Removal of CO from process gas with Sn-activated carbon in pressure swing adsorption

A pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system using activated carbon impregnated with SnCl . 2H(2)O and pure activated carbon was used to remove CO from a model H-2/CO mixture representing the steam reformer process gas. On compar ing PSA results for both carbons, the CO adsorptive capacity of impregnated carbon was found to be superior to that of the pure carbon. This was confi rmed by the fact that the concentration of CO, initially at 1000 ppm, was s uccessfully reduced to 4.02% and 1.04% of its initial concentration by the pure and the impregnated activated carbons respectively in the PSA system. The species in the impregnated carbon responsible for the improved gas phas e CO adsorption was found to be SnO2,. Simulation results at a cyclic time of 600 s in the PSA operating at 10 atmospheres gave a product recovery and purity of 99.99% and 57.48%, respectively. At 6 atmospheres, the product r ecovery and purity were 92.17% and 77.12%, respectively. (C) 2000 Society o f Chemical Industry.