Patent GB-1030902-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for fractional adsorption and separation of gaseous mixtures
IPC: B60T13/44
Filed: 1963-02-01
Abstract: 1,030,902. Gas separation or drying apparatus. GILBERT & BARKER MANUFACTURING CO. Feb. 1, 1963 [Feb. 6,1962], No. 4202/63. Heading B1L  An apparatus for separating gases by adsorption desorption processes comprises at least one vessel of adsorbent and a conduit therein, the vessel and conduit being mounted on a manifold block which contains valves and conduits, the conduits and valves being connected to the vessel and conduit so that adsorption may take place in one direction and desorption may take place in the oppos - ite direction. Desorption may be performed by using a portion of the purified effluent at a lower pressure. In Fig. 4, adsorption vessel 20 operating at the higher pressure, is one of two similar vessels operating in opposite phases of the adsorption-desorption cycle and mounted on a manifold block 24 in a detachable but gas-tight manner at 22 with an O-ring seal 28. A grid 42 within vessel 20 supported by a snap ring 44, holds a spring 40 which holds in place another grid 36 having a filter 38 e.g. of felt, upon which is supported the absorbant bed 30. Passing up the length of the adsorption vessel 20, is a conduit 32 having holes 33 a, b, c, d and a filter 34 at its upper end and being held in position within the absorbant bed by retaining devices 132 and 134. The lower end of the conduit has a gas-tight seal 62 above the discharge chamber 64, a pressure reducing orifice 90 communicating with chamber 64 and may be sealed by the sphere 80 and spring 82. A double-seating valve-poppet 108 having fluted sides, may be actuated by a spring 110 or magnetically by coils 100 to seal off either the feed stream passage 76 or the exhaust passage 106. In Fig. 4 the adsorption vessel is working on its adsorption cycle and the gas feed stream passes through passage 51, into the upper valve chamber 70 via passage 76, on through chamber 68 passing up through the absorbant bed 30 and down conduit 32. The pressure of the gas depresses sphere 80 and spring 82 and the gases passes into the discharge chamber 64 and out through passage 50. In the desorption cycle of the apparatus, valve 108 seals off passage 76 but opens exhaust passage 106, whilst sphere 80 seals off conduit 32. Part of the effluent stream flowing along passage 50 enters conduit 32 by the pressure reducing orifice 90 and passes up the conduit and down through the bed 30. The gas passes out of the adsorption vessel via chambers 68 and 70, down through the flutes of valve 108 and to the atmosphere by exhaust 106. The closing means for the lower end of the conduit may be modified by the removal of the spring and making a small clearance between the sphere and the conduit thus allowing either the sphere to be sucked up onto the conduit at the desorption stage or allowing a pressure difference across the clearance. The pressure reducing means may be modified in a number of ways,e.g. the spheres may have orifices drilled through them, or be made of a molecular sieve material or have a roughened surface. The bottom of the conduit may have openings to serve as pressure reducing means. In large type apparatus a separate pressure reducing passage and orifice may be used or a replaceable orifice in the form of a sleeve fitting over an orifice in the lower part of the conduit may be used, both of these modifications being illustrated in the figures. A specific embodiment relates to drying air e.g. at 40 to 150 psig, by reducing the water vapour content from 100 to 100, 000 ppm down to less than 50 ppm. The fractional adsorption and separation of oxygen from nitrogen and hydrogen from natural or petroleum gas is also mentioned. The absorbent bed may be alumina, charcoal, silica gel or a molecular seive.