Patent ID: 6334889
Filing Date: 2002-01-01
Classification: B01D

Abstract:
An adsorber apparatus comprising:a chamber defined by a peripheral wall and feed and distal end walls, said peripheral wall defining a cross-section of said chamber, the chamber having an outlet end adjacent to one of said feed and distal end walls and having an inlet end adjacent the other of said feed and distal end walls, and an axis extending from the inlet end to the outlet end; an inlet port in fluid communication with said inlet end for supplying a fluid mixture to said chamber and for removing a gas from said chamber; an outlet port in fluid communication with said outlet end through which a separated fluid product flows out of the chamber; a particulate bed substantially filling a portion of the chamber between said inlet end and said outlet end, a surface of said bed facing said outlet end and formed from a plurality of particles each having a minimum dimension, said surface corresponding dimensionally to said cross-section; a porous barrier on said surface, said porous barrier adapted to restrain said particles having said minimum dimension from entering said outlet end and adapted to permit the separated fluid product to enter said outlet end, wherein at least one of said porous barrier and said bed is movable along said axis toward the other of said porous barrier and said bed, means for biasing one of said porous barrier and said bed toward the other of said porous barrier and said bed such that said bed is restrained from fluidization; and distribution means between said porous barrier and said outlet port adapted to permit the separated fluid to flow from the porous means to the outlet port; wherein said distribution means is a plurality of balls.