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Pressure swing adsorption (PSA)

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) separates gases using beds of solid adsorbent that hold impurities at high pressure and release them when pressure is lowered. Several beds cycle in sequence, so purified gas, typically hydrogen, is produced continuously.

Also written as: PSA

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) explained

A hydrogen PSA typically produces 99.9 to 99.999 mol% hydrogen at close to feed pressure, with recovery typically between 70 and 90 %. The rejected impurities and the unrecovered hydrogen leave as low-pressure tail gas, usually burned as fuel.

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Temperature swing adsorption (TSA)
Temperature swing adsorption (TSA) removes trace impurities, most often water, from a gas using adsorbent beds that are regenerated by heating. One bed dries the gas while another is heated and then cooled, over a cycle of several hours.
Hydrogen recovery
Hydrogen recovery is the fraction of the hydrogen entering a purification unit that leaves as product, stated as a percentage. In a pressure swing adsorption unit the remainder leaves in the tail gas. Recovery trades against product purity.
Tail gas
Tail gas is the low-pressure stream released from a pressure swing adsorption unit as its beds are depressurised and purged. It holds the removed impurities with the hydrogen that was not recovered, and is usually used as fuel.

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