Numerical simulation of enrichment of the air–helium mixture with a bifunctional sorbent based on glass microspheres

A hyperbolic character of the convective part of the flow of an air–helium mixture through a granulated sorbent layer with allowance for the Forchheimer filtration is demonstrated. A numerical model of a one-dimensional flow of the air–helium mixture through an adsorber filled by a granulated sorbent with due allowance for air and helium diffusion inward cylindrical granules and helium confinement in microspheres. Within the framework of this model, verification of a numerical algorithm in problems of gas filtration through a porous medium and propagation of a pressure wave formed by the incident shock wave over a gas medium is performed. Experimental and numerical data are obtained and are found to be in good agreement. The enrichment phase is modeled by the method of short-cycle adsorption with the use of a bifunctional sorbent based on microspheres. It is demonstrated that the mass fraction of helium in the air–helium mixture can be almost doubled (from 0.7 to 1.3%) with the helium extraction degree of 90.4%.