Methodological Approach for Optimizing Production of Oxygen by Adsorption of Nitrogen from Air using Zeolite Li-LSX

Abstract

This research investigates the optimum operating conditions related to the adsorption of nitrogen gas from ambient air on zeolite Li-LSX to produce oxygen gas by the pressure-vacuum swing adsorption process. Experiments were performed using a column (4 cm inside diameter and 17 cm length) packed with different heights of packing (h) of zeolite (9, 12, and 16 cm) from 0.4 to 0.8 mm diameter pellets. At each packing height, different flow rates (f) (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 L·min−1) for different input pressures ( p ) (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 bar) were used to detect their effects on the purity of produced oxygen as percentage volume of the outlet air stream. The results showed that the purity of produced oxygen increased with increasing packing height, pressure, and flowrate to a specific limit. The maximum purity obtained was 73.15% at 16 cm packing height, 2.5 bar input pressure, and 6 L·min−1 inlet flowrate, and the productivity was equal to 18 mmol·(Kg·s)−1 at these conditions. A response surface methodology was used to determine the most influential variables and their interactions. The results confirmed the strong effects of the input pressure, the packing height, and to a lesser extent, the flowrate. A quadratic model was predicted based on the experimental result and assessed statistically. The impacts of quadratic terms in the model were in the order: of p ∗ p > p ∗ h > p ∗ f . The model was applied to predict the operating conditions of 95% purity of oxygen.

Isotherms and Kinetics Study for Adsorption of Nitrogen from Air using Zeolite Li-LSX to Produce Medical Oxygen

“…In this respect, experiments were designed using the Box-Behnken Design (BBD). Fifteen experiments were carried out with various combinations of the studied variables which were: inlet pressure, packing height, and flow rate to determine which factors and their interactions had the major influence on the purity of the generated oxygen [18].…”

“…The Langmuir, Dubinin -Radushkevich, and Freundlich isotherm models were used to examine the adsorption data. The adsorption isotherms were applied at the best operating conditions obtained in this study: 2.5 bar pressure, and 16 cm height of packing which gives the highest purity of oxygen (73.15 vol % of outlet gas) which was the basis for optimizing the results to reach the utmost purity required for medical purposes [18]. These models relate the quantity of nitrogen adsorbed on a solid surface Fig.…”