PRESSURE, CONCENTRATION AND TEMPERATURE PROFILES IN A 5A ZEOLITE ADSORBENT BED DURING PRESSURIZATION AND DEPRESSURIZATION WITH AIR

Experimentally measured pressure, temperature and composition profiles for air admitted to and exhausted from a bed of 5A zeolite are compar ed with the corresponding profiles simulated by an electrical analogue representation of a non-isothermal model of the system. While pressur e and composition profiles are in good agreement, the experimentally m easured temperature profiles are some 8 to 10 degrees C lower than sim ulated on pressurisation and 8 to 10 degrees C higher on depressurisat ion. Simulations comparing differing model assumptions show that there are slight differences between results when fluid and solid temperatu res are taken to be identical and results when a difference between fl uid and solid temperatures is assumed. Greater differences are apparen t in simulations when the system is regarded as adiabatic and when the column wall is assumed to be at a constant temperature. The experimen tal results reflect a non-adiabatic system more closely than an adiaba tic one.