High-purity gas production apparatus and production method therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9416007-B2
Application number	US-201414579701-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2014
Priority date	Jun 22, 2012
Publication date	Aug 16, 2016
Grant date	Aug 16, 2016

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus that produces a high-purity gas and to a method of producing a high-purity gas using the apparatus. An apparatus for producing a high-purity gas according to an embodiment of the invention may include a column configured to perform a sorption-enhanced reaction for removing a reaction by-product produced through a catalyst reaction by using sorption, where the column is divided into a multiple number of sections, and the multiple sections have decreasing proportions of a catalyst and increasing proportions of an adsorbent from a front end towards a rear end along a reaction path. According to an embodiment of the invention, a multi-section column may be applied to obtain an increased amount of gas production compared with the conventional sorption-enhanced reaction, even with the same amounts of catalyst and adsorbent.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for producing a high-purity gas, the apparatus comprising:
a column configured to perform a sorption-enhanced reaction for removing a reaction by-product produced through a catalyst reaction by using an adsorbent, wherein
the column is divided into a front section and a rear section on a path along which the reaction progresses after a synthesis gas flows in,
the front section include a catalyst and the adsorbent in a ratio between 6:4 and 9:1, and
the rear section includes the catalyst and the adsorbent in a ratio between 4:6 and 1:9, the ratio of the catalyst and the adsorbent for the rear section being an inverse of the ratio of the catalyst and the adsorbent for the front section.

2. The apparatus for producing a high-purity gas according to claim 1 , wherein the sorption-enhanced reaction is a sorption-enhanced water-gas shift (SE-WGS) reaction for producing hydrogen from the synthesis gas and removing a by-product of carbon dioxide.

3. The apparatus for producing a high-purity gas according to claim 1 , wherein the catalyst is any one of platinum, nickel, cobalt, iron, zinc, aluminum, and copper or a combination thereof.

4. The apparatus for producing a high-purity gas according to claim 1 , wherein the adsorbent is at least one of a hydrotalcite-structure adsorbent, a hydrotalcite-structure adsorbent having an alkali metal impregnated into a surface thereof, a metal-oxide-based adsorbent, Li 2 ZrO 3 , and Na 2 ZrO 3 or a combination thereof.

5. The apparatus for producing a high-purity gas according to claim 1 , wherein the column includes two consecutive sections along a progression path.

6. The apparatus for producing a high-purity gas according to claim 1 , wherein a proportion of the catalyst in the front section is determined within a range of 87 weight % to 93 weight % with respect to a total amount of the catalyst and the adsorbent.

7. The apparatus for producing a high-purity gas according to claim 1 , wherein the front and rear sections are formed with total amounts forming a particular ratio.

8. The apparatus for producing a high-purity gas according to claim 7 , wherein a length ratio on a reaction progression path of the front section and the rear section is within a range of 1:9 to 5:5.

9. The apparatus for producing a high-purity gas according to claim 8 , wherein a length of the front section is determined within a range of 17 to 23% with respect to a total length of the sections.

10. A method for producing a high-purity gas, the method comprising:
a first step of providing a reaction environment in which a catalyst for a WGS reaction has a higher packing proportion than that of an adsorbent for a CO synthesis gas entering a column; and
a second step of providing a reaction environment in which a proportion of the adsorbent with respect to the catalyst is gradually increased according to a progression of a reaction as the CO synthesis gas moves within the column, wherein
the column is divided into a front section and a rear section on a path along which the reaction progresses after the CO synthesis gas flows in,
the front section includes the catalyst and the adsorbent in a ratio between 6:4 and 9:1, and
the rear section includes the catalyst and the adsorbent in a ratio between 4:6 and 1:9, the ratio of the catalyst and the adsorbent for the rear section being an inverse of the ratio of the catalyst and the adsorbent for the front section.

11. The method for producing a high-purity gas according to claim 10 , wherein a proportion of the catalyst with respect to the total adsorbent in the column is between 25 weight % to 400 weight %.

Assignees

• Univ Korea Res & Bus Found

Inventors

• Lee Ki Bong
• Jang Hyun-Min
• Lee Chan-Hyun

Classifications

• B01J20/041

  Oxides or hydroxides · CPC title

• C01B3/58

  including a catalytic reaction · CPC title

• B01J20/06

  comprising oxides or hydroxides of metals not provided for in group B01J20/04 · CPC title

• C01B2203/0283

  containing a CO-shift step, i.e. a water gas shift step · CPC title

• B01J23/007

  Mixed salts · CPC title