Comparative study of zeolite 5A and zeolite 13X in air separation by pressure swing adsorption

The performance of zeolites 5A and 13X is numerically investigated in oxygen separation from air by a two-bed PSA system. The effect of operating variables such as adsorption step time, PH/PL ratio and cycle time was investigated on product purity and recovery. The simulation results showed that nitrogen adsorption capacity on zeolite 13X was slightly more than the one on zeolite 5A. In the completely same operating conditions, zeolite 5A had a larger mass transfer zone than zeolite 13X. Therefore, the adsorption and desorption rate of nitrogen on zeolite 5A is less than zeolite 13X. Moreover, for the equal volume of adsorbed nitrogen on both adsorbents, zeolite 5A is more capable rather than zeolite 13X to desorb much more volume of nitrogen at certain time. Furthermore, for achieving oxygen with purity of 96%, utilizing zeolite 5A is more economical than zeolite 13X, when 5.5H/P_L<7 and 75<cycle time≤90.