The 2nd Regional . Conf. for Eng. Sci. /College. of Eng.

/ Al-Nahrain University /1-2/12/2010

A STUDY OF OXYGEN SEPARATION FROM AIR BY

PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION (PSA)
Z.A. Abdel-Rahman,
Asst.Prof., Tikrit Univ,
zaid572000@yahoo.co.uk,

H.S. Auob, Ass.

Lecturer, Tikrit Univ,
@yahoo.comhebah_alyobi

A. J. Ali,
Asst. Prof., Sohar Univ /Oman,
ajali@soharuni.edu.om,

ABSTRACT
Two small scale columns pressure swing adsorption unit (50 mm diameter, and 570 mm bed
length) has been constructed to study the separation of oxygen from air using commercial 13X
zeolite. The effect of adsorption pressure (2, 3, and 4 bar), adsorption time (10, 20, and 30 s), and
purge flow rate (1 to 6 liter/min) on the product oxygen purity were studied. For the case of 2column, 4-step operation, the result show that a product of about 70% oxygen purity was obtained,
whereas a product of about 80% oxygen purity was obtained for 6-step operation. No significant
effect on product oxygen purity was noticed throughout the adsorption pressure range studied, for
both cycle operations. This is confirmed by single bed characteristic results. The effect of the
adsorption time and the purge flowrate on the product oxygen purity show some optimum values for
4-step operation. Single bed characteristic result confirms the range of the adsorption time and the
purge flowrate. Similar trend results were noticed with 2-column, 6-step operation, with air initial
pressurizing, for the effect of purge flowrate at constant adsorption time (30 s). The product oxygen
purity for 6-Steps operation, with pure oxygen initial pressurizing, presents a plateau (of 82% purity)
for purge flowrate from 1 to 1.5 liter/min then decreases when increasing the purge flowrate above
1.5 liter/min. Single column characteristics, using initial intermediate oxygen pressurizing indicated
higher product oxygen purity expected (>90%) than that obtained in the 2-column, 6-step operation.

570

50

. 13X
(

6 -1)

30 20 10)

(
%80

4 3 2)
%70

.
.
.(
/

30 )

1,5
.(

%82

1
/

1,5

.% 90

( %82

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The 2nd Regional . Conf. for Eng. Sci. /College. of Eng. / Al-Nahrain University /1-2/12/2010

product recovery is increased because less

feed gas is necessary to re-pressurize the
columns.[1,4,5]
Oxygen production (purity below 95%)
from air, using nitrogen selective zeolites of
type A (5A) or type X (13X-NaX, LiX, or
LiLSX), by means of pressure swing
adsorption (PSA) processes has noticeably
increased in the past decades. However, the
concentration of the product is limited to 95%
oxygen, because of the presence of argon in
air, since these adsorbents present similar
adsorption capacities for oxygen and argon.
Purified oxygen is necessary for some
application such as medical application,
wastewater treatment, chemical processing,
etc.[4]
Different PSA processes and designs have
been implemented for many commercial
applications, where the difference lies in the
selection and sequence of the elementary
steps, and in the way in which these steps are
carried out.[3]
The main objects of present work
1. To construct a small scale Pressure Swing
Adsorption (PSA) unit for oxygen
separation from air, using two bed
columns which are packed with
commercial zeolite 13X.
2. To study the effects of operating
parameters, such as pressure, cycle time,
purge and product flow rate on the
performance of PSA unit, using two
columns 4-steps traditional Skarstrom
cyclic operation to adjust the process
variables ranges. The Performance is
characterized by O2 purity, Recovery and
Productivity.
3. To study the effects of operating
parameters, such as pressure, cycle time,
Purge and product flow rate on the
performance of PSA unit, using two
columns 6-steps equalization modification
cyclic operation. The Performance is

