Ana M. Ribeiro

Adsorption of H2, CO2, CH4, CO, N2 and H2O in Activated Carbon and Zeolite for Hydrogen Production

Abstract The design of a layered pressure swing adsorption unit to treat a specified off-gas stream is based on the properties of the adsorbent materials. In this work we provide adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of the pure gases in a SMR off-gas: H2O, CO2, CH4, CO, N2, and H2 on two different adsorbents: activated carbon and zeolite. Data were measured gravimetrically at 303–343 K and 0–7 bar. Water adsorption was only measured in the activated carbon at 303 K and kinetics was evaluated by measuring a breakthrough curve with high relative humidity.

Adsorption of Off‐Gases from Steam Methane Reforming (H2, CO2, CH4, CO and N2) on Activated Carbon

Abstract Hydrogen is the energy carrier of the future and could be employed in stationary sources for energy production. Commercial sources of hydrogen are actually operating employing the steam reforming of hydrocarbons, normally methane. Separation of hydrogen from other gases is performed by Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) units where recovery of high‐purity hydrogen does not exceed 80%. In this work we report adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of five pure gases present in off‐gases from steam reforming of methane for hydrogen production (H2, CO2, CH4, CO and N2). Adsorption equilibrium data were collected in activated carbon at 303, 323, and 343 K between 0‐22 bar and was fitted to a Virial isotherm model. Carbon dioxide is the most adsorbed gas followed by methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, and hydrogen. This adsorbent is suitable for selective removal of CO2 and CH4. Diffusion of all the gases studied was controlled by micropore resistances. Binary (H2‐CO2) and ternary (H2‐CO2‐CH4) breakthrough curves are also reported to describe the behavior of the mixtures in a fixed‐bed column. With the data reported it is possible to completely design a PSA unit for hydrogen purification from steam reforming natural gas in a wide range of pressures.

Gas-phase simulated moving bed: Propane/propylene separation on 13X zeolite

In the last years several studies were carried out in order to separate gas mixtures by SMB technology; however, this technology has never been implemented on an industrial scale. In the present work, a gas phase SMB bench unit was built and tested for the separation of propane and propylene mixtures, using 13X zeolite extrudates as adsorbent and isobutane as desorbent. Three experiments were performed to separate propane/propylene by gas phase SMB in the bench scale unit with a 4-2-2 configuration, i.e., open loop circuit by suppressing section IV (desorbent regeneration followed by a recycle). Consequently, all the experiments were conducted using an external supply of pure isobutane as desorbent. Parameters such as switching time, extract and raffinate stream flow rates were changed to improve the efficiency of the process. Experimental results have shown that it is feasible to separate propylene from propane by gas phase SMB at a bench scale and that this process is a potential candidate to replace the conventional technologies for the propane/propylene separation. The performance parameters obtained are very promising for future development of this technology, since propylene was obtained in the extract stream with a purity of 99.93%, a recovery of 99.51%, and a productivity of [Formula: see text] . Propane was obtained in the raffinate stream with a purity of 98.10%, a recovery of 99.73% and a productivity of [Formula: see text] . The success of the above mentioned bench scale tests is a big step for the future implementation of this technology in a larger scale.

Simulation of toxic gases and vapours removal by activated carbon filters

Abstract The system ASC carbon filter/cyanogen chloride was studied by simulation. Three filter configurations and several models, taking into account Langmuir adsorption and second-order reaction between the adsorbed toxic vapour and the active metal on the surface, were developed. The effects of axial dispersion, number of reaction units, film mass transfer units and intraparticle mass transfer resistance on the breakthrough time were studied. Simulation results show that a complex model should be used in order to predict with reasonable accuracy the protection imparted by these filters.

Syngas Stoichiometric Adjustment for Methanol Production and Co-Capture of Carbon Dioxide by Pressure Swing Adsorption

Methanol is an important raw material in industry and is commonly produced from syngas. The stoichiometric ratio (H2–CO2)/(CO + CO2) of the methanol synthesis reactor feed stream must be adjusted to approximately 2.1. In this study, the replacement of the solvent unit within a coal to methanol process by a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit is proposed. The PSA produces a hydrogen enriched stream, to adjust the stoichiometric ratio of the methanol feed stream, and simultaneously captures the carbon dioxide for future sequestration. The feed flow rate is sub divided into eight 4-bed PSA units, operated with a defined phase lag between them in order to flatten the products (composition and flow rate) oscillations. The results show that the stoichiometric adjustment is possible and that oscillations on the products flow rate and composition are reduced to less than 3%. A carbon dioxide stream of 95.15% is obtained with a recovery of 94.2% and a productivity of 82.7 mol CO2/kg/day. The power consumption of the global process is 119.7 MW, which includes the requirements for the rinse stream (64.4 MW) and the compression of the CO2 product to 110 bar for sequestration (55.3 MW).

