What Are the Core Components of a PSA Nitrogen Generation System?

Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) nitrogen generation system is a widely used, safe, efficient, and stable on-site nitrogen generation and supply system at present. It is designed around the principle of pressure swing air separation and mainly consists of four major modules: air pretreatment system, adsorption separation system, control and intelligent system, and nitrogen post-treatment system.

System Composition: Air Compressor + Refrigerated Air Dryer + Filter

Air Compressor (Responsible for Compressed Air Supply)

Function: Provide a pressurized air source.

Role: Pressurize ambient air to the working pressure range and provide stable pressurized air for the subsequent adsorption separation process.

Refrigerated Air Dryer

Function: Cool the compressed air through a refrigerant cycle, thereby condensing and removing water vapor to achieve deep dehydration of the compressed air.

Role: It can effectively improve the overall stability of the system and ensure the quality of the product nitrogen. In addition, the refrigerated air dryer can also smooth the air flow pulsation generated by the air compressor, allowing the air flow to enter the adsorption tower more smoothly.

Filter

Function: Intercept impurities, oil vapor, and water in the air to make the compressed air drier and cleaner.

Role: Greatly reduce impurities, oil, and water in the compressed air; effectively extend the service life of molecular sieves, ensure the quality of product nitrogen, and reduce system operation and maintenance costs.

System Composition: Adsorption Tower + Adsorbent (Carbon Molecular Sieve)

Adsorption Tower

Function: The core separation unit, generally equipped with dual towers to work alternately to ensure continuous gas supply; the material is mostly stainless steel or carbon steel, and the tank body is coated with anti-corrosion coating.

Role: After the compressed air completes pretreatment, it enters the left adsorption tower nearby. The pressure inside the tower rises, and oxygen molecules in the compressed air are adsorbed by the carbon molecular sieve. The unadsorbed nitrogen passes through the adsorption bed and enters the nitrogen storage tank. This process is called "left adsorption" and lasts for dozens of seconds.After the "left adsorption" ends, the pressure between the left adsorption tower and the right adsorption tower will be balanced, and the process lasts for about 2-3 seconds. After pressure equalization, compressed air enters the right adsorption tower, oxygen molecules in the compressed air are adsorbed by the carbon molecular sieve, and the enriched nitrogen enters the nitrogen storage tank. At the same time, the left tower starts the pressure reduction and desorption procedure: the previously adsorbed oxygen is released into the atmosphere through the exhaust valve to realize the regeneration of the adsorbent. To enhance the desorption effect, a normally open reverse blowing gas simultaneously performs reverse purging on the left tower to ensure that the residual oxygen is completely desorbed and discharged. This reverse operation is carried out simultaneously with the desorption process. After the adsorption cycle of the right tower ends, the system repeats the pressure equalization step and switches back to the left tower adsorption mode, thus forming continuous production through repeated cycles.

Adsorbent (Carbon Molecular Sieve)

Function: A porous carbon-based adsorption material, which is compression-resistant and wear-resistant, and specially designed for gas separation.

Role: Carbon Molecular Sieve (CMS) is a key material determining the separation efficiency. Its microporous structure allows small molecules N₂ to pass through quickly, while large molecules O₂ are retained. By utilizing the difference in adsorption properties of molecular sieves for nitrogen and oxygen, nitrogen-oxygen separation can be efficiently achieved.

System Composition: Nitrogen Buffer Tank + Terminal Purification + Purity Enhancement

Nitrogen Buffer Tank

Function: Used to store a certain amount of compressed nitrogen.

Role: On the one hand, the buffer tank weakens the air flow fluctuation caused by the periodic switching of the adsorption tower by storing a certain amount of compressed nitrogen, ensuring the continuity and stability of downstream gas use; on the other hand, it can also be used to cope with sudden high demand or changes caused by equipment start-up and shutdown.

Terminal Purification

Function: Adopt multi-stage filtration and dew point control technology to further purify nitrogen, removing water and impurities.

Role: Further filter and purify nitrogen to reduce residual water, impurities, and oil.

Purity Enhancement

Function: Reduce the oxygen content in the product gas through oxidation reaction, further improving the nitrogen purity.

Role: High-purity nitrogen is obtained through two technical routes: catalyst purification and hydrogen purification. Among them, the hydrogen method is more stable than catalyst purification in scenarios with a purity of more than 99.9995%.

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In addition to PSA Nitrogen Generators, we also produce VPSA Oxygen Generators, storage tanks, heat exchangers and other products. If you are interested in PSA Oxygen Systems or other products, please feel free to send an email to sales@gneeheatex.com. We will be very happy to serve you.