Process simulation and analysis of air separation for oxygen production via fast vacuum swing adsorption

IF 3.1 4区工程技术 Q3 CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL

Adsorption Pub Date : 2025-08-07 DOI:10.1007/s10450-025-00646-z

Zhi Qi, Bo Ren, Yalou Guo, Chuhan Fu, Jinbiao Luo, Sibin Li, Jianbin Qin, Gang Wang, Tao Qi, Paul Webley, Guoping Hu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Fast pressure swing adsorption (FPSA) is an adsorption-based separation process with cycle durations ranging from a few to tens of seconds. While widely used in small-scale oxygen generators, FPSA still holds significant potential for improvement. In this study, we propose and demonstrate a novel rapid vacuum swing adsorption (FVSA) cycle, where adsorption occurs at atmospheric pressure and desorption under vacuum, to enhance small-scale oxygen production from air. A simulated air mixture, containing 78% nitrogen (N₂), 21% oxygen (O₂) and 1% argon (Ar), was processed through a dual-column FVSA system using LiLSX zeolite as the adsorbent. A numerical model was developed on Aspen Adsorption and validated against previously reported results. A parametric study was conducted to assess the effects of various operating conditions on separation performance. The results indicate that a low feed flow rate, low desorption pressure, and an optimal length-to-diameter (L/D) ratio improve the separation efficiency. Under operating conditions of 101.1 kPa adsorption pressure, 40.3 kPa desorption pressure, and a feed rate of 47 L/min, the system achieved a 91% O₂ product stream with a 5 L/min flowrate and 44% O₂ recovery. Compared to traditional FPSA, FVSA reduced energy consumption by 13% (39.24 vs. 33.99 kJ·mol⁻¹O₂) and lowered the air-to-oxygen ratio by 25% (14.4 vs. 10.8) while maintaining comparable O₂ purity, demonstrating its potential for more efficient oxygen production.

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快速真空摇摆吸附制氧空气分离过程模拟与分析

快速变压吸附（FPSA）是一种基于吸附的分离过程，循环时间从几秒到几十秒不等。虽然广泛应用于小型氧气发生器，但FPSA仍有很大的改进潜力。在这项研究中，我们提出并展示了一种新的快速真空摆动吸附（FVSA）循环，在大气压下进行吸附，在真空下进行解吸，以提高空气中的小规模氧气生产。以LiLSX沸石为吸附剂，采用双柱FVSA系统处理含78%氮气（N2）、21%氧气（O2）和1%氩气（Ar）的模拟空气混合物。建立了杨木吸附的数值模型，并与先前报道的结果进行了验证。通过参数化研究，评价了不同操作条件对分离性能的影响。结果表明，低进料流量、低解吸压力和最佳长径比可提高分离效率。在101.1 kPa的吸附压力、40.3 kPa的解吸压力、47 L/min的进料速率条件下，系统实现了91%的O2产物流、5 L/min的流量和44%的O2回收率。与传统的FPSA相比，FVSA降低了13%的能耗（39.24 kJ·mol - 1O2 vs. 33.99 kJ·mol - 1O2），将空气氧比降低了25% (14.4 kJ·mol - 1O2 vs. 10.8 kJ·mol - 1O2)，同时保持了相当的O2纯度，证明了其更高效产氧的潜力。

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来源期刊

Adsorption 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

8.10

自引率

3.00%

发文量

审稿时长

2.4 months

期刊介绍： The journal Adsorption provides authoritative information on adsorption and allied fields to scientists, engineers, and technologists throughout the world. The information takes the form of peer-reviewed articles, R&D notes, topical review papers, tutorial papers, book reviews, meeting announcements, and news. Coverage includes fundamental and practical aspects of adsorption: mathematics, thermodynamics, chemistry, and physics, as well as processes, applications, models engineering, and equipment design. Among the topics are Adsorbents: new materials, new synthesis techniques, characterization of structure and properties, and applications; Equilibria: novel theories or semi-empirical models, experimental data, and new measurement methods; Kinetics: new models, experimental data, and measurement methods. Processes: chemical, biochemical, environmental, and other applications, purification or bulk separation, fixed bed or moving bed systems, simulations, experiments, and design procedures.