Patent Description:
Gas concentration technologies using an adsorption method have been more and more widely applied in the field of pollution control of atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Common gas adsorption concentration apparatuses include rotary adsorbers and regenerative fixed-bed adsorbers. These methods aim to concentrate adsorbable pollutants and to oxidize them into harmless simple compounds such as water and carbon dioxide by using an associated destruction apparatus such as a thermal oxidation destruction apparatus (TO), or to further separate, collect and recycle these adsorbable pollutants. At present, these adsorption concentration technologies are mostly used in industrial application scenarios where a continuous operation is performed and flow and concentration of source gases are relatively stable, and the device costs are generally high. With the improvement of environmental protection standards, these technologies have also been used for pollution control of high-concentration malodorous gases, which are difficult to remove effectively by other treatment means, such as low-temperature plasma and photocatalysis treatment technologies. Compared with the treatment of VOCs, these pollutants have low concentrations, low calorific values and long adsorption-desorption cycles. If a current gas concentration technology using an adsorption method is used in cooperation with a commonly used destruction technology, although the pollution of these malodorous gases can be completely eliminated, high-cost devices with high power and large treatment capacity and supporting sites, power supply, gas and other facilities are an unnecessary waste of resources. <CIT> discloses an apparatus for treating volatile gas which improves attachment and detachment abilities with respect to the entire area of an adsorption filter, and improves utilization by recycling internal gas. The apparatus comprises: a housing having an inlet port and an outlet port; a filter unit which is installed inside the housing and is formed to adsorb volatile harmful substances of non-treated gas introduced from the inlet port; a spray unit which is formed to move along a surface on the outlet port side of the filter unit, and is formed to spray heated gas to the filter unit; a suction unit which is formed to move along a surface on the inlet port side of the filter unit to correspond to the spray unit, and is formed to exclusively absorb the heated gas; and a circulation unit which is formed to move along the spray unit, and is formed to supply the treated gas, which has passed through a region heated by the spray unit among the regions of the filter unit, to the spray unit.

<CIT> discloses a volatile organic compound gas concentration processing device comprising: a filter unit; a first touch panel; a second touch panel; a first head unit; a second head unit; and a flow guide. The filter unit includes a plurality of adhesion cells having absorbability of a volatile organic compound. The first touch panel is arranged on a first surface of the filter unit, and forms a first opening for each of individual adhesion cells constituting the plurality of adhesion cells. The second touch panel is arranged on a second surface of the filter unit which is opposite to the first surface, and forms a second opening for each of individual adhesion cells constituting the plurality of adhesion cells. The first head unit adheres to the first touch panel at one position of the first touch panel, and is formed to supply heated air. The second head unit adheres to the second touch panel at a position corresponding to the first head unit, and collects concentrated organic gas passing the filter unit. The flow guide distributes flow of gas passing the first opening, and gas passing the second opening.

The present invention discloses a gas adsorption concentration apparatus, which can solve the problem of large-flow and low-concentration malodorous pollution with low-cost devices.

This gas adsorption concentration apparatus can also be used for treatment of volatile organic pollutants (VOCs) waste gases similar to the odor pollution situation described above. For ease of description, malodorous waste gases and volatile organic pollutants are collectively referred to herein as adsorbable pollutants as required. Similarly, a polluted gas requiring concentration treatment is referred to as an adsorbate gas, and a medium gas for desorption and regeneration of an adsorbent bed are referred to as a desorptive gas.

A specific solution of such a gas adsorption concentration apparatus is to provide a plurality of parallel fixed-bed adsorbers working simultaneously and a set of movable hot air desorption apparatuses which can be connected to at least one of the plurality of parallel fixed-bed adsorbers in sequence, and to respectively complete desorption of all parallel fixed adsorbent beds by means of the movable hot air desorption apparatuses.

The scope of the present invention of this patent is defined by the independent claim. Embodiments in the description and figures which do not fall within the scope of the claims are to be interpreted as examples or background information.

