RETRACTED: Production of Pure Ethanol from Azeotropic Solution by Pressure Swing Adsorption
−Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is attractive for final separation in the process of water removal especially for fuel ethanol production. Despite many researches on simulation and experimental works on adsorption of water on 3A zeolite in a fixed bed, none have studied a process with the actual PSA system. The purpose of this research was to study the PSA process with two adsorbers and effects of several parameters. The research also included analysis of kinetic and thermodynamic data of ethanol-water adsorption on commercial 3A zeolites in a single fixed bed. A two-level factorial design experiment was used in this research work to preliminarily screen the influence and interaction among the factors. Effects of important parameters such as initial temperature, feed concentration and feed rate were investigated. It was proven that the Langmuir isotherm could best predict the experimental results. In the PSA pilot test, the principal factors, which had effects on the performance, were feed rate, feed concentration, adsorption pressure and the cycle time. Prediction of the process efficiency in terms of ethanol recovery and enrichment was proposed in the form of regression models. The results of the study in a fixed bed adsorber could help designing a pilotscale PSA unit. The experiments proved to be successful in terms of producing high concentration ethanol with high percentage of ethanol recovery. With further simulation work the process could be scaled up for an industrial use.
Mathematical Modeling of Plastic Deformation of a Tube from Dispersion-Hardened Aluminum Alloy in an Inhomogeneous Temperature Field
The effect of temperature distribution on a stress–strain state tube made of disperse-hardened aluminum alloy subjected to internal pressure was investigated. The mathematical model is based on equations of physical plasticity theory and principles of mechanics of deformable solids. The results of this investigation demonstrate that varying the outer wall temperature in the range of 200 K at a fixed temperature of the inner wall leads to a significant change in the plastic resistance limit (for the considered tube sizes, this change is approximately 15%). An increase of the tube wall temperature reduces the resistance to plastic deformation. For the same absolute temperature difference between the outer and inner walls, the plastic resistance limit is less for the higher temperature of the inner wall of the tube. A decrease of the distances between the hardening particles at the same volume fraction of second phase leads to a significant increase in the pressure required to achieve plastic deformation of the tube walls. An increase in tube wall temperature reduces the resistance to plastic deformation. For the same absolute temperature difference between the outer and inner walls, the plastic resistance limit is lower for the higher temperature of the inner tube wall. The decrease of the distance between the hardening particles at the same volume fraction of the second phase leads to a significant increase in the pressure required to achieve plastic deformation of the tube walls.
Heat Transfer Characteristic for a New Plate Metal Hydride Reactor
The property of major metal hydride reactors in the world was analyzed and a new plate metal hydride reactor was designed.An experimental facility to test the metal hydride reactor was also designed correspondingly.The effective thermal conductivity of the plate metal hydride reactor was measured by varying the initial metal hydride packing fraction,the kind of filled gas and the pressure of the filled gas,cycle numbers.The test results show that the effective thermal conductivity of the reactor,has exceeded(7.5) W/(m·K) before activation,which is increased greatly.After alloy activation,the effective thermal conductivity of the reactor has a linear change trend with the hydrogen pressure during the interval 0.1~3.5 MPa.The effective thermal conductivity of the reactor just only decreases quickly at the beginning,but becomes stable after several cycles.