Influence of the structure of radial flow adsorbers on oxygen production with pressure swing adsorption

Abstract

A radial flow pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit with two-tower configuration was designed for oxygen production. The influences of gas flow pattern, outer flow channel width and channel structure on oxygen production were studied by experiment. The result indicates that it is an optimal choice to use centripetal flow in the radial flow adsorber for oxygen production with PSA. Un-der the experimental condition, when the outer flow channel width decreases to 13 mm, the separation of oxygen from nitrogen is the best. A R-shaped channel structure can better improve the utilization efficiency of molecular sieves and oxygen production compared with a Z-shaped channel. This research result provides a foundation for the application and research of a radial flow adsorber in the PSA unit for oxygen production.

Keywords

• adsorbers
• radial flow
• oxygen production
• pressure swing adsorption