초록 ▼

A molecular sieve type gas separation apparatus (10) for separating product gas from a gas supply (14) includes at least one sieve bed (11-13) which during an adsorption charge phase of a cycle, adsorbs non product gas in the gas supply (14), and in a desorption regeneration phase of the cycle desor

A molecular sieve type gas separation apparatus (10) for separating product gas from a gas supply (14) includes at least one sieve bed (11-13) which during an adsorption charge phase of a cycle, adsorbs non product gas in the gas supply (14), and in a desorption regeneration phase of the cycle desorbs the previously adsorbed non product gas. The apparatus further includes an outlet (18) to which product gas is delivered during the adsorption charge phase, and an outlet (31) for non product gas during the desorption regeneration phase. A sensor (36) responsive to the concentration of a constituent in the product gas, and a control (20) to switch the apparatus (10) between the adsorption charge and desorption regeneration phases are further provided. The control (20) is adapted to adjust the duration of adsorption charge phase relative to the duration of the desorption regeneration phase in each cycle.

대표청구항 ▼

[ I claim:] [1.] A method for separating product gas from a gas supply, said method comprising the steps of:providing a number N of sieve beds where the number N is three or more, each sieve bed functioning (i) during an adsorption charge phase of a cycle, to adsorb non product gas in the gas supply

[ I claim:] [1.] A method for separating product gas from a gas supply, said method comprising the steps of:providing a number N of sieve beds where the number N is three or more, each sieve bed functioning (i) during an adsorption charge phase of a cycle, to adsorb non product gas in the gas supply, and (ii) during a desorption regeneration phase of the cycle, to desorb the previously adsorbed non product gas;delivering product gas from each sieve bed to a first outlet during a respective adsorption charge phase;delivering non product gas from each sieve bed to a second outlet delivered during a respective desorption regeneration phase;sensing an actual concentration of a constituent in the product gas; andcontrolling the sieve beds to achieve a constituent concentration in the product gas close to a predetermined desired constituent concentration in the product gas which varies during an operation period of the sieve beds byswitching each bed between the adsorption charge and desorption regeneration phases,maintaining the overall cycle time of each sieve bed generally constant during the operation period, andadjusting the duration of the adsorption charge phase relative to the duration of the desorption regeneration phase in each cycle (a) in response to the actual concentration of the constituent in the product gas sensed as the actual concentration varies from the predetermined desired constituent concentration in the product gas, and (b) such that a proportion of the duration of the adsorption charge phase to total cycle time in each said bed is always greater than 1:N, whereby the varying predetermined desired constituent concentration is generally present in the product gas produced.