The essence of the positive effect of the present invention is to change the desorption process of a regenerative fixed-bed adsorber from concentrated desorption requiring high-power energy consumption to stepwise desorption requiring low-power energy consumption, and to make full use of thermal energy in the desorption process by using two adsorption units in series to recover the heat absorbed by an adsorbent and using the heat in the discharged desorptive gas recovered during heat exchange between gases, so that the demand of the gas adsorption concentration apparatus for associated energy supply, such as power supply is reduced, and the overall energy consumption is also reduced, providing significant economic and social benefits.

The present invention is further described below in detail in combination with embodiments.

See <FIG> for the most basic technical solution of a gas adsorption concentration apparatus.

The gas adsorption concentration apparatus comprises a housing <NUM>, an adsorber gas inlet <NUM>, an adsorber gas outlet <NUM>, a plurality of adsorption units <NUM> and a set of movable desorption apparatuses <NUM>. Each of the adsorption units is a small fixed-bed adsorber, comprises two head ends <NUM> capable of allowing an adsorbate gas and a desorptive gas to enter and exit the adsorber, and is internally provided with an adsorbent <NUM> and a thermal insulation material <NUM>. All the adsorption units are arranged in parallel and connected via a supporting connection structure to form an airtight adsorption core <NUM>, such that an adsorbate gas entering the housing <NUM> from the adsorber gas inlet <NUM> can reach the adsorber gas outlet <NUM> only by passing through the adsorption units <NUM> of the adsorption core <NUM>. The movable desorption apparatus is composed of a hot air desorption apparatus <NUM> and a mechanical movement apparatus <NUM>. The hot air desorption apparatus <NUM> can be connected to one of the adsorption units in sequence, and is in communication with a peripheral desorptive gas supply apparatus <NUM> and a peripheral desorptive gas treatment apparatus <NUM> respectively by means of flexible pipelines <NUM>, such that a desorptive gas from the desorptive gas supply apparatus <NUM> passes through the adsorption units <NUM> to the desorptive gas treatment apparatus <NUM>. A gas heating apparatus <NUM> is provided between the desorptive gas supply apparatus <NUM> and the adsorption units <NUM>. The mechanical movement apparatus <NUM> supports the hot air desorption apparatus <NUM> and moves on a horizontal track <NUM> and a vertical track <NUM> under the drive of controlled power, to complete connection and switching between the hot air desorption apparatus <NUM> and each adsorption unit <NUM> in sequence by means of a telescopic interface <NUM>.

The operation of the device comprises two operation processes, namely, an adsorption process and a desorption process.

In the desorption process, polluted air delivered from a pollution gas (or mixed gas) collection apparatus <NUM>, as shown by the hollow arrow, enters an air intake static-pressure tank <NUM>, which is composed of the housing <NUM> and the adsorption cores <NUM>, from the adsorber gas inlet <NUM>, and then enters each adsorption unit <NUM> respectively; the adsorbent <NUM> in the adsorption units adsorbs adsorbable pollutants retained in the polluted air; clean air flows out from the other end of the adsorption unit <NUM> and enters an exhaust gas collection tank <NUM>, which is composed of the housing <NUM> and the adsorption cores <NUM>; and finally, the clean air is discharged from the adsorber gas outlet <NUM> into the atmosphere via a pipeline and a chimney <NUM>.

In the desorption process, referring to <FIG>, after the adsorbent <NUM> in an adsorption unit <NUM> adsorbs a certain amount of pollutants, it has a reduced adsorption capacity and tends to be unable to effectively treat the polluted air, and the adsorption process ends. The hot air desorption apparatus <NUM> of the movable desorption apparatus <NUM> is docked with two head ends <NUM> of the adsorption unit <NUM>, and the desorptive gas delivered from the desorptive gas supply apparatus, as indicated by a thin arrow, is heated by the gas heating apparatus <NUM> to a predetermined desorption temperature, enters the adsorption unit, heats the adsorbent <NUM> in the adsorption unit <NUM>, is discharged from the other head end <NUM> of the adsorption unit <NUM> while carrying pollutants overflowing from the adsorbent, and is delivered to the adsorbate gas treatment apparatus <NUM> (which is a thermal oxidation destruction apparatus TO here) via the flexible pipeline <NUM>, and is then discharged to the chimney.

