Pressure swing adsorption apparatus and process for recovery of oil-soluble vapors.

In a pressure swing adsorption system used to recover an oil-soluble solvent, monomer or hydrocarbon vapor such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane or styrene from a gaseous stream such as air, an oil-sealed vacuum pump may be used without substantial absorption of vapor into the oil if the oil in the pump is heated to a temperature substantially above the dew point of vapor in the gas stream leaving the pumps. Prior to this invention, oil-sealed vacuum pumps cannot be used to recover oil-soluble compounds because the vapor dissolves in the oil as the desorbed vapor and backpurge gas pass through the pumps. The thinning of the oil hurts the lubrication and seal within the pump and floods the pump.