australian Research Council entitled Next Generation Gas Separations via Innovative Adsorption Technologies (DP190100983) , the Early Career Researcher Grants Scheme awarded by the University of Melbourne entitled "Production of High-Purity Hydrogen from Mixed Pipeline Gases," and the Self-deployed Projects of the Ganjiang Innovation Academy, Chinese Academy of Sciences and support from Jiang Xi Province (Jiangxi Province) . Special thanks to the technicians at DKT Energy Technology Co., Ltd. for their kind assistance in pressure swing adsorption facilities and plant operation.