(618a) Development of Expanded PTFE Structured Adsorbents with Parallel Channels

The overall objective of this work is to develop novel structured adsorbents from expanded PTFE (e-PTFE) comprising activated carbon, carbon molecular sieve and zeolite adsorbents within the expanded e-PTFE framework. Structured columns are being fabricated with various activated carbons and being compared to identical columns fabricated with the corresponding commercial granular or pelleted counterparts for testing under identical conditions. Details about the fabrication technique will be discussed along with representative results from a variety of different experimental tests being conducted. These experimental tests might include single gas adsorption breakthrough curve experiments, volumetric equilibrium adsorption isotherm experiments for column adsorbent mass determination with N₂, 1-bed pressure swing adsorption (PSA) cycling experiments, single gas 10 Hz or 100 Hz volumetric frequency response experiments, and column axial pressure drop experiments. The most recent and compelling result will be presented.