Marrying Materials and Processes: A Unified Optimization for Adsorption Processes

The performance of an adsorption-based separation process is dictated by the choices of the adsorbent and process configuration. In typical studies, either several materials are screened for a specific process configuration to find the best candidate or the performance of several process configurations is evaluated for a specific material. However, it has long been suggested that to truly maximize the potential of a given material, it should be “married” to processes. Here, we have developed a modeling framework for a hybrid adsorption cycle composed of several process configurations and a unified optimization approach to select the optimal material–process combination. We have shown through several case studies that (1) one needs to employ an integrated optimization approach to maximize the potential of any material when screening for a given application; and (2) one should not generalize the observations regarding the best process configuration from one material to every other material.