A novel temperature swing adsorption process for natural gas purification, Part II: Performance assessment

A novel temperature swing adsorption-based natural gas purification cycle using a monolith consisting of adsorbent-coated microchannels is investigated in this two-part study. In the accompanying paper, Part I, the development of a full process simulation model, and selection of geometric parameters and adsorbent and heat transfer fluid were reported. This paper, Part II, develops a comprehensive performance map of the process that involves determination of ranges of product purity, CH4 recovery and process capacity, and energy requirements. The TSA-based process in the present work is found to produce up to two orders of magnitude more purified product than that from adsorbent bed-based PSA processes reported in the literature, while product purity and CH4 recovery values remain competitive. This concept is also found to reduce the system footprint by 82% when compared with a TSA process that uses separate microchannels for the flow of working and coupling fluids. Additionally, methods for reducing process energy requirements are considered, along with enhancement of product purity via a staged purification scheme. The energy requirement for the process is found to be lower than that for MEA absorption systems, indicating the potential for large-scale installations based on this process.