When one adsorption unit has completed desorption and regeneration, the hot air adsorption apparatus is detached from the adsorption unit and moved to the next adsorption unit and joined with the next adsorption unit under the drive of the mechanical movement apparatus, and the above-mentioned desorption process is repeated.

The peripheral desorptive gas supply apparatus <NUM> and the peripheral desorptive gas treatment apparatus herein are not necessarily installed, and when the desorptive gas is possibly ordinary air without the need for treatment, or the desorptive gas discharged during desorption can be discharged into the atmosphere without the need treatment, the flexible pipeline <NUM> can be directly in communication with the space outside the housing <NUM> of the gas adsorption concentration apparatus.

Referring to <FIG>, an adsorption unit group <NUM> composed of two adsorption units serves as a functional unit in the desorption process.

On the basis of Embodiment <NUM>, the adsorption unit group <NUM> composed of two adsorption units <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> serves as a functional unit in the desorption process. The hot air desorption apparatus <NUM> enables two head ends <NUM> and <NUM> on one side of the adsorption unit group to be respectively in communication with the desorptive gas supply apparatus <NUM> and the desorptive gas treatment apparatus <NUM> by means of flexible pipelines <NUM>, and this part of the hot air desorption apparatus is called an IO end. The two head ends <NUM> and <NUM> on the other side of the adsorption unit group are in communication with a short communication pipe <NUM> including the gas heating apparatus <NUM>, and this part of the hot air desorption apparatus is called a CA end.

When the apparatus is in operation, the adsorption process is the same as that in Embodiment <NUM>.

See <FIG> for a desorption state and <FIG> for the desorption process. After the movable desorption apparatus is joined with the corresponding adsorption unit group, the desorptive gas delivered by the desorptive gas supply apparatus enters the adsorption unit <NUM>-<NUM> by means of the head end <NUM> of the adsorption unit, then enters the short communication pipe <NUM> from the other head end <NUM>, is heated by the gas heating apparatus <NUM> to a predetermined desorption temperature, then enters the adsorption unit <NUM>-<NUM> through the head end <NUM> of the adsorption unit to rise the temperature of the adsorbent therein for desorption, and finally is delivered to the desorptive gas treatment apparatus <NUM> by means of the head end <NUM> of the adsorption unit and the flexible pipeline <NUM>. After the adsorption unit <NUM>-<NUM> completes desorption, the movable desorption apparatus is detached from the adsorption units <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>, and is moved to be joined with a new adsorption unit group composed of the adsorption units <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>, and the above-mentioned desorption process is repeated.

It is different from the case in Embodiment <NUM> that the desorptive gas first entering the adsorption unit <NUM>-<NUM> absorbs the heat absorbed by the adsorbent in the desorption process of the previous adsorption unit <NUM>-<NUM>, has the temperature itself raised, and reaches the predetermined desorption temperature by absorbing less heat when being heated by the gas heating apparatus <NUM>, while the adsorbent in the adsorption unit <NUM>-<NUM> is cooled in this process, and can more quickly enter a low-temperature state required for the adsorption process.

In conclusion, the desorption process of the apparatus in Embodiment <NUM> is more energy-saving than that in Embodiment <NUM>, and can be switched to the adsorption process immediately after the desorption is completed.

The hot air desorption apparatus is provided with a heat exchange apparatus, see <FIG> and <FIG>.

In the desorption processes of the previous two embodiments, when the desorption of the adsorption unit is to be completed, the desorptive gas delivered from the head end <NUM> of the adsorption unit and the flexible pipeline <NUM> to the desorptive gas treatment apparatus <NUM> is high-temperature gas, and the heat carried in this part of gas is wasted and makes the flexible pipeline <NUM> in a high-temperature state. A solution is to provide a heat exchanger between two flexible pipelines <NUM> leading to and out of the head end <NUM> of the adsorption unit of the hot air desorption apparatus, and a relatively simple solution is to provide a partition wall type heat exchanger <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>.