1. INTRODUCTION
At the present time, there are three
different technologies for oxygen production
from air:
1. The cryogenic technology based on
separation
by
low-temperature
distillation.
2. The membrane technology.
3. The adsorption technology
The latter two technologies have been
performed at ambient temperature. A more
and more popular air separation process is
currently pressure swing adsorption (PSA) on
zeolites, which was proposed by Skarstrom[1]
in the middle of the 20th century and is based
on periodic change of modes of selective
adsorption of gases at increased pressure and
their desorption with a decrease in pressure.
According to foreign information sources,
more than 20% of world oxygen production
is by pressure swing adsorption.[1,2]
The first (PSA) unit composed of two
beds and using a zeolite, was patented by
Skarstrom in 1960. Four steps were used in
this unit, as follows:[1,3]
1. Pressurization step, the bed pressure is
increased with feed.
2. Producing step, high pressure feed
through one end with raffinate
withdrawal through the other. Raffinate
means rich in the component with the
lowest adsorption affinity
3. Depressurization or blow down step,
pressure is decreased opening one bed
end, and the resulting flow is
countercurrent to the feed.
4. Purging step, desorption at the lower
operating pressure, which is performed
by purging the bed with the raffinate
product, flows countercurrent to the feed.
A very important improvement was the
introduction of the pressure equalization
stage, prior to the blow down step where two
beds are connected through one end while the
other remaining ends are kept closed. The

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PSA processes rarely utilize all the

adsorbents and the beds are never completely
regenerated. The unused portion of the bed
acts as a guard and is needed to maintain the
gas- and adsorbed-phases axial distribution[8]
Adsorption is assumed to occur at some
constant fraction of equilibrium, and by using
some given fraction of the available
adsorbent.[9]
Assuming operation at z/LB =0.75, and :

characterized by O2 purity, Recovery and

Productivity.
4. To investigate the characteristic of single
column operation and checking the
activity of the zeolite.
2. PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION
Adsorption processes are often identified
by their method of regeneration. Temperature
swing adsorption (TSA) and pressure swing
adsorption (PSA) are the most frequently
applied process cycles for gas separation.[6]
A pressure swing adsorption (PSA) cycle
is one in which desorption takes place at a
pressure much lower than adsorption. Its
principle application is for bulk separations
where contaminants are presented at high
concentration. The PSA cycles are
characterized by high residual loadings and
low operating loading. Fig.1 shows the
operating loading (q1-q2) that derives from
the partial pressure at feed conditions and the
lower pressure P2 at the end of desorption.
These low adsorption capacities for high
concentrations mean that cycle times must be
short, seconds to minutes, for reasonably
sized beds. Fortunately, packed beds of
adsorbent respond rapidly to changes in
pressure.[6]
A purge usually removes the desorbed
components from the bed, and the bed is
returned to adsorption condition by repressurization. Applications may require
additional steps. Systems with weakly
adsorbed species are especially suited to PSA
adsorption. The applications of PSA include
drying, upgrading of H2 and fuel gases, and
air separation.[6]
Adsorption time estimation for the PSA
process, assuming equilibrium driven and
negligible mass transfer effects, can be
calculated from the following equation [7] :
Qf Cf tz = qf w z / LB

NfN2 = Qf Cf = (78/22) NfO2

(2)

qN2= qsbN2PadyN2/1+bN2 yN2Pad+bO2 yO2 Pad (3)

NfN2 = NExN2 = qN2 * W

(4)

tz = qf W (0.75) / (78/22) NfO2

(5)

tz = 0.21 W qf / NfO2

(6)

The adsorption time is within that

given by Eq.(6).

3. EXPERIMENTAL WORK
The
schematic
diagram
of
the
experimental arrangement of PSA unit used
in the present work is shown in Fig.2. It
contains two galvanized steel columns. The
length of each column (L) is 0.7 m and its
diameter (D) is 50 mm. The input and output
connections are of 5 mm tubing, fittings and
valves.
The setup is equipped with an automatic
control system for controlling the time of
each cycle. A programmed timer controlled
solenoid valves were used to achieve the
desired operation.
The concentrations of the effluent flows
were analyzed by a portable calibrated
oxygen analyzer (GOX 100 Greisinger
Electronic GmbH).

