Pressure swing adsorption
method of gas concentration using selective adsorbtion under pressure
Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a technique used to separate some gas species from a mixture of gases (typically air) under pressure according to the species' molecular characteristics and affinity for an adsorbent material. It operates at near-ambient temperature and significantly differs from the cryogenic distillation commonly used to separate gases. Selective adsorbent materials such as zeolites (molecular sieves), or activated carbon are used as trapping material, preferentially adsorbing the target gas species at high pressure. The process then swings to low pressure to desorb the adsorbed gas.
Process
The pressure swing adsorption (PSA) process is based on the phenomenon that under high pressure, gases tend to be trapped onto solid surfaces, i.e. to be "adsorbed". The higher the pressure, the more gas is adsorbed. When the pressure is dropped, the gas is released, or desorbed. PSA can be used to separate gases in a mixture because different gases are adsorbed onto a given solid surface more or less strongly. For example, if a gas mixture such as air is passed under pressure through a vessel containing an adsorbent bed of zeolite that attracts nitrogen more strongly than oxygen, a fraction of nitrogen will stay in the bed, and the gas exiting the vessel will be richer in oxygen than the mixture entering.
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