Drying Of Organic Liquids

A liquid mixture comprising organic liquids can be dried by passing the same into an adsorber with the presence of molecular sieves or activated alumina in it. Organic liquids like aromatic solvents, steam-cracked liquids, cyclohexane, types of gasoline, chloroform hydrocarbons, propylene, butene, and LPG can all be dried using adsorbents.

Dehydration of organic compounds is a critical operation in several industries. These liquid stream dryers mainly use molecular sieves and activated alumina as adsorbents. Silica gel is also used in these processes. Molecular sieves became more popular in the past twenty years. Currently, water removal from ethanol and hydrocarbons is an important process employed by most large-scale industries.

Therefore, this raw juice is heated to eliminate all the colloidal particles as well as the proteins present in them. This process requires so much energy, this is why membrane technology is in very much demand. Ultrafiltration processes are also highly effective here. They don’t require any use of lime, sulphate, CO2 etc., for the removal of these impurities.

After some use, these adsorbents must be regenerated. This can be done by using a heated gas stream. The core principle in this process is desorption.

Liquified petroleum gases

LPG is one of the largest markets that exist today. This consists of the natural gasoline industry which is involved in the distribution of petroleum products like propane, butane etc. Removal of water from these products, otherwise called dehydration is an important step because the presence of water can cause deadly dangers to these products. If water is present in these products, it may lead to hydrate formation when they are used as fuels.

Zeolite adsorbents like molecular sieves are mostly used in the adsorption of water content from these products. One of the major features of these adsorbents is that they have high physical and chemical strength. They can withstand stress against the crushing of these molecules and also, they are high resistance towards acidic streams.

Ethylene & propylene

Olefins like ethylene and propylene faced a big challenge of contamination for decades. Contaminants affect polymer quality and polymerization processes. Adsorbents like molecular sieves, activated alumina etc and their combinations can be used for dehydration as well as the removal of impurities like oxygen, Sulphur, phosphine, nitrogen etc. These adsorbent beds are a cost-effective measure that can be employed as a solution to all the problems caused by these elements.

Steam cracked liquids

A process via which liquid hydrocarbons-for instance, LPG or naphtha or ethane are heated in a vessel or a furnace after mixing with steam to produce ethylene, propylene etc is called steam cracking. This process is carried out in the absence of oxygen. The reaction takes place at an extreme temperature around 850 degrees celsius. Dehydration of steam cracked liquids can also be done with zeolitic molecular sieves. These adsorbent materials with a pore size of at least four-angstrom units are used here.

Gasoline plants

A hydrocarbon mixture with the structure of a chain having 4 to 12 hydrocarbons in the chain is called gasoline. When in the vapour state, they contain light hydrocarbons mostly. Water and all other organic compounds can be separated or extracted from them using adsorption only. Usually, a solid adsorbent with numerous pores is used in this process. Silica gels, molecular sieves and activated alumina are the major adsorbents employed in the process.

Aromatic solvents

These are solvents with aromatic hydrocarbons in their structure. These aromatic hydrocarbons can be toluene, naphtha or xylene. Various industries use them as solvents and diluents. For example, toluene can be used in chemical intermediates, varnishes and paints etc. Dehydration of these solvents as well can be carried out with the help of adsorbents like silica gel, 13X molecular sieves etc.

These organic liquids can be saturated, supersaturated or unsaturated with water. The liquids which are to be dried are introduced to the solid adsorption beds. There are mostly two adsorbent beds, one is used for adsorption whereas the other is used for the regeneration of the adsorbent. According to the type of the organic solvent, the size of molecular sieves and activated alumina should be carefully chosen.

Adsorbents used for the dehydration of organic liquids

Molecular sieves, activated alumina and silica gel are the major adsorbents used in the dehydration of organic liquids. Of these, zeolites or molecular sieves are the most popular ones. Their amazing affinity towards water molecules and excellent adsorption capacity is what makes to stand out from the other adsorbents. Molecular sieves are aluminosilicates in a crystalline form. They are available in different sizes from 3A, 4A, 5A to 13 X . Activated aluminas are another adsorbent category with a high surface area and numerous pores in them. A major feature of these aluminium hydroxides is that they are very resistant to physical and thermal shock. They don’t change their texture when they are exposed to water. Selection of these adsorbents must be made as per the application.

Sorbead India is a company focused on supplying high-quality desiccants and adsorbents for various industries. Highly porous silica gel, activated alumina and molecular sieves are all distributed by them. These adsorbents of various sizes and textures are available here. They also provide customized as well as test products.

A liquid mixture comprising organic liquids can be dried by passing the same into an adsorber with the presence of molecular sieves or activated alumina in it. Organic liquids like aromatic solvents, steam cracked liquids, cyclohexane, types of gasoline, chloroform hydrocarbons, propylene, butene, and LPG can all be dried using adsorbents.

Dehydration of organic compounds is a critical operation in several industries. These liquid stream dryers mainly use molecular sieves and activated alumina as adsorbents. Silica gel is also used in these processes. Molecular sieves became more popular in the past twenty years. Currently, water removal from ethanol and hydrocarbons is an important process employed by most large-scale industries.