(1)

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The 2nd Regional . Conf. for Eng. Sci. /College. of Eng. / Al-Nahrain University /1-2/12/2010

3. Adjust the system condition with or

without initial pure O2 intermediate
pressure of the first column to the desired
value, especially, for 6-steps operation.
4. Starting the control board with the setted
duration process steps and the valves
operation cycle as shown in Table(2) and
Fig.4 for 4-steps operation and Table(3)
and Fig.5 for 6-steps operation.
5. Adjust the flow rates of purge and product
to the desired values, using a gas rotameter
and a regulating valve.
6. Recording the product purity (O2 %)
measured by the analyzer with time and
stop the experiment when the system
reaches a steady state after about 30
minutes.

Atmospheric air was used as a feed to the

PSA system, after drying with active
alumina.
Fig.3 shows a single bed arrangement,
used
for
adsorbent
and
process
characteristics. One of the before mentioned
two columns was used. The work with single
column was designed to simulate the work of
the two columns PSA process.
The adsorbent used in this work is zeolite
13X (13XHP 8x12 mesh). The characteristics
of the adsorption bed and the adsorbent with
its adsorption isotherm of N2 and O2 are
shown in Table (1).
The experimental work in the present study
was divided into two directions:
1. Two-Column, 4-Steps and 6-Steps PSA
operation
2. Single Column Characteristics
The limitation of the experimental set-up
arrangement was tasted before performing the
experimental work. The following operating
parameters are held constant during the most
experiments with little exceptions:
Pressurizing time tpres= 10 s
Depressurizing time tdeprs= 10 s
Equalization time teq= 20 s
The operating parameters considered in
the present work with their ranges are as
follows;
Adsorption time tads= 10, 20, and 30 s
Adsorption pressure PH= 2, 3, and 4 bar
Purge flow rate Qpurg= 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
L/min
Two-Columns Operation
The experimental procedure was:
1. Preparation of the PSA system shown in
Fig.1, using vacuum and O2 pressurizing
and purging to ensure the zeolite activity.
The bed was kept at 1 Barg pressure of
pure oxygen to prevent contamination
from the outside air.
2. Adjust the air feed pressure by pressure
regulator.

Single Column Characteristics

The experimental procedure was:
1. Preparation of the PSA system shown in
Fig.2, using vacuum and O2 purging to
ensure the zeolite activity.
2. Adjust the air feed pressure by pressure
regulator.
3. Adjust the system condition with or
without initial pure O2 intermediate
pressure of the column to the desired
value.
4. Open the air feed valve.
5. Open the output valve and adjust the
flow rate product to the desired value,
using a gas rotameter and a regulating
valve.
6. Recording the product purity (O2 %)
measured by the analyzer with time.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Two Columns Operation
Effect of Adsorption Pressure
Figure (6) shows the effect of the
adsorption pressure (PH) on steady product
oxygen purity. No significant change was

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The 2nd Regional . Conf. for Eng. Sci. /College. of Eng. / Al-Nahrain University /1-2/12/2010

The result of the optimum range of

dimensionless adsorption time ads is less
than obtained by Cruz et al.(2003)[12] of ads=
1 1.5.

noticed between the pressure ratios studied of

2 and 4 bar. This result is in agreement with
that obtained by Jee et al. (2001)[5] for high
purge-to-feed ratio.
The present results are also in
agreement with that concluded by Yuwen et
al.(2005)[10], that medium adsorption pressure
gives optimum performance. In addition, a
high pressure level leads to higher
compression cost and a higher energy loss in
the depressurizing step.[11]
Jain et al.(2003)[11] stated that, for
constant selectivity systems, performance
increases with increasing pressure according
to adsorption equilibrium isotherm. The
present work system behaves as a nonconstant selectivity system with increasing
pressure.

