Adsorption devices for compressed gases

Abstract

To provide an adsorption device where dust formation is prevented and the relatively high flow rate of a compressed gas treated through the adsorption device can be performed.SOLUTION: In an adsorption device for a compressed gas where containers (2A, 2B) having inlets (3A, 3B) for supplying the compressed gas to be treated and outlets (4A, 4B) for a treated gas are disposed in the adsorption device (1), adsorption elements (19A, 19B) are fixed in the containers and the adsorption elements extend between the inlets and the outlets along a flow direction of the compressed gas to be treated, the adsorption element includes a monolithic support structure in which coating containing an adsorbent is at least partially performed; and the adsorbent contains a carbon molecular sieve (CMS).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an adsorption device for compressed gas, for example compressed air.

[0002] More specifically, the present invention relates to an adsorption device for compressed gases, the adsorption device comprising a vessel in which an adsorbent, e.g., a desiccant or "desiccant," is placed, the vessel being provided with an inlet for supplying the compressed gas to be treated and an outlet for discharging the treated gas. [Background technology]

[0003] Said adsorbents are generally realised in the form of regenerable adsorbents, or in other words adsorbents that can be regenerated after reaching a certain degree of saturation. For the sake of simplicity, in the following reference is mainly made to adsorbents in the form of desiccants, but the invention also extends to other adsorbents. It also applies that when an adsorbent configured in the form of a desiccant actually extracts moisture from the gas to be dried, for example with the aid of a drying device, this desiccant becomes more and more saturated with the adsorbed moisture. It is therefore customary to regenerate this desiccant after it has been used for a certain time to dry compressed gas, for example by exposing it to a regeneration gas stream that extracts moisture from the desiccant. Such a regeneration gas stream may for example consist of a fraction of dry gas and / or hot gas having a sufficiently low relative humidity to be able to realise regeneration of the desiccant.

[0004] In some embodiments of drying devices for compressed gas, two or more containers of desiccant are used. When two containers are used, this principle of drying device is also called a double tower dryer. In such a type of drying device, the compressed gas, for example coming from a compressor, can for example be passed through the first of said containers, where it will be dried by the desiccant in said container after passing through an aftercooler and a condensation separator (which may or may not form part of said aftercooler). This container then acts as a drying container.

[0005] At the same time, the regeneration gas stream is guided through a second abovementioned vessel, whereby the desiccant in this second vessel can be regenerated by extracting moisture from this desiccant. This can be done by utilizing gas that has already been dried, e.g. taken off downstream of the drying vessel, and / or by providing a gas stream that has been heated, e.g. by recovering the heat generated in the compressor during compression. In this last case, it is called a "heat of compression" or HOC dryer. Other known regeneration principles can of course also be used.

[0006] When the desiccant in the drying vessel reaches a certain saturation, the gas flow through the first vessel and the second vessel can be switched so that the desiccant in the first vessel is now regenerated by the regeneration gas flow, while the second vessel takes over the role of the drying vessel. In this way, two or more vessels will work alternately as drying pressure vessels and regeneration pressure vessels, so that continuity of the drying process is realized. Examples of such drying devices with several vessels are described, for example, in US 2003 / 023.941, US 4.783.432, US 6.375.722, EP 1.776.171 and WO 2006 / 050.582.

[0007] The desiccants used in such adsorption devices having several containers are often composed of particles of silica gel, activated alumina, or molecular sieve material, or a combination thereof. As is known, activated alumina is produced by thermal dehydration or activation of aluminum hydroxide Al(OH)3, while molecular sieves are composed of synthetic zeolites (crystalline aluminosilicates).

[0008] The limitations of such types of drying devices, including desiccant in particulate form, consist in having to limit the gas velocity through the vessel to counter the particles moving relative to each other or even fluidization. Indeed, due to the particles being put in motion, friction will occur between them, which in turn leads to dust formation and a deterioration of the drying function. Other causes of such dust formation are, for example, pressure fluctuations and / or thermal shocks. Furthermore, the pressure drop across the twin tower dryer is relatively large and the desiccant particles have a rather high thermal mass.

[0009] Alternative drying devices for compressed gas are known in which the desiccant is placed in a rotating drum, while the drying zone and the regeneration zone extend inside the vessel. During operation of such a drying device, the drying drum will be rotated by drive means provided for this purpose, so that the desiccant in said drying drum will be taken alternately through the drying zone and the regeneration zone. The compressed gas to be dried will be guided through the drying zone, while the regeneration gas stream will be guided through the regeneration zone, so that drying of the compressed gas in the drying zone and regeneration of the desiccant in the regeneration zone are achieved simultaneously.

