A PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR A KINETICALLY CONTROLLED PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION SEPARATION PROCESS

The micropore diffusion model, including the concentration dependence of the micropore diffusivity, originally developed to simulate pressure swing adsorption air separation for nitrogen production on a carbon molecular sieve, has been applied to a similar process using the zeolite molecular sieve RS-10. The equilibrium and kinetic parameters for the model have been determined from single-component breakthrough curve measurements. It is confirmed that the concentration dependence of the micropore diffusivity has a large effect on the performance of a zeolite-based kinetically controlled PSA separation process. When this effect is allowed for, the model gives performance predictions which are in close agreement with published experimental data.