Inventors:
Harry W. Deckman - Clinton NJ, US
Robert A. Johnson - Yardley PA, US
Bruce T. Kelley - Porter TX, US
Peter I. Ravikovitch - Princeton NJ, US
Thomas N. Anderson - Mobile AL, US
International Classification:
B01D 53/047
Abstract:
A pressure swing adsorption process for removal of C02 from natural gas streams through a combination of a selective adsorbent material containing an effective amount of a non-adsorbent filler, adsorbent contactor design, and adsorption cycle design. The removal of contaminants from gas streams, preferably natural gas streams, using rapid-cycle swing adsorption processes, such as rapid-cycle pressure swing adsorption (RC-PSA). Separations at high pressure with high product recovery and/or high product purity are provided through a combination of judicious choices of adsorbent material, gas-solid contactor, system configuration, and cycle designs. For example, cycle designs that include steps of purge and staged blow-down as well as the inclusion of a mesopore filler in the adsorbent material significantly improves product (e.g., methane) recovery. An RC-PSA product with less than 10 ppm H2S can be produced from a natural gas feed stream that contains less than 1 mole percent H2S.