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Breakthrough

Breakthrough is the point in an adsorption step at which the impurity being removed first appears in the product above its allowed level. It shows that the usable capacity of the bed has been reached and it must be regenerated.

Breakthrough explained

Cycle times are set so that the bed switches before breakthrough with a margin. Breakthrough arriving earlier than it used to points to lost adsorbent capacity, higher impurity load, incomplete regeneration or gas bypassing part of the bed.

  • Hydrogen dryer for electrolyser hydrogen

    A hydrogen dryer takes wet hydrogen from an electrolyser, which also contains a little oxygen, and delivers dry, oxygen-free hydrogen. A catalytic DeOxo reactor converts the…

  • PSA hydrogen purification

    Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) purifies hydrogen by passing a hydrogen-rich gas through beds of adsorbent at high pressure. Impurities are held on the adsorbent while hydrogen…

  • TSA hydrogen purification

    Temperature swing adsorption (TSA) removes water and other strongly held trace impurities from a gas by adsorbing them at ambient temperature and releasing them by heating…

  • Hydrogen purification

    Hydrogen purification removes the other gases from a hydrogen-rich stream until it meets the purity its user needs. Four technologies do most of this work: pressure…

  • Troubleshooting and performance diagnostics

    Troubleshooting a desalter, dehydrator or hydrogen pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit starts with the symptom, because each symptom has a short list of probable causes and…

Adsorbent
An adsorbent is a porous solid with a very large internal surface that holds selected gas molecules on it. In gas purification, beds of adsorbent remove impurities from a stream and are then regenerated by lowering pressure or raising temperature.
Molecular sieve
A molecular sieve is a synthetic zeolite adsorbent with pores of uniform molecular size. It adsorbs small polar molecules strongly. In hydrogen PSA units it removes carbon monoxide, nitrogen and methane; in TSA dryers it removes water to low levels.
Activated carbon
Activated carbon is a porous carbon adsorbent with large internal surface and low affinity for water. In hydrogen PSA units it forms the middle layer of the bed, where it removes carbon dioxide, methane and heavier hydrocarbons from the feed.
Activated alumina
Activated alumina is a porous aluminium oxide adsorbent with a strong affinity for water and good mechanical strength. It is used as the first, guard layer in hydrogen PSA beds and as a drying adsorbent in temperature swing adsorption units.
Interface level
Interface level is the height of the boundary between settled water and the oil above it in a separator, dehydrator or desalter. Controlled by the water outlet valve, it must sit below the electrodes and above the water outlet.
Rag layer
A rag layer is a band of emulsion and solids that collects at the oil-water interface in a separator or desalter. As it grows it reduces settling volume, confuses level instruments and may reach the electrodes or the water outlet.

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