Adsorption of Nitrogen from Air to Produce Oxygen

Ali, Mohmmed; Almilly, Raghad; Abid, Riyadh

doi:10.21608/ejchem.2022.151956.6578

Adsorption of Nitrogen from Air to Produce Oxygen

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Chemical Engineering Department - University of Baghdad – Baghdad – Iraq

² Water Research Department - Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) - Iraq.

³ Petroleum and Petrochemical Research Center- Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST)-Iraq

10.21608/ejchem.2022.151956.6578

Abstract

In our current life, a severe challenge is faced with a lack of synthetic oxygen because of infection with the Coronavirus. Oxygen can be supplied by using selective adsorption of nitrogen from the air using Pressure-Vacuum Swing Adsorption (PVSA). The experimental layout consists of one column (ID 4 cm) packed with commercial Li-LSX zeolite (0.4-0.8 mm) of 9 cm in height. The effects of inlet air pressure (0.5 – 2.5 bar) and inlet air flow rate (2 – 10 L min-1) on outlet oxygen purity and recovery were studied. Also, the isotherm behavior was studied to determine the type of adsorption. The results showed that increasing inlet pressure and flow rate increased the amount of adsorbed nitrogen, i.e., increased oxygen purity in the outlet. The effect of pressure tended to reduce the adsorption over a certain limit (2.5 bar) due to forcing gas molecules to enter the sites on the zeolite particle's surfaces. The best result was (73.14 % purity, 2.4496 recovery, and 153.471 mmol/Kg s productivity of oxygen at 2.5 bar and 8 L min-1). Also, the adsorption isotherm and breakthrough curve were studied.

Keywords