Liquid adsorption process and apparatus

Claim 1

An adsorption process for separating an adsorbate comprising at least one more preferably adsorbable component from a feedstock liquid mixture containing a non-adsorbate comprising at least one less preferably adsorbable component from said feedstock, which comprises: (i) providing in a first zone a first quantity of adsorbent material which preferentially adsorbs said adsorbate component of said mixture with respect to said non-adsorbate component; (ii) providing in a second zone a second quantity of adsorbent material; (iii) providing a relatively non-adsorbing, fluid permeable material in a third zone in contact with said first and second zones; (iv) removing said adsorbate from said mixture by the steps of: (a) flowing said feedstock mixture into said first zone; (b) contacting said mixture with said first quantity of adsorbent material thereby preferentially adsorbing said adsorbate component of said mixture in said first quantity of adsorbent material, producing a non-adsorbate effluent essentially free of said adsorbate; (c) discharging said non-adsorbate effluent through said third zone; (v) regenerating the adsorbent materials (a) substantially removing the non-adsorbed components of said mixture from said first and third zones; (b) introducing a regenerating fluid, comprising a major proportion of a non-adsorbable gas and a minor proportion of a molecular species strongly adsorbable by said adsorbent material, into said second zone in a direction countercurrent to the direction of feedstock flow in step iv(a) thereby substantially removing said strongly adsorbable molecular species from said non-adsorbable gas into said second quantity of adsorbent material; (c) passing the non-adsorbable gas from said second zone countercurrently through said third zone and said first zone thereby desorbing said adsorbate from said first zone of adsorbent material into the non-adsorbable gas; and (d) discharging the non-adsorbable gas containing the desorbed adsorbate from said first zone.