Continuous pressure difference driven adsorption process

Claim 1

A method of separating a multi-component gaseous mixture comprising: passing the multi-component gaseous mixture through a first portion of an adsorbent at a sufficiently high pressure to adsorb at least one more preferentially adsorbed component of the multi-component gaseous mixture; regenerating a second portion of said adsorbent at a sufficiently low partial pressure of said at least one more preferentially adsorbed component to desorb the at least one more preferentially adsorbed component from said adsorbent; said multi-component gaseous mixture being passed through said first portion of the adsorbent and said second portion of said adsorbent being subjected to said sufficiently low partial pressure in discrete sections of said adsorbent making up said first and second portions of the adsorbent so that the sections forming said first portion of said adsorbent become successively less saturated with the at least one more preferentially adsorbed component as said multi-component mixture passes through said first portion of said adsorbent to form least and most saturated sections and so that the sections of adsorbent forming said second portion of the adsorbent become successively more concentrated in said at least one more preferentially adsorbed component to form regenerated and non-regenerated sections; expelling a product stream enriched with at least one less preferentially adsorbed component of said multi-component mixture from said least saturated section; and said second portion of said adsorbent being subjected to said sufficiently low partial pressure by introducing a purge stream, enriched with said at least one less preferentially adsorbed component of said multi-component mixture, to said regenerated section and such that purge stream is expelled as waste from said non-regenerated section; continually and simultaneously shifting masses of said adsorbent between said first and second portions of said adsorbent so that the adsorbent forming said regenerated section is shifted to said first portion of said adsorbent and used to form said least saturated sections and so that the adsorbent forming said most saturated section is shifted to said second portion of said adsorbent and used to form said non-regenerated section; the continual and simultaneous shifting of the masses of said adsorbent being made to occur at a sufficient frequency to maintain the sections forming the first and second portions of the adsorbent successively less saturated and successively more concentrated, respectively, in the more preferentially adsorbed components.

Claim 2

A method of separating a multi-component gaseous mixture comprising: passing the multi-component gaseous mixture through a first portion of an adsorbent at a sufficiently high pressure to adsorb at least one more preferentially adsorbed component of the multi-component gaseous mixture; regenerating a second portion of said adsorbent at a sufficiently low partial pressure of said at least one more preferentially adsorbed component to desorb the at least one more preferentially adsorbed component from said adsorbent; said multi-component gaseous mixture being passed through said first portion of the adsorbent and said second portion of said adsorbent being subjected to said sufficiently low partial pressure in discrete sections of said adsorbent making up said first and second portions of the adsorbent so that the sections forming said first portion of said adsorbent become successively less saturated with the at least one more preferentially adsorbed component as said multi-component mixture passes through said first portion of said adsorbent to form least and most saturated sections and so that the sections of adsorbent forming said second portion of the adsorbent become successively more concentrated in said at least one more preferentially adsorbed component to form regenerated and non-regenerated sections; expelling a product stream enriched with at least one less preferentially adsorbed component of said multi-component mixture from said least saturated section; and said second portion of said adsorbent being subjected to said sufficiently low partial pressure by introducing a purge stream, enriched with said at least one less preferentially adsorbed component of said multi-component mixture, to said regenerated section and such that purge stream is expelled as waste from said non-regenerated section; continually and simultaneously shifting masses of said adsorbent between said first and second portions of said adsorbent so that the adsorbent forming said regenerated section is shifted to said first portion of said adsorbent and used to form said least saturated sections and so that the adsorbent forming said most saturated section is shifted to said second portion of said adsorbent and used to form said non-regenerated section; the continual and simultaneous shifting of the masses of said adsorbent being made to occur at a sufficient frequency to maintain the sections forming the first and second portions of the adsorbent successively less saturated and successively more concentrated, respectively, in the more preferentially adsorbed components.