UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND GREEN TECHNOLOGY

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING (HONS) PETROCHEMICAL ENGINEERING

UGPA3081 PETROCHEMICAL LABORATORY 1

January 2019 Trimester

EXPERIMENT 9: PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION

Group Info:

Name Student ID Year and Trimester

EVANS ABAGANDA HARON 1501620 Year 3 Trimester 2

JONATHAN 1607502 Year 3 Trimester 2

KRISHNAAH DORAJ 1505922 Year 3 Trimester 3

PATMASHINISAII 1505236 Year 3 Trimester 2

NITHYANANTHAN

YUGENDRA RAO SUBRAMANIAM 1506215 Year 3 Trimester 1

Lecturer’s Name: Dr. Toh Pey Yi

Date of Experiment: 07/04/2019

OBJECTIVES:
1. To carry out a pressure swing adsorption for gas separation
2. To study the effect of pressure and adsorption duration towards pressure swing adsorption
3. To calculate selectivity and adsorption capacity of adsorbent

INTRODUCTION :
Pressure swing absorption is a widely used technology for the purification of gases.
This regeneration process is achieved by reducing the pressure. At a moderate pressure found
in compressed air systems, such as 100 pounds per square inch, an adsorbent can support a
certain amount of moisture. When the pressure is dropped to ambient air pressure, the adsorbent
can only support a smaller amount of moisture. By swinging the pressure from high to low, it
is possible to absorb large quantities of moisture at the higher pressure and then release that
moisture at a low pressure. This whole technique is called pressure swing absorption. By
alternating between two absorbent filled vessels, one vessel being on line and removing
moisture at high pressure and the other off line releasing the trapped moisture at low pressure,
it is possible to thoroughly dry a gas. (Chauhan, 2018)
Regeneration in a PSA process is achieved by reducing the partial pressure of the
absorbate. There are primarily two ways in which this can be achieved. The first way is
reduction in the system total pressure and next is the introduction of an inert gas while
maintaining the total system pressure. In most cases of pressure swing separation, a
combination of the two methods is employed. Changes in pressure can be effected very much
more quickly than changes in temperature, thus cycle time of pressure swing adsorption (PSA)
processes are typically in the order of minutes or even seconds. (Separationprocesses.com,
2018)
PSA processes are often operated at low adsorbent loadings because selectivity between
gaseous components is often greatest in the Henry's Law region. It is desirable to operate PSA
processes close to ambient temperature to take advantage of the fact that for a given partial
pressure the loading is increased as the temperature is decreased. A typical PSA processes
consist of 2-Bed system, although others systems had been also developed. PSA processes is a
popular process for performing bulk separations of gases. Separations by PSA and VSA are
controlled by absorption equilibrium. Both types of control are crucial commercially.
(Separationprocesses.com, 2018)
REFERENCES

1) Chauhan (2018). Pressure swing adsorption. [online] Slideshare.net. Available at:

https://www.slideshare.net/chauhansp198/pressure-swing-adsorption [Accessed 7 Apr.
2019].
2) Separationprocesses.com. (2018). Adsorption - Pressure Swing Adsorption processes.
[online] Available at: http://www.separationprocesses.com/Adsorption/AD_Chp02b1.htm
[Accessed 7 Apr. 2019].