Scalable Polymerized Metal-Organic Frameworks with CO2-philic Rubbery Polymers for Membrane CO2/N2 Separation
- Helios-NRG, LLC, East Amherst, NY (United States)
Public Summary Non-Confidential The United States, the world’s largest energy user and second largest CO2 emitter, is heavily dependent on fossil energy. In 2014, CO2 emissions from US coal burning power plants was ~ 1562 MM tons/yr, accounting for 76% of the total US power sector emission1. Hence, reducing the CO2 emission footprint from coal plants is widely viewed as a key element in mitigating global warming. Despite significant interest, implementation of CO2 capture technologies have been hamstrung by high capture costs which significantly increases the cost of electricity. In this project, supported by a STTR grant from the US DOE, Helios-NRG in collaboration with the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) aimed to develop a novel, step change membrane that can significantly reduce the cost of CO2 capture from coal fueled power plants. The Phase 1 project was aimed at demonstrating the technical feasibility of this approach by developing new membrane materials and scalable membranes based on block copolymers of metal-organic frameworks (BCP-MOFs) and rubbery PEO to achieve superior CO2/N2 separation properties and subsequently performing preliminary techno-economic analysis (TEA) by incorporating the membranes into suitable process configurations. Metal oxide nanoparticles with sizes of 40-60 nm, which are small enough to prepare thin film composite (TFC) membranes, were successfully synthesized and subsequently functionalized with methacrylate groups. Introduction of the functionalized nanoparticles into blends of XLPEO and crown ether improved gas permeability. Mixed matrix BCP-MOF materials were prepared which exhibited CO2 permeability of 2200 Barrers and CO2/N2 selectivity of 48 at 35 oC which exceeded the Phase1 target. The mixed matrix materials showed good stability in the presence of water vapor, SOx, and NOx. To make thin film composite (TFC) membranes, microporous membranes were selected for the substrate and a very high permeability polymer was selected for the gutter layer. Preliminary thin film composite (TFC) membranes using these materials were prepared. Further optimization of the gutter layer and coating solution of the mixed matrix materials will improve improve the membrane performance. The techno-economic analysis was performed based on projected commercial TFC membrane module performance based on the new BCP-MOF materials synthesized in Phase1. Two membrane process configurations were investigated - a two-stage process and an advanced 3-stage process developed by Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR). The results indicate that, with membranes alone, CO2 purities of 78-90% can be achieved. The capture cost is projected to be $20-22/ton for the 3-stage process and $32-35/ton for the 2-stage process. Adding a cryogenic back end increases the product purity to ~100% for both cases at an added cost of ~$8-10/ton. The results confirm the potential of the advanced BCP-MOF membranes for cost-effective CO2 capture. Plans to advance the technology in Phase II were developed and potential partners identified.
- Research Organization:
- Helios-NRG, LLC, East Amherst, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0018956
- OSTI ID:
- 1542269
- Type / Phase:
- STTR (Phase I)
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-Helios-NRG-DE-SC0018956; 7162893864
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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