Effect of Purge Flowrate

Figure (10) shows the effect of the
Purge Flowrate (Qpurg) on steady state
product oxygen purity, at constant adsorption
pressure (PH=3 bar). It shows some optimum
values of (Qpurg= 4, 2, and 1.5 liter/min) for
the three levels of adsorption times (tads=10,
20 and 30 s) respectively. This result is in
agreement with that obtained by Yang and
Doong (1985)[13] and Zahra et al.(2008) [14].
For low purge volumes, the
regeneration of the production column is
incomplete for low purge volume, the
nitrogen wave front eventually breaks
through, leading to a decrease of the average
product concentration.[12]
Figure (10) also shows the maximum
product oxygen purity of seventies for the
both effect of the Purge Flowrate (Qpurg) and
the adsorption times (tads).
There is an interrelationship between
the adsorption time (tads) and the purge
flowrate (Qpurg), which represents about 90 %
of effluent flowrate from the column.
Dimensionless adsorption time ( ads)
calculation account partially for this
interrelationship as shown in Fig. 9.
The product flowrate range, used in
the present work, can be presented as specific
flowrates (Qprod / w). Fig. 11 shows the
largest product oxygen purity of seventies
contour curve for the effect of the adsorption
times (tads) on the specific product flowrate
(Qprod/w).
Fig. 12 shows the effect of the Purge
Flowrate (Qpurg) on steady state product
oxygen purity for 6-Steps of PSA process,
with air feed initial pressurizing. It show an
optimum value at purge flowrate Qpurg= 1.5
liter/min. It is an identical trend with that of

Effect of adsorption time

Figure (7) shows the effect of the
adsorption time (tads) on steady state product
oxygen purity, at constant adsorption
pressure (PH =3 bar). It shows an optimum
value at tads= 20 s.
Breakthrough
occurs
at
high
adsorption time, and constant effluent
flowrate from the column. The duration of
the adsorption step is the time period needed
for breakthrough to occur. After this time, the
product purity will decline, and before this
time the full bed capacity will not be
employed. Thus, the adsorption time should
be near the breakthrough time. This time
depends upon isotherm, diffusivity and
residence time of the feed in the bed [11].
Figure (8) shows insignificant change
in the product oxygen purity with the
adsorption time (tads), by adjusting the
required purge flowrate.
Figure (9) shows the effect of the
dimensionless adsorption time ( ads) on
steady state product oxygen purity, at
constant adsorption pressure (PH =3 Bara). It
shows an optimum range of ads= 0.2 0.25.

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two-columns, 4-step cycle results, except the

largest product oxygen purity of eighties with
6-step cycle compared to seventies with 4step cycle.
Fig.13 shows the effect of the Purge
Flowrate (Qpurg) on steady state product
oxygen purity for 6-Steps of PSA process,
with pure oxygen initial pressurizing. The
product purity presents a plateau (for about
82% purity) for purge flowrate Qpurg 1 to 1.5
liter/min and then decreases. It is of the same
trend noticed by Mendes et al.(2001)[15].
The decrease in product purity with
the increasing of the purge flowrate (Qpurg)
above 1.5 liter/min can be attributed to that
breakthrough point which may occur at high
effluent from the column in which the purge
flowrate represents the most percentage of it
(about 90%).
Fig.14 shows the effect of the
dimensionless adsorption time ( ads) on
steady state product oxygen purity, at
constant adsorption pressure (PH =3 bar). It
shows an optimum value of about ads= 0.25,
for air feed initial pressurizing. The product
purity presents a plateau (for a about 82%
purity) for the dimensionless purge time ads
of 0.15 to 0.25, which then decreases for pure
oxygen initial pressurizing.
Fig.15 shows the effect of the
dimensionless purge time ( purg) on steady
state product oxygen purity, at constant
adsorption pressure (PH =3 bara). It shows an
optimum value of purg= 0.67, for air feed
initial pressurizing. The product purity
presents a plateau (for a about 82% purity)
for the dimensionless purge time purg 0.45 to
0.7, then decreases for pure oxygen initial
pressurizing. This is the same trend as the
dimensionless adsorption time.
4.2 Single Column Characteristics
Fig.16 shows the single column
characteristics, as breakthrough curve, using
air feed pressurizing at different adsorption

