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Optimal separation of n ‐paraffins from Kuwait kerosene using a molecular sieve adsorbent
Author(s) -
AlDamkhi A. M.,
AlAmeeri R. S.,
Jeffreys G. V.,
Mumford C. J.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.280370402
Subject(s) - kerosene , zeolite , adsorption , molecular sieve , chemistry , volumetric flow rate , chromatography , fraction (chemistry) , mass transfer , particle size , chemical engineering , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , organic chemistry , catalysis , thermodynamics , physics , engineering
A study has been made of the vapour‐phase adsorptive separation of n ‐alkanes from Kuwait kerosene using zeolite molecular sieves (LMS‐5A). The object was to identify the optimum operating conditions, in terms of flow rate, adsorption temperature and zeolite particle size for the separation of n ‐alkanes from kerosene, so that the remaining stock would also be of marketable quality. The effect of these conditions on the height of the mass transfer zone (HMTZ) and the dynamic capacity (Ad) of zeolite was also investigated. The adsorptive separation process comprised one cycle of adsorption using a fixed bed of zeolite type‐5A. The bed was fed with kerosene vapour until equilibrium had been achieved, whereby the n ‐paraffins were adsorbed and the denormalized material excluded. The processes were carried out isobarically at one atmosphere. The optimum operating conditions were found to be a feed flow rate of 33.33 × 10 −9 m 3 s −1 , an adsorption temperature of 643 K and a zeolite pellet fraction size of 1.0–2.0 × 10 −3 m. This yielded an HMTZ value of 0.206 m and an Ad of 9.653 × 10 −2 kg n ‐paraffins kg −1 zeolite. The data will serve as a basis for the design of commercial plant.