Oxygen molecular sieve is essentially a crystalline aluminosilicate compound with uniform microporous structure. The size of its micropores is comparable to the size of general molecules, which gives it unique adsorption and separation capabilities.
Types of Oxygen Molecular Sieves
At present, the mainstream types of oxygen molecular sieves on the market are mainly lithium molecular sieves and sodium molecular sieves. Among them, sodium molecular sieves include 13X HP molecular sieves and 13X APG molecular sieves.
13X HP Molecular Sieve
13X HP zeolite molecular sieve is a new type of X-type oxygen-specific molecular sieve. It has the characteristics of high nitrogen adsorption capacity, excellent nitrogen and oxygen separation coefficient, fast adsorption speed and long service life, and its oxygen production concentration can reach 93%.
13X APG Molecular Sieve
13X APG molecular sieve is an industrial oxygen molecular sieve with an oxygen production concentration of up to 99%. It is designed to meet the special requirements of the cryogenic air separation industry and further improve the molecular sieve's adsorption capacity for carbon dioxide and water. It is suitable for cryogenic air separation devices of various sizes.
LixMolecular Sieve
Lithium zeolite molecular sieve has a higher nitrogen-oxygen separation coefficient at extremely low adsorption pressure, thereby reducing oxygen production energy consumption and improving efficiency. Compared with ordinary sodium-type oxygenmolecular sieves, it has better adsorption capacity and separation efficiency, is suitable for small vacuum pressure swing adsorption devices, and has been tested to have an oxygen production concentration of up to 96%.
Working Principle
The working principle of oxygen molecular sieve is based on pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology. This process is mainly divided into two stages: adsorption and desorption. In the adsorption stage, air enters the adsorption tower equipped with oxygen zeolite molecular sieve under a certain pressure. Since the oxygen molecular sieve has a much stronger adsorption capacity for nitrogen than oxygen, nitrogen molecules are adsorbed on the microporous surface of the molecular sieve, while oxygen passes smoothly through the adsorption tower and becomes product gas output; when the molecular sieve desiccant adsorbs nitrogen to saturation, it enters the desorption stage. By reducing the pressure, the nitrogen adsorbed on the zeolite desiccant is desorbed and discharged, allowing the molecular sieve to restore its adsorption capacity, thereby realizing recycling. This method of achieving gas separation by periodically changing the pressure does not require complex cryogenic equipment, greatly reducing the cost and energy consumption of oxygen production.
Application
Oxygen molecular sieve is widely used in pressure swing adsorption oxygen concentrators, such as industrial oxygen concentrators, medical oxygen concentrators, household oxygen concentrators as well as portable oxygen concentrators, scuba oxygen tank sand bottles, aquaculture oxygen systems, ozone generators, emergency oxygen systems, etc.
