PSA-1000

Summary

The PSA-1000 is, to the best of our knowledge, the only commercially available instrument for conducting experimental studies on temperature, vacuum, and pressure-swing adsorption (TSA, VSA, and PSA) processes and materials.

The PSA-1000 has been used for research on CO2 capture, hydrogen purification, natural gas sweetening, purification of noble gases, air separation, and specialized applications in chemical and petrochemical manufacturing.

Description

The standard PSA-1000 is a dual-bed system that mixes up to 4 different feed gases (which can be blends) and sustains pressures up to 20 bara. The system allows the user to experiment with different PSA cycles including adsorption, desorption, pressure equalization, and blow-down steps. The addition of an optional vacuum pump allows the system to reach vacuum levels of 0.1 Torr, thus enhancing the desorption rate. Customized software allows the user to define their own cycle schedules to optimize the gas separation of interest. Bed sizes and gas flow rates are customized to the user’s specifications, with bed volumes ranging from 100 cc (1” diameter) to as much as 3500 cc and gas flowrates from 1 to 700 std liters/minute. The beds are enclosed in furnaces that permit in situ degassing/regeneration at temperatures up to 375 °C and normal operating temperatures from 10 °C above ambient to 60 °C. All operations are controlled by L&C Science and Technology’s proprietary control and data acquisition software. ATEX-II compliance is possible for work with explosive gases. Various types of detectors such as thermal conductivity detectors (TCD), mass spectrometers, and NDIR gas detectors, can be integrated.

Specifications

Additional Information

The PSA-1000 can be customized almost infinitely to meet the user’s requirements. We have built systems with up to 4 beds and 2 vacuum pumps, with options for co- and counter-current blowdown and desorption, steam/heated gas regeneration (thus adding TSA capability), and bed cooling.

Note – the PSA-1000 is a system for conducting experiments, NOT a production system. What’s the difference? The short answer is dead space, i.e., space filled by gas that’s not exposed to the adsorbent. A production system is optimized to minimize dead space and maximize separation performance for a particular cycle. The PSA-1000 is designed to allow the user to experiment with different cycles and is thus not optimized for a particular cycle. We can certainly design and build a production system for you – please get in touch!

L&C Science & Technology

L&C