PRESSURE, CONCENTRATION AND TEMPERATURE PROFILES IN A 5A ZEOLITE ADSORBENT BED DURING PRESSURIZATION AND DEPRESSURIZATION WITH AIR

Experimentally measured pressure, temperature and composition profiles for air admitted to and exhausted from a bed of 5A zeolite are compared with the corresponding profiles simulated by an electrical analogue representation of a non-isothermal model of the system. While pressure and composition profiles are in good agreement, the experimentally measured temperature profiles are some 8 to 10 degrees C lower than simulated on pressurisation and 8 to 10 degrees C higher on depressurisation. Simulations comparing differing model assumptions show that there are slight differences between results when fluid and solid temperatures are taken to be identical and results when a difference between fluid and solid temperatures is assumed. Greater differences are apparent in simulations when the system is regarded as adiabatic and when the column wall is assumed to be at a constant temperature. The experimental results reflect a non-adiabatic system more closely than an adiabatic one.