Patent ID: 7250150

Claim:
A process for conducting an endothermic chemical reaction which has a gas phase reactant and a gas phase product, while performing separations by pressure swing adsorption of the product component from the reactant component over an adsorbent material on which one of the reactant and the product components is a more readily adsorbed component and the other is a less readily adsorbed component under increase of pressure, the process including the steps of: (a) introducing a feed gas containing the reactant component to a reaction space, (b) conducting the reaction within the reaction space so as to obtain a gas mixture containing the reactant and the product components (c) contacting the gas mixture containing the reactant and the product components with the adsorbent material in flow paths extending between first and second valve faces in a rotor, (d) supplying gas to the first or second valve face to achieve an upper pressure of the process, (e) withdrawing gas from the first or second valve face to achieve a lower pressure of the process, (f) rotating the rotor at a rotational speed so as to establish cyclic fluid communication for each of the flow paths through the first and the second valve faces in a cyclic sequence, so as to establish flow in each flow path directed from the first valve face to the second valve face at substantially the upper pressure, and to establish flow in each flow path directed from the second valve face to the first valve face at substantially the lower pressure; and (g) contacting a purge gas stream with the adsorbent material in the flow paths wherein the purge gas stream includes oxygen so as to provide heat in the flow paths by catalytic combustion of a reactant component.