Abstract Proposal No: 9710553 Proposal Type: Investigator Initiated Principal Investigator: Philip C. Wankat Affiliation: Purdue University This grant is awarded through the Separations and Purification Program sub-element of the Interfacial, Transport and Separations Program of the Chemical and Transport Systems Division. The principal investigator is Dr. Philip C. Wankat at Purdue University. The research will evaluate a new method for the regeneration of adsorption columns. The method uses hot pure adsorbate vapor to heat the column. The latent heat available in the vapor is used to heat the column when the adsorbate vapor condenses on the adsorbent. A cold inert purge gas is used to purge the adsorbate out of the hot bed. Unlike normal steam regeneration, the heating and purge steps are decoupled. Pure adsorbate is recovered from the purge gas by condensation. The purge gas is cleaned in a newly regenerated bed and recycled. Solute movement theory (local equilibrium analysis) and numerical solution will be used to predict regeneration. Regeneration of adsorbents is an energy intensive step that controls the cost of commercial systems. The proposed technology should significantly reduce energy requirements, improve regeneration rates and enhance process efficiency. This would have an impact on various gas adsorption and separation technologies.