[0010] Examples of such drying devices provided with a rotating drying drum are described, for example, in WO 00 / 033.943, WO 00 / 074.819, WO 01 / 078.872, WO 01 / 087.463, WO 02 / 038.251, WO 2007 / 079533, WO 2005 / 070.518, WO 2006 / 012.711, GB 1.226.348, GB 1.349.732, GB 1.426.292, US 3.490.201, US 5.385.603 and US 8.349.054.

[0011] The desiccants or desiccant used in known drying devices for drying compressed gases consist, for example, of silica gel, molecular sieves, activated alumina, or combinations thereof. As is known, the desiccants can be fixed on a support, for example a corrugated structure of glass or ceramic fibres that is wound up to form a honeycomb structure within a container, as described, for example, in US 5.683.532.

[0012] In fact, with known drying devices for drying compressed gases, under certain conditions, such as in the event of insufficient regeneration of the desiccant and its supersaturation, the desiccant undergoes complex decomposition processes which in some cases, for example in the case of silica gel as a desiccant in the rotating section, can ultimately lead to failure of the drying device due to the degradation of the binder function of the silica gel, which leads to a loss of structural strength of the supporting glass fiber matrix, and also due to the degradation of the adsorption function of the silica gel as a result of hydrolysis and destruction of the silica gel structure.

[0013] That is, the adsorption behavior and function of the silica gel rotor will change substantially during the rotor's useful life under the harsh conditions of high humidity and high temperature. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0014] [Patent Document 1] US 2003 / 023.941 [Patent Document 2] US 4.783.432 [Patent Document 3] US 6.375.722 [Patent Document 4] EP 1.776.171 [Patent Document 5] WO 2006 / 050.582 [Patent Document 6] WO 00 / 033.943 [Patent Document 7] WO 00 / 074.819 [Patent Document 8] WO 01 / 078.872 [Patent Document 9] WO 01 / 087.463 [Patent Document 10] WO 02 / 038.251 [Patent Document 11] WO 2007 / 079533 [Patent Document 12] WO 2005 / 070.518 [Patent Document 13] WO 2006 / 012.711 [Patent Document 14] GB 1.226.348 [Patent Document 15] GB 1.349.732 [Patent Document 16] GB 1.426.292 [Patent Document 17] US 3.490.201 [Patent Document 18] US 5.385.603 [Patent Document 19] US 8.349.054 [Patent Document 20] US 5.683.532 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0015] It is an object of the present invention to provide an adsorption device for compressed gases that provides a solution to one or more of the disadvantages associated with previously known adsorption devices that utilize adsorbents. [Means for solving the problem]

[0016] To this end, the invention relates to an adsorption device for compressed gas, which is provided with a container having an inlet for the supply of the compressed gas to be treated and an outlet for the treated gas, and in which an adsorption element is fixed in said container, which adsorption element consists of a monolithic support structure extending along the flow direction of the compressed gas to be treated between said inlet and said outlet and which is at least partially provided with a coating comprising an adsorbent according to the invention.

[0017] The advantage of such an adsorption device according to the invention is that since no loose particles of adsorbent are used there is no risk of migration or fluidization, so that dust formation is prevented whilst a relatively high flow rate of the compressed gas being treated through the adsorption device is possible.

[0018] Furthermore, such adsorption devices according to the present invention allow for the vessel to be placed vertically, inclined or even horizontally, which is not possible with conventional drying devices utilizing, for example, granular desiccants, as horizontal use of such known drying devices can lead to particle rearrangement and the formation of internal leakage paths and, consequently, reduced dryer performance.

[0019] According to a preferred feature of the invention, the monolithic support structure comprises one or more of the following materials: ceramic materials, metal foils, textile structures, and polymers. Particularly good results are obtained using ceramic structures containing cordierite.

[0020] Preferably, the adsorbent comprises one or more of the following materials: zeolites, silica gel, activated alumina, activated carbon, metal-organic compositions, carbon molecular sieves (CMS), impregnated adsorbents, and hybrid adsorbents. In particular, hydrophilic zeolite supports are preferred. Good results are obtained by utilizing faujasite or zeolite type X with a silicon / aluminium ratio between 2 and 3.

[0021] According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the adsorption device comprises several adsorption elements placed in series within said vessel along the gas flow direction.

