Vacuum pressure swing adsorption to produce polymer-grade propylene

We have evaluated the Vacuum Pressure Swing Adsorption (VPSA) technology to separate propane-propylene streams to produce polymer-grade propylene. Zeolite 4A is used as kinetic adsorbent since propylene diffuses much faster than propane. A single VPSA process is able to produce propylene with purity higher than 99.6%. However, propylene recovery is only 67% and therefore a second stage is used. In this VPSA unit, zeolite 4A with smaller crystal radius is employed to reduce kinetic limitations. The second VPSA (tail unit) produces purified propane and recovers propylene that is recycled to the feed of the first VPSA (front unit). Linking these two VPSA units allows us to produce polymer-grade propylene (PGP) recovering 95.9% of the propylene. Comparing the performance of this process with distillation, there is a significant decrease in the separation volume. However, further efforts are necessary to reduce the power consumption of VPSA which is still slightly higher than for distillation. © Taylor & Francis Group, LL.