PSA Off-Gas Segmentation for Continuous Burner Fuel Supply
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prior art pressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems face challenges in efficiently managing pressure fluctuations in off-gas vessels during the blow-down and purge phases, leading to discontinuous fuel supply for burners and increased costs due to the need for large buffer vessels.
Innovation Solution
The method involves connecting each vessel directly to both the off-gas consuming device and storage vessel during specific pressure states, allowing for direct consumption of off-gas from the absorption vessel, thereby reducing pressure in the adsorption vessel and enabling quicker pressure reduction, and controlling the purge process to maintain pressure close to the minimum inlet pressure of the burner.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a large off-gas vessel is used to store off-gas during blow-down and purge phases, then the fuel supply to burners can be maintained, but the cost and size of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The off-gas management system is segmented into multiple smaller vessels (first off-gas vessel and second off-gas vessel) that operate in alternating phases. While one vessel is being filled during blow-down, the other supplies fuel to the burner during purge phase, eliminating the need for a single large buffer vessel.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic action by alternating the roles of two off-gas vessels between filling and fuel supply phases. The vessels switch functions in a cyclic manner, with each vessel serving as the fuel source during the other's filling period, ensuring continuous fuel supply without requiring excessive storage capacity.
2Stability of the object's composition
If off-gas is stored in a buffer vessel at low pressure, then pressure fluctuations in the PSA vessels are reduced, but the ability to maintain continuous fuel supply to burners deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the off-gas management into two separate vessels that operate in parallel but with alternating functions. One vessel maintains pressure stability during blow-down while the other ensures fuel supply continuity during purge, resolving the contradiction between pressure stability and continuous fuel supply.
Solution Approach 2:
The system ensures continuity of useful action by having one off-gas vessel continuously supply fuel to the burner while the other is being filled. This alternating pattern guarantees that fuel supply never interrupts, even while pressure management occurs in the other vessel.
3Productivity
If the purge phase is performed at lower pressure, then the cleaning efficiency of the adsorbent bed improves, but the pressure management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure management system uses periodic action by alternating between high-pressure blow-down phase and low-pressure purge phase in different vessels. This allows each phase to operate at its optimal pressure level without requiring the entire system to maintain complex pressure control simultaneously.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces the size and cost of off-gas vessels, allows for more efficient pressure management, and ensures a continuous fuel supply to burners by consuming off-gas directly from the absorption vessel, minimizing pressure fluctuations and enabling lower pressure operation during the blow-down and purge phases.
Implementation Method 1
separating the gas mixture by adsorbing at least one gas component in an adsorbent mass provided in each vessel
Implementation Method 2
Reducing the pressure will result in desorption of the contaminants in an attempt to keep the absolute partial pressure of the contaminants constant
Data Source
AI summary
Method for separating a gas mixture according to a pressure swing adsorption process (PSA process), and apparatus for performing this method, the apparatus comprising a plurality of vessels, wherein each vessel has at least one inlet and one outlet, an adsorbent mass is provided in each of said vessels for adsorbing at least one gas component, and the inlet of each of said vessels is connected to a storage vessel for an off-gas, and the inlet of each of said vessels and the storage vessel are further connected to an off-gas consuming device.