[0022] The invention also relates to an adsorbent element for an adsorption device for compressed gas, the adsorbent element including a monolithic support structure at least partially provided with a coating containing an adsorbent.

[0023] In addition, the present invention also relates to a cartridge comprising a stack of adsorbent elements provided with a monolithic support structure at least partially provided with a coating containing an adsorbent.

[0024] In order to better illustrate the properties of the invention, a few preferred embodiments of the adsorption device according to the invention will now be described by way of example and without any limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0025] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an adsorption device according to the invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 shows a cartridge of an adsorptive element according to the invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the part indicated by F3 in FIG. 2 on a larger scale. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 shows a variant of the suction device according to FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 shows a variant of FIG. 3 with a stack of adsorber elements mounted in a container. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 shows a detail of the upper edge of a stack of adsorptive elements in a mounted state within a container. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically a possible embodiment of an adsorption device 1 according to the invention, which in this case forms a drying device and comprises two vessels 2A and 2B each provided with an inlet 3A and 3B, respectively, for the supply of compressed gas to be treated (in this case dried) and an outlet 4A and 4B, respectively, for the discharge of the treated (in this case dried) compressed gas.

[0027] The respective outlets 4A and 4B are connected through outlet pipes 5A and 5B to a pressure pipe 5 of a compressor 6, in this example an air compressor. Each of the outlet pipes 5A and 5B can be shut off by means of an outlet valve 7A and 7B respectively provided for this purpose.

[0028] Meanwhile, between the outlet valves 7A and 7B, respectively, and the outlets 4A and 4B, respectively, it can be closed by means of exhaust valves 9A and 9B, respectively, and a connection is provided on each outlet pipe 5A and 5B to exhaust pipes 8A and 8B, respectively, which in this case, but not necessarily, are connected to a common outlet 10.

[0029] The inlets 3A and 3B are connected to each other by a connecting pipe 11 in which a first set of two shut-off valves 12A and 12B are placed in series. The valves 12A and 12B are bypassed by a bypass pipe 13 in which a second set of two shut-off valves 14A and 14B are placed in series.

[0030] The connecting pipe 11 and the bypass pipe 13 are connected to each other by a cooling pipe 15 to which a heat exchanger 16 and a condensation separator 17 are fixed. One end of the cooling pipe 15 is connected to the connecting pipe 11 between the first set of shut-off valves 12A and 12B, while the other end of the cooling pipe 15 is connected to the bypass pipe 13 between the second set of shut-off valves 14A and 14B.

[0031] In this example, each of the outlet valves 7A and 7B, the exhaust valves 9A and 9B, and the shut-off valves 12A, 12B, 14A, 14B are configured in the form of a controllable shut-off valve connected to a control unit 18 either wirelessly or via a control cable provided for this purpose which is not included in the drawings for the sake of clarity.

[0032] According to the invention, an adsorption element 19A and 19B, respectively, in the form of a drying element in this case, is fixed in each of said vessels 2A and 2B, more particularly in the flow path of the gas to be dried, or in other words according to the flow direction of the compressed gas to be treated between said inlets 3A and 3B, respectively, on the one hand, and said outlets 4A and 4B, respectively, on the other hand.

[0033] With respect to the first vessel 2A, an inlet side 20A of the adsorber element 19A extends opposite the inlet 3A, whereas an outlet side 21A of the adsorber element 19A extends opposite the outlet 4A.

[0034] Similarly, the adsorber element 19B in the second vessel 2B has an inlet side 20B and an outlet side 21B extending opposite the inlet 3B and outlet 4B, respectively.

[0035] According to the invention, the adsorber elements 19A and 19B comprise a monolithic support structure, preferably, but not necessarily, made of a ceramic structure containing cordierite, e.g., Celcor® by Corning. Alternatively, according to the invention, other ceramic materials such as mullite, γ- or α-alumina, or silicon carbide (SiC), metal foils, or fibrous structures based, for example, on glass fibers, ceramic fibers, or other fibers, or mixtures of different types of fibers, or polymers, can also be used for the manufacture of the support structure.

[0036] It will be appreciated that the above list is not exhaustive and the use of other materials is not excluded.

[0037] The present invention does not exclude that the monolithic support structure is manufactured from a combination of two or more of the above and / or other materials.

[0038] The material of the support structure preferably contains between 200 and 1200 CPSI (cells per square inch), more preferably between 350 and 450 CPSI.

[0039] The wall thickness of the support structure is preferably between 2 and 11 mils (milliinches), more preferably between 3 and 9 mils, and even more preferably between 5 and 7.5 mils. In a most preferred embodiment, the wall thickness is between 6 and 7 mils, preferably about 6.5 mils.