pressures and constant effluent flowrate

(Qeffluent=1 liter/min). No significant effect of
the adsorption pressure (PH) was noticed on
the effluent oxygen purity. This result
confirms the result of the 2-column, 4-step
and 6-step PSA unit, presented in the
previous section.
In addition, Fig.16 shows that the
effluent oxygen purity remains constant
(except for the starting period due to the time
lag of oxygen analyzer) at about 60 seconds.
Then the effluent oxygen purity decreases by
increasing the time above 60 seconds. This
result confirms the range of the adsorption
time (tads) and the purge flowrate (Qpurg)
which represent the high percentage of
effluent flowrate (Qeffluent) in the present
study for the 2-column, 4-step PSA unit.
Fig.17 shows the single column
characteristics, as breakthrough curve, using
initial intermediate pure oxygen pressurizing
at different effluent flowrates (Qeffluent), and
constant adsorption pressure (PH=3 bar). The
breakthrough time is much higher than the
adsorption time (tads) used in the present
study especially in the 2-column, 6-step PSA
unit. This indicates that high pure product
oxygen is expected (>90%). The possible
reason for the lower product oxygen purity
(80%) is the incomplete regeneration of the
adsorption column.
5. CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions can be drawn
from the present work:
1. The results of air separation for 2-column
pressure swing adsorption (PSA) using
commercial 13X zeolite shows
a
maximum of 70% oxygen purity for 4-step
cycle operation and a maximum of 80%
oxygen purity for 6-step cycle operation.
2. No significant effect on product oxygen
purity was noticed of the adsorption
pressure range studied between 2 and 4

208

The 2nd Regional . Conf. for Eng. Sci. /College. of Eng. / Al-Nahrain University /1-2/12/2010

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

2. Belnov, V. K., N. M. Voskresenskii, D.

M. Predtechenskaya, M. S. Safonov , and
L. I. Kheifets, Increasing the Efficiency of
an Air Separation Plant by Varying the
Cycle Stage Durations, Theo. Found. of
Chem. Eng., Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 143149,
2007.
3. Delgado, J. A., and Rodrigues, A. E.,
Analysis of the boundary conditions for
the simulation of the pressure equalization
step in PSA cycles, Chemical Engineering
Science 63 4452 4463, 2008.
4. Santos J.C., Cruz P, Regala T., Magalhaes
F.D., and Mendes A., "High-Purity
Oxygen Production by Pressure Swing
Adsorption", Ind Eng chem 46, pp 591599, 2007.
5. Jee, J. G., Lee J. S., and Lee C. H., "Air
Separation by a Small-Scale Two-Bed
Medical O2 Pressure Swing Adsorption",
Ind .Eng Chem.Res.40, 3647-3658, 2001.
6. Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical
Technology, volume 1,4th edition, JohnWiley & Sons (1991-1998).
7. Albright, L.F.), Albrights chemical
engineering handbook, CRC 2009.
8. Ritter, J. A.; Yang, R. T., Pressure Swing
Adsorption: Experimental and Theoretical
Study on Air Purification and Vapor
Recovery. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 30, 1023,
1991.
9. Smith, O. J., and Westerberg, A. W., The
Optimal Design Of Pressure Swing
Adsorption Systems, Che. Eng. Sci. Vol.
46. No. 12, pp. 2967-2976, 1991.
10. Yuwen, Z., Yuyuan, W., Jianying, G.,
Jilin, Z., The experimental study on the
performance of a small-scale oxygen
concentration by PSA, Separation and
Puri cation Technology 42, 23127, 2005.
11. Jain, S., Moharir, P. L. and Wozny, G.,
Heuristic Design of pressure Swing
Adsorption : A Preliminary Study,
Separation and Purification Technology,
33, 25-43, 2003.

Bara, for both 4-step and 6-step cycle

operations. This result is also confirmed
by single bed characteristic result.
The effect of the adsorption time (tads) and
the flow of purge flowrate (Qpurg) on the
product oxygen purity, shows some
optimum values, for 4-step cycle
operation. No effect was noticed when
these two parameters had been adjusted
with each other because of their
interrelationship.
The effect of the Purge Flowrate (Qpurg) on
the product oxygen purity for 6-Steps of
PSA process, with air feed initial
pressurizing, shows an optimum value at
purge flowrate Qpurg= 1.5 liter/min. It is
identical trend with that of two-columns,
4-step cycle results.
The product oxygen purity for 6-Steps of
PSA process, with pure oxygen initial
pressurizing, presents a plateau (for a
about 82% purity) for purge flowrate Qpurg
1 to 1.5 liter/min then decreases when
increasing the purge flowrate above 1.5
liter/min.
Single bed characteristics results confirms
the range of the adsorption time (tads) and
the purge flowrate (Qpurg), which represent
of the high percentage of effluent flowrate
(Qeffluent), in the present study for the 2column, 4-step PSA unit.
Single column characteristics, using initial
intermediate pure oxygen pressurizing
indicated higher pure product oxygen
expected (>90%). than that obtained
experimentally in the
2-column, 6-step
PSA unit. The possible reason for the
lower product oxygen purity (~80%) is the
incomplete regeneration of the adsorption
column.

