Patent ID: 7959720

Claim:
An adsorbent contactor for use in swing adsorption gas separation process units, comprising: a) a gas inlet end; and b) a gas outlet end; wherein the gas inlet end and the gas outlet end are in fluid connection by a plurality of open flow channels wherein the surface of the open flow channels are comprised of an adsorbent material that has a selectivity for a first gas component over a second gas component of a gas mixture greater than 5, and wherein the contactor has less than about 20% of its open pore volume in pores with diameters greater than about 20 angstroms and less than about 1 micron; and wherein the open pore volume (in volume percentage) is defined as the volume of the pores in the adsorbent that are between 20 angstroms and 1 micron in diameter divided by the total volume of the adsorbent contactor that is occupied by the adsorbent material including associated mesopores and macropores in the adsorbent structure; and the adsorbent contactor is comprised of substantially parallel channels wherein the geometry of the adsorbent contactor is selected from monoliths, a plurality of tubular members, stacked layers of adsorbent sheets with or without spacers between each sheet, multi-layered spiral rolls, bundles of hollow fibers, and bundles of substantially parallel solid fibers.