[0040] The porosity of the walls of the support structure is preferably greater than 5%, more preferably greater than 10%, and even better greater than 20%.

[0041] The cells formed preferably have a square shape, but can take on other shapes such as triangular, sinusoidal, circular, hexagonal, and the like.

[0042] According to the invention, the monolithic support structure is at least partially provided with a coating containing an adsorbent.

[0043] According to the invention, the adsorbent may contain one or more of the following materials: zeolites, preferably hydrophilic but also hydrophobic zeolites, which may be, for example, faujasite zeolite type X, e.g. Zeolum F9 from Tosoh, or mixtures of zeolites types X and A, silica gel, activated alumina, activated carbon, metal-organic compositions, carbon molecular sieves (CMS), impregnated adsorbents, and hybrid adsorbents, and / or other materials.

[0044] The above list is not exhaustive and other materials are possible according to the present invention.

[0045] The choice of adsorbent depends on what treatment the gas being treated needs to undergo, such as drying or removal of other molecules such as oxygen or carbon dioxide, for example when the adsorption device is used as a nitrogen generator and the compressed gas being treated is compressed air.

[0046] The particle size distribution of the adsorbent is preferably D 50 is less than 10 μm, more preferably less than 4 μm.

[0047] In addition to the adsorbent, the coating preferably also contains a binder material, preferably an inorganic binder material such as colloidal silica, e.g., Ludox-AS 40 from Grace Davison, alumina, and / or clay.

[0048] Additionally, organic binder materials such as methylcellulose, acrylics, vinyls, and the like, and / or materials from the cellulosic group may be used if desired.

[0049] In the example of FIG. 1, each vessel 2A and 2B contains only one adsorption element 19A and 19B, respectively, but the invention is not so limited, since a variant of the adsorption device 1 according to the invention also allows two or more adsorption elements 19A or 19B to be placed in series in vessels 2A and / or 2B along the gas flow direction, as shown in FIG. 2.

[0050] FIG. 2 shows an example of several adsorber elements 19A stacked on top of each other, in this example disc-shaped and all presenting flat top and bottom surfaces.

[0051] In each case between two adsorbent elements 19A stacked on top of one another there is preferably provided a seal 22 around the periphery of these adsorbent elements 19A, in this case a ring-shaped seal extending between the interface of the stacked adsorbent elements 19A, with at least one radial lip directed inwards, in this case two V-shaped radial lips 23 directed inwards.

[0052] A shrink sleeve 24, preferably made of a resilient material that is not very permeable to gas, such as a polyolefin, is secured over the peripheral wall of the entire stack of adsorber elements, or may be secured over only a portion of the height of the stack of adsorber elements.

[0053] A set of stacked adsorber elements 19A thus forms a cartridge that is replaceable or interchangeable in accordance with certain aspects of the present invention.

[0054] The operation of the suction device 1 according to the invention is very simple and is as follows.

[0055] In the first case, the first vessel 2A in this example will fulfill the role of a drying vessel, while the adsorption element 19B (i.e., the drying element here) will be regenerated in the second vessel 2B.

[0056] The compressor 6 draws in a gas, for example atmospheric air, and compresses it. The compressed hot gas is then conveyed through the open outlet valve 7B, through the pressure pipe 5, through the outlet pipe 5B to the outlet 4B of the second vessel 2B.

[0057] The hot compressed gas will have a sufficiently low relative humidity to extract moisture from the adsorbent element 19B present in the desiccant, thus regenerating said adsorbent element 19B, in other words, the desiccant is dried in the second container 2B.

[0058] The hot moist gas is then driven through the open shut-off valve 14B to the cooling pipe 15 where it is guided in turn through the heat exchanger 16 and the condensation separator 17 and then conveyed through the open shut-off valve 12A and the connecting pipe 11 to the inlet 3A of the first vessel 2A.

[0059] 100% saturated cold compressed gas enters the first vessel 2A through inlet 3A and is guided through adsorption element 19A.

[0060] The adsorbent present on the support structure will extract moisture from the compressed gas as it flows through the adsorbent element 19 A. In this example, the adsorbent will effectively fill the role of a desiccant or desiccant material.

[0061] The gas leaving the adsorbent element 19A at its outlet side 21A will be drier than the gas that entered the vessel 2A through the inlet 3A.

