Process for removing halogenated hydrocarbons and other solvents from a solvent laden air (SLA) stream

Claim 1

A process for removing solvents including halogenated hydrocarbons from an inlet solvent laden air (SLA) stream, comprising the steps of: (a) passing the inlet SLA stream through at least two activated carbon absorption beds connected in series; (b) regenerating at least one additional activated carbon absorption bed, the regeneration comprising the steps of: (i) passing a regenerating vapor through the adsorption bed, the regenerating vapor removing halogenated hydrocarbons and other solvents from the bed; (ii) condensing the regenerating vapor to form a liquid fraction having at least one solvent-rich liquid fraction and at least one solvent-poor liquid fraction, said condensation step comprising a bulk vapor condensation step producing a liquid fraction and a vapor fraction, and a vent condensating step downstream to said bulk vapor condensation step, said vent condensation step being adapted to separate non-condensibles from said bulk vapor condensation step; (iii) returning non-condensibles to the SLA inlet stream of step (a); (iv) separating said liquid fraction from said bulk vapor condensation step and condensed liquid from said vent condensation step into a solvent-rich liquid fraction and a solvent-poor liquid fraction; and (c) returning the bed of step (b) to the series of adsorption beds of step (a), and removing at least one of the adsorption beds from the series of step (a) and regenerating this bed by the process of step (b), said returned bed being connected in series downstream to other adsorption beds in said series, said removed bed being removed from a position in said series upstream to other adsorption beds in said series, whereby a cyclic adsorption and regeneration process can be provided which will effectively remove said halogenated hydrocarbons from said SLA.