Dynamics of a True Moving Bed separation process: Effect of operating variables on performance indicators using orthogonalization method

Abstract The assessment of the performance of cyclic adsorption systems is usually addressed in literature in terms of steady state. To reach further developments in this field, the characterization of the dynamic behavior of the processes becomes necessary. This work focus on the application of a method based on Gram-Schmidt Orthogonalization to analyze the impact of the operating variables in the dynamic response of a TMB unit. Another objective of this work is to characterize the dynamic system behavior and compare it with the orthogonalization method results. The results showed that the recycling flow rate is the operating variable with the greatest impact for the system considered. The step perturbation analysis showed the consistence of the proposed method and that some process variables result in a system inverse response for the recovery performance indicator. The importance of taking in consideration the process dynamics in the unit design, control and optimization is demonstrated.

Dynamics of a True Moving Bed separation process: Linear model identification and advanced process control

The control of Simulated Moving Bed (SMB) units is challenging due to their complex dynamic behaviour and the difficulty of measuring their main properties. Furthermore, for the SMB units, the transfer function identification when the unit is operating at its optimal point is not easy to be done through the usual way. This work presents the development of a novel strategy to identify transfer functions of TMB/SMB and its application on classical linear model predictive controllers (MPC). However, for the process in study, due its unique dynamics, only the identification of the linear model is not enough to solve its control problem. Therefore, it is proposed a modification in the MPC prediction, that consists in a strategy based on a switching system where the most adequate transfer function is employed in the controller to overcome the problems related with the process dynamic behaviour. The results show that the used methodology enables the easy identification of transfer functions at the process optimal operating point and that the MPC can control the process in both the servo and regulator problem cases. It is also showed that the transfer function identified can be applied in the control of a SMB unit with four columns, under its optimal conditions.

Selection of a stationary phase for the chromatographic separation of organic acids obtained from bioglycerol oxidation

A screening study of the chromatographic separation of Glyceric Acid (GCA) and Tartronic Acid (TTA) was performed using three different polystyrene-divinylbenzene ion-exchange resins in hydrogen form (Dowex® 50WX-8, Dowex® 50WX-4, Dowex® 50WX-2). The experiments were described by the axial dispersion flow model with the LDF approximation incorporated into the software gPROMS. From the three investigated adsorbents differing by the crosslinking, Dowex® 50WX-2 has presented the higher adsorption capacity, as well as the highest bed efficiency expressed by the number of theoretical plates. The adsorption equilibrium constants were determined from single breakthrough experiments, and a very good agreement between experimental and simulated data was achieved for both single components and binary mixtures. Therefore, the fundamental data determined within this work represents a key contribution to the design of continuous chromatographic processes for the purification of GCA and TTA.

Separation of tartronic and glyceric acids by simulated moving bed chromatography

The SMB unit developed by the Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering (FlexSMB-LSRE®) was used to perform tartronic acid (TTA) and glyceric acid (GCA) separation and to validate the mathematical model in order to determine the optimum operating parameters of an industrial unit. The purity of the raffinate and extract streams in the experiments performed were 80% and 100%, respectively. The TTA and GCA productivities were 79 and 115 kg per liter of adsorbent per day, respectively and only 0.50 cubic meters of desorbent were required per kilogram of products. Under the optimum operating conditions, which were determined through an extensive simulation study based on the mathematical model developed to predict the performance of a real SMB unit, it was possible to achieve a productivity of 86 kg of TTA and 176 kg of GCA per cubic meter of adsorbent per day (considering the typical commercial purity value of 97% for both compounds) with an eluent consumption of 0.30 cubic meters per kilogram of products.

Chromatographic studies of n-Propyl Propionate: Adsorption equilibrium, modelling and uncertainties determination

Abstract The n-Propyl Propionate (ProPro) is a compound that has several possible industrial applications. However, the current production route of this component presents several problems, such as the downstream purification. In this way, chromatographic separation could be an alternative solution to the downstream purification. In this work experimental studies of the ProPro reaction system separation in a chromatographic fixed bed unit packed with Amberlyst 46 were performed. The adsorption equilibrium isotherms and the corresponding Langmuir model parameters were determined. A phenomenological model to represent the process was developed and validated through the experimental data. Meanwhile, it is proposed the characterization of the uncertainties of all steps and its extension to the model prediction, which allowed to estimate the model parameters with a reduced number of experiments, when compared with other reports in the literature; nevertheless, the final results lead to a statistically more reliable model.