Extraction of helium from neon-helium mixture by the adsorption method

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Abstract

Helium is an important natural resource and it has great importance for scientific research. It is currently extracted mainly from natural gas or in large air separation units. Helium and neon are usually separated from an separation column together. In order to obtain pure neon and helium they are further purified. This article discusses the main methods of extracting helium from the neon-helium mixture. Having compared rectification, freezing, membrane separation and sorption methods, the authors concluded that the adsorption method allows separation at relatively high temperature intervals and is more energy-efficient than the other methods considered. The paper presents existing examples of the application of the adsorption method for the purification of helium from neon, which have been implemented in China and in the CIS. An overview of adsorption separation on new adsorbents, both on metal-organic bases and on single-walled carbon nanotubes, is also presented. In the future, the authors will conduct experiments to fill in the data gaps on adsorption and desorption of neon-helium mixture on different adsorbents.

About the authors

Lingran Yang

Bauman Moscow State Technical University

Author for correspondence.
Email: yanl@student.bmstu.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7097-1898
Russian Federation, Moscow

Maksim Yu. Kupriyanov

Bauman Moscow State Technical University

Email: kupriyanov.m@bmstu.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2180-1221
SPIN-code: 2716-2525

Cand. (Tech.) Sci

Russian Federation, Moscow

Victoria D. Kononova

Bauman Moscow State Technical University

Email: viktoriadmitrievna@live.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0008-8609-6205
SPIN-code: 5369-7308
Russian Federation, Moscow

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2. Fig 1. Scheme of separation of Ne and He via condensation with liquid hydrogen 1 – Mixture gas receiver. 2 – Compressor; 3 – Heat exchanger; 4 – Nitrogen bath: 5 – Heat exchanger; 6 – Hydrogen bath; 7 – Desublimator; 8 – Helium cylinder.

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3. Fig. 2. Scheme of diffusion of a gaseous molecule on an adsorbent 1 – Internal surface diffusion of adsorbent; 2 – Surface adsorption; 3 – Diffusion of mobile phase into other pores; 4 – Diffusion of mobile phase on and around external surface [5].

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4. Fig. 4 Adsorption isotherms of a neon gel mixture with various component proportions [12].

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5. Fig. 3 Classical scheme of a complex for producing high-purity neon and helium Units V – rectification unit; VI – adsorption unit. TO1–TO4 – heat exchangers; AB – nitrogen bath; ИК – coil in the cube of the column, serving as an evaporator–condenser; ФС – phase separator; РК – rectification column; A - adsorber; РВД1, РВД2 – high-pressure receivers; R1, R2 – reducers; K1...K5 – diaphragm compressors [9].

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Copyright (c) 2023 Yang L., Kupriyanov M.Y., Kononova V.D.

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