SEPARATION OF GASES BY PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION

The recent status of pressure swing adsorption (PSA) as a process for separating multicomponent gas mixtures is reviewed. The applications of a new generation of adsorbents, such as zeolites, carbon molecular sieves, and, more recently, pore engineered molecular sieves, are described in detail. The more important theories of adsorption from gas mixtures as well as those of the PSA process are described briefly. The commercial applications of PSA the process-present and potential-are discussed at length.