REFRENCES
1. Ruthven, D. M.; Farooq, S.; Knaebel, K.
S., Pressure Swing Adsorption. VCH
Publishers: New York, 1994.

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The 2nd Regional . Conf. for Eng. Sci. /College. of Eng. / Al-Nahrain University /1-2/12/2010

qs
maximum adsorbent capacity of N2 or
O2 in Langmuir adsorption isotherm, mol/kg
tz
time of the front at position z, s
tads adsorption time, s
tdepress depressurization time, s
teq equalization time, s
tpress pressurization time, s
uH interstitial velocity during adsorption
step, m/s
uL interstitial velocity during purging step,
m/s
W adsorbent weight, kg
yi
mole fraction in gas phase of
component (i)
z axial co-ordinate,or distance traveled by
the front, m

12. Cruz, P., Santos, J. C., Magalhaes, F. D.

and Mendes, A., Cyclic adsorption
separation processes:analysis strategy
andoptimization procedure, Chemical
Engineering Science, 58, 3143 3158,
2003.
13. Yang, R., Doong, S., Gas separation by
pressure swing adsorption, a pore
diffusion model for bulk separation,
AIChE J., 31, 1829, 1985.
14. Zahra, M., T. Jafar, and M. Masoud,
"Study of a Four-bed Pressure Swing
Adsorption for oxygen Separation from
Air ", Int. J. of chem.and Biomolecular
Eng.1; 3, pp.140-144, 2008.
15. Mendes, A. M. M, Costa, C. A.V.,
Rodrigues A. E., Oxygen Separation from
Air by PSA: Modeling and Experimental
Results Part I: Isothermal Operation,
separation and purification technology, 24,
pp173-188, 2001.

Greek Symbols
ads dimensionless adsorption time
( ads = tads/ B)
purg dimensionless purging time
( ads = tpurg/ Bp)
bed
time constant of adsorption step
B
( B =LB/uH) , s
Bp bed time constant of purging step
( Bp =LB/uL) , s

NOMENCLATURE
A bed cross-section area, m2
bO2 Langmuir adsorption isotherm constant
of O2 , bar-1
bN2 Langmuir adsorption isotherm constant
of N2 , bar-1
Cf solute feed concentration, mol/l
d
bed diameter, mm
dp
adsorbent diameter, mm
LB bed length, m
NfN2 feed mole flowrate of N2, mol/s
NfO2 feed mole flowrate of O2, mol/s
NExN2 exhaust mole flowrate of N2, mol/s
PH, P1 adsorption high pressure ,bar
PL, P2 desorption low pressure, bar
Peq equalization pressure, bar
Qpurg purge flow rate, l/min
Qprod product flow rate, l/min
Qeffluent effluent flow rate, l/min
Qf air feed flow rate, l/min
qN2 adsorbent capacity of N2 , mol/kg
qO2 adsorbent capacity of O2 , mol/kg

Abbreviations
DR
Dryer
F
Filter
PR
Pressure Regulator
CT
Cold Trap
PG
Pressure Gauge
V1 to V5 Solenoid Valves
OA Oxygen Analyzer
OF Oxygen flowmeter
Table 1 Details of PSA Columns and Adsorbent
Adsorbers
Column Length
Column diameter
Adsorbent Type
Shape
Particle diameter
Particle density
Bulk density
Bed porosity

210

L
D

dp
p
B

0.7 m
50 mm
13X zeolite
Sphere
1.7-2.6 mm
1070 kg/m3
670 kg/m3
0.4

The 2nd Regional . Conf. for Eng. Sci. /College. of Eng. / Al-Nahrain University /1-2/12/2010