[0062] The dry compressed gas then flows through outlet 4A, through outlet pipe 5A and open exhaust valve 9A to exhaust pipe 8A and to outlet 10 connected thereto which can be connected to a consumer of dry compressed gas.

[0063] After a certain circulation time, the operation of both vessels 2A and 2B can be switched and the second vessel 2B can take on the role of a drying vessel while the desiccant in the first vessel 2A can be regenerated.

[0064] Due to the fact that the adsorption device 1 according to the present invention does not utilize a granular desiccant, the vessels 2A and 2B can be placed in any position, such as vertical, horizontal, or any other position.

[0065] Because the adsorbent is mounted on a support structure, there is no risk of fluidization as is the case with granular desiccant, so that dust formation cannot occur even at high gas velocities through the adsorbent element.

[0066] When several adsorption elements 19A placed on top of each other are used, as shown in FIG. 2, the gas will flow through successive adsorption elements in sequence either as the gas to be dried or as the regeneration gas.

[0067] The presence of said seals 22 between successive adsorber elements 19A prevents leakage from occurring between the side walls of the stack of adsorber elements 19A on the one hand and the inner wall of the container 2A on the other hand. As for the rest, the same applies to the use of such a stack of several adsorber elements 19B in a second container 2B, which is of course also possible and can be provided with said seals 22.

[0068] 4 shows another embodiment of the adsorption device 1 according to the invention, in which in this case there is only one container 25 in which the adsorption element 19 is rotatably fixed. The adsorption element 19 is attached to a drive means, for example in the form of an electric motor 26.

[0069] As in known rotary drum dryers, a regeneration zone and an adsorption zone (in this case the drying zone) extend inside the vessel. A pressure pipe 5, in this case coming from a compressor 6, is connected to the inlet of the regeneration zone, as in known HOC dryers. The outlet of the regeneration zone is connected in known manner to the inlet of the adsorption zone through a connecting pipe 27. A heat exchanger 16 and a condensation separator 17 are provided in said connecting pipe 27.

[0070] Finally, the outlet of the regeneration zone is connected through a discharge pipe 8 to an outlet 10 .

[0071] The operation of the adsorption device according to Fig. 4 is similar to that of known HOC dryers having a rotating drum provided with a desiccant. However, due to the structure of the adsorption element 19, such an improved adsorption device according to the invention is less susceptible to failure due to strength degradation. In short, the monolithic support structure of the adsorption element in the adsorption device of the invention does not lose structural strength even under harsh conditions of high humidity and high temperature.

[0072] Although the embodiments of the adsorption device 1 according to the invention shown in the drawings are both full-flow HOC dryers, the invention is not so limited as the adsorption device 1 according to the invention does not necessarily have to operate according to the full-flow principle. Similarly, the invention does not require the use of heat of compression for regenerating the adsorbent, but rather any regeneration gas, compressed or otherwise, coming from the process itself or elsewhere, can be used.

[0073] FIG. 5 shows a variant of the detail of claim 3 in which in this case a stack of adsorber elements 19A is fixed to a container 2A, part of the wall of this container 2A being visible.

[0074] In this example, seal 22 includes a ring 28, such as, but not necessarily, of aluminum, another metal, or a polymer, the inner diameter of ring 28 being somewhat larger than the outer diameter of adsorber element 19A, which in this example is disk-shaped.

[0075] The ring 28 extends over the periphery of the ends of the adsorber elements 19A that are placed on top of one another. On its inner edge, said ring 28 is provided with an inwardly directed radial edge 29, against which said ends of the adsorber elements are fixed.

[0076] To obtain a good seal and prevent leak paths, sealing layers 30 and 31, respectively, for example in the form of a quantity of adhesive or another sealing element, are secured around the entire periphery on either side of edge 29.

[0077] In this example, the ring 28 is provided around its circumference with two substantially parallel ribs 32 at an axial distance from each other, between which a seal 33, in this case in the form of an O-ring, is fixed. According to the invention, the presence of the ribs 32 is not strictly necessary. For example, only one rib can be provided on which the seal 33 rests, or it can be fixedly mounted on the ring 28 of the seal or form an integral part thereof.

[0078] When a cartridge consisting of adsorber elements stacked on top of one another is installed, the seal 33 will press against the inner wall of the container 2A, as shown in Figure 5. This arrangement thus ensures that leakage between the adsorber elements 19A, as well as between the cartridge and the container wall, is prevented.

[0079] Here again, it is clear that the embodiment is not limited to application in vessel 2A, but can be applied in exactly the same way in vessel 2B of FIG. 1 and / or in vessel 25 of FIG. 4 or in any other type of adsorption device 1 according to the invention.

