Investigation of the mechanism for the separation of nitrogen—oxygen mixtures on carbon molecular sieves

✍ Scribed by Frank R. Fitch; Martin Bülow; Alberto I. LaCava

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 914 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0950-4214
• DOI: 10.1016/0950-4214(94)85007-0

✦ Synopsis

Sorption separation of nitrogen-oxygen mixtures by carbon molecular sieves, e.g. to produce nitrogen using the pressure swing adsorption principle, proceeds under the condition of non-equilibrium. Experimental data based upon measurements of sorption equilibria and kinetics for nitrogen and oxygen on several samples of carbon molecular sieve particles in the temperature range 0-50°C suggest the existence of a surface barrier in the pore mouths of slit-like micropores for these pa~icular samples. The conclusion on this phenomenon is supported by the results of canonical and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. Both types of analysis give a deeper insight into the complex non-equilibrium separation process.