Method and apparatus for controlled heating of adsorbent materials

摘要

A method and apparatus for controlling the heating of adsorbent materials in a vessel including the utilization of electrodes in direct contact with the adsorbent material to induce a current in the material. The electrical contacts are spaced apart and receive a potential for inducing the electrical current; one of the electrodes is a different size to thereby induce a radial component in the electrical current to thus modify the current density flowing through the adsorbent material as the current traverses the distance between the electrodes. The resulting modified current density causes the temperature gradient across the transverse section of the vessel to decrease, thus rendering the temperature more uniform across the vessel.