[0080] Figure 6 shows a detail of the upper edge of the top of a stack of adsorber elements 19A as they are fitted into a vessel 2A. The wall of the vessel 2A is shown to the right of the drawing. The same configuration is possible on the lower edge of the stack of adsorber elements, or on the top and / or bottom surface of an individual such adsorber element when only one adsorber element is used in the vessel.

[0081] A V-shaped seal 34 is pressed over the free periphery of the adsorbent element 19A, in other words the periphery that is not directed towards another adsorbent element 19A, all so that a first arm 35 of the seal presses against the axial upper face of the adsorbent element 19A, while a second arm 37 of this seal 34 presses against the radial outer wall 38 of the adsorbent element 19A.

[0082] In this case, the V-shaped seal 34 presents a lobe-like projection 39 on the upper surface, or in other words on the side surface where the two arms 35 and 38 are connected to one another.

[0083] According to a preferred feature of the invention, pressing means are provided for radially pressing a portion of the seal 34 against the inner wall of the container 2A. In this example, said pressing means comprise a conical ring 40 pressed by a spring 41 against a lobe-like projection 39 of the seal 34. For this purpose, the conical surface of the conical ring 40 is directed towards said seal 34 and presses the spring with its other end, for example against the cover of the container 2A. It goes without saying that the portion of the seal 34 pressed against the inner wall of the container 2A does not necessarily have to be lobe-like and that this portion can be configured in many different ways.

[0084] The maximum outer diameter of the conical ring 40 is preferably, but not necessarily, about as large as the inner diameter of the container 2A.

[0085] Alternatively, in the configuration shown by way of example in FIG. 6, seals at the top and bottom of a cartridge consisting of a stack of adsorptive elements 19A can be obtained in a different way, for example by using adhesive rings and O-rings similar to the principle shown in FIG. 5.

[0086] Although the above description has primarily been directed to adsorption devices in the form of desiccant devices for adsorbing moisture, the present invention also relates to other types of adsorption devices, such as nitrogen generators having an adsorption element capable of adsorbing certain gas molecules, such as oxygen and / or carbon dioxide, etc. For example, nitrogen can be generated as is known by removing such gas molecules from compressed air.

[0087] The invention is in no way limited to the embodiment described by way of example and shown in the drawings, rather the adsorption device according to the invention for compressed gas can be realized in many forms and dimensions without departing from the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0088] 1. Adsorption device 2A, 2B container 5. Pressure Pipe 15 Cooling pipe 19A, 19B Adsorption elements

Claims

1. An adsorption device for compressed gas, comprising: an adsorption device (1) in which a container (2A, 2B, 25) having an inlet (3A, 3B) for the supply of compressed gas to be treated and an outlet (4A, 4B) for the treated gas is provided; an adsorption element (19A, 19B, 19) is fixed to the container (2A, 2B, 25), the adsorption element (19A, 19B, 19) extending in the flow direction of the compressed gas to be treated between the inlet (3A, 3B) and the outlet (4A, 4B), The adsorbent element (19A, 19B, 19) comprises a monolithic support structure at least partially provided with a coating containing an adsorbent, the adsorbent comprises carbon molecular sieve (CMS); several adsorption elements (19A) are placed in series in the vessel (2A, 2B, 25) along the flow direction of the gas, the adsorption elements (19A) being stacked on top of each other, a V-shaped seal (34) having a first arm (35) pressing against an axial upper surface of the adsorbent element (19A) and a second arm (37) pressing against a radially outer wall (38) of the adsorbent element (19A), a portion of the V-shaped seal (34) being radially pressed against an inner wall of the container (2A); An adsorption device characterized by:

2. 10. The adsorptive device of claim 1, wherein the monolithic support structure comprises one or more of the following materials: ceramic materials, metal foils, fibrous structures, and polymers.

3. 3. The adsorptive device of claim 2, wherein the monolithic support structure is comprised of a ceramic structure containing cordierite.

4. 4. The adsorption device of claim 1, wherein the coating also contains a binder material in addition to the adsorbent.

5. The binder material may be any of the following inorganic binder materials: Colloidal silica, Alumina, and / or clay, The adsorption device according to claim 4, characterized in that it contains one or more of the following:

6. The binder material may be any of the following organic binder materials: Methylcellulose, polymer, and / or Materials of the cellulose group, The adsorption device according to claim 4 or claim 5, characterized in that it contains one or more of the following:

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