Adsorbent weight
Adsorbent bed length
Langmuir
isotherm
parameters[4]
Oxygen
Adsorption heat of O2
Nitrogen
Adsorption heat of N2

w
LB

0.75 kg
0.57 m

qsO2
bO2
HO2
qsN2
bN2
HN2

3.091 mole/kg
0.0367 bar-1
12.8 kJ/mole
3.091 mole/kg
0.1006 bar-1
17 kJ/mole

Table 2 Experimental 4-steps solenoid valves

operation. (tads=10,20,30 s)
Step

Column 1

1 Pressurizing
(tprs=10 s)
2 Producing
(tads)
3 Depressurizing
(tdeprs=10 s)
4 Purging
(tpur=tads)

(V1)open
(V3)close
(V1)open
(V3)close
(V1)close
(V3)open
(V1)close
(V3)open

Column 2
Depressurizing (V2)close
(tdepr s=10 s) (V4)open
Purging
(V2)close
(tpur=tads) (V4)open
Pressurizing (V2)open
(tprs=10 s) (V4)close
Producing
(V2)open
(tads)
(V4)close

Table 3 Experimental 6-steps solenoid valves

operation.(tads= 30 s)
Step

Column 1

Column 2

Fig.1 Pressure-swing cycle[6]

(V1)open Depressurizing (V2)close

(V3)close
(tdeprs=10 s) (V4)open
(V5)close
Purging
2 Producing
(V1)open
(V2)close
(tads= 30 s)
(V3)close (tpur=tads=30 s) (V4)open
(V5)close
3 Equalization (V1)open Equalization (V2)close
(teq=20 s)
(teq=20 s)
(V3)close
(V4)close
(V5)open
4 Depressurizing (V1)close Pressurizing (V2)open
(tprs=10 s) (V4)close
(tdeprs=10 s)
(V3)open
(V5)closed
5
Purging
(V1)close
Producing (V2)open
(tpur=tads=30 s) (V3)open
(tads= 30 s) (V4)close
(V5)closed
6 Equalization (V1)close Equalization (V2)open
(teq=20 s)
(teq=20 s)
(V3)close
(V4)close
(V5)open
1 Pressurizing
(tprs=10 s)

Fig.2 Experimental setup of two-columns

PSA process
(D= 50 mm, L=700 mm, 750 gm
zeolite(Zeo), 150 gm alumina(Alo))

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Fig.3 Experimental setup of single column

(D= 50 mm, L=700 mm, 750 gm zeolite,
150 gm alumina)

Fig.5 PSA system of 2-column 6-step

process

Fig.6 The effect of the adsorption pressure

(PH) on product oxygen purity for 2column, 4-step operation.

Fig.4 PSA system of 2-column 4-step

process

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The 2nd Regional . Conf. for Eng. Sci. /College. of Eng. / Al-Nahrain University /1-2/12/2010

Fig.7 Effect of the adsorption time (tads) on

product oxygen purity for 2-column, 4-step
cycle , (Qpurg=2 l/min).

Fig.10 The effect of the Purge Flow rate

(Qpurg) on product oxygen purity, for 2column, 4-step cycle

Fig.8 Effect of adsorption time (tads) on

product oxygen purity, for 4-step cycle, by
adjusting the purge flowrate (Qpurg).

Fig.11 The effect of the adsorption times

(tads) on specific product Flowrate
(Qpurg/w) at maximum product oxygen
purity.

Fig.9 Effect of the dimensionless

adsorption time ( ads) on product oxygen
purity for 2-column, 4-step operation.

Fig.12 The effect of the purge flowrate

(Qpurg) on product oxygen purity for 6Steps cycle, with air feed initial
pressurizing

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Fig.13 The effect of the purge flowrate

(Qpurg) on product oxygen purity for 6Steps cycle, with O2 initial pressurizing

Fig.16 Single column characteristics, using

air feed pressurizing at different
adsorption pressures and Qeffluent=1
liter/min

Fig.14 Effect of the dimensionless

adsorption time ( ads) on product oxygen
purity for 2-column, 6-step cycle.

Fig.17 Single column characteristics, using

initial pure oxygen pressurizing at
different Qeffluent, and PH=3 bar.

Fig.15 Effect of the dimensionless purge

time ( purg) on product oxygen purity for
2-column, 6-step cycle

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