Experimental and Numerical Analysis on the Enhanced Separation Performance of a Medical Oxygen Concentrator through Two-Bed Rapid Pressure Swing Adsorption

In this study, we aimed to develop an efficient medical oxygen concentrator (MOC) system with a low bed size factor (BSF) and 90-95 vol % oxygen supply. Herein, nitrogen and oxygen isotherms of different zeolites such as Li-LSX, Na-LSX, and K-LSX were obtained. Due to the highest adsorption capacity for Li-LSX, its adsorption kinetics was measured based on dynamic breakthrough experiments on zeolite pellets with different diameters. Also, the empirical mass transfer coefficient was calculated by considering the physical properties of the adsorbent. Also, the dynamic breakthrough profiles were validated using an LDF model at fixed pressure. The effects of physical parameters that govern the performance of a rapid pressure swing adsorption (RPSA) process are determined based on mass transfer kinetics to generate continuous oxygen production with 94% purity at a short cyclic time of only 14 s. The performance of the MOC based on RPSA was improved by optimizing different parameters with maximum 40% product recovery of oxygen at a lower BSF of 78 kg/TPDs; meanwhile, 4.7 mmol center dot kg(-1)center dot s(-1) oxygen productivity was achieved. These findings suggested that a two-bed RPSA system with smaller Li-LSX pellets was the optimum option for a portable oxygen supply with 94% purity at lower BSF.