A solution with a higher heat utilization rate is to provide a regenerative heat exchanger. It further includes a valve-switched regenerative heat exchanger or a rotary regenerative heat exchanger with a heat accumulator. The rotary regenerative heat exchanger with a heat accumulator <NUM> is preferred herein, as shown in <FIG>.

Reference is made to <FIG>. The heat accumulator <NUM> is divided into two portions A and B. In operation, in the later stage of a desorption cycle I of an adsorption unit group, the high-temperature desorptive gas discharged from the adsorption unit <NUM>-<NUM> transfers heat to the heat accumulator <NUM>-A portion of the rotary regenerative heat exchanger <NUM>. When the desorption cycle I of the adsorption unit group ends, and is switched to the desorption cycle II of another adsorption unit group, the heat accumulator is rotated by <NUM>°. At the initial stage of the desorption cycle II, the heat accumulator <NUM>-A portion heats the desorptive gas entering the adsorption unit <NUM>-<NUM> such that the heat is reused. At the rear-end stage of the desorption cycle II, the high-temperature desorptive gas discharged from the adsorption unit <NUM>-<NUM> heats the heat accumulator <NUM>-B portion. In a desorption cycle III, the heat of the heat accumulator <NUM>-B portion is transferred back to the adsorption unit <NUM>-<NUM>, and the process of the desorption cycle II is repeated.

See <FIG> for a gas adsorption concentration apparatus with a modular structure.

For the functional requirements of different adsorbate gas treatment capacities, a movable desorption system may be used, in which the adsorption cores of different adsorption units are configured to correspond to different coverage ranges but the main configurations such as the hot air desorption apparatus are the same. From the perspective of reducing the production cost of products, if the core <NUM> uses a modular structure and a moving track of the movable desorption apparatus also uses a structure that is easy to assemble and extend, it is possible to flexibly combine a few types or even a single type of adsorption core module <NUM> and a single core component of the movable adsorption apparatus into a gas adsorption concentration apparatus having various processing capacities.

Claim 1:
A gas adsorption concentration apparatus, comprising a housing (<NUM>) with an adsorption gas inlet (<NUM>) and an adsorption gas outlet (<NUM>), a plurality of adsorption units (<NUM>) and a set of movable desorption apparatus, wherein the adsorption units are small
fixed-bed adsorbers comprising adsorbents (<NUM>) and heat insulation materials (<NUM>), and each of fixed-bed adsorbers being provided with two head ends, all of the adsorption units are arranged in parallel and connected via a supporting connection structure to form an airtight adsorption core (<NUM>) such that an adsorbate gas entering the housing from the adsorption gas inlet reaches the adsorption gas outlet only by passing through the adsorption units of the adsorption core, the movable desorption apparatus is composed of a hot air desorption apparatus (<NUM>) and a mechanical movement apparatus (<NUM>),
wherein the hot air desorption apparatus enables head ends (<NUM>) on one side of an adsorption unit group composed of two adsorption units to be respectively in communication with a desorptive gas supply apparatus (<NUM>) and a desorptive gas treatment apparatus (<NUM>) by means of flexible pipelines, this part of the hot air desorption apparatus is called an IO end, and two head ends (<NUM>) on the other side of the adsorption unit group are in communication with a pipeline (<NUM>) including a gas heating apparatus (<NUM>); such that a desorptive gas from the desorptive gas supply apparatus passes through the two adsorption units of the adsorption unit group in sequence to the desorptive gas treatment apparatus; during this process, the desorptive gas performs heating, desorption and regeneration on an adsorbent in one of the adsorption units, and at the same time, recovers the heat absorbed by an adsorbent in the other adsorption unit in a desorption process and cools the adsorption unit;
and the mechanical movement apparatus supports the hot air desorption apparatus by moving on a horizonal track and on a vertical track and completes connection and switching between the hot air desorption apparatus and each adsorption unit group in sequence by means of telescopic interfaces (<NUM>) under the drive of controlled power.