Selective inorganic thin films
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Separating light gases using membranes is a technology area for which there exists opportunities for significant energy savings. Examples of industrial needs for gas separation include hydrogen recovery, natural gas purification, and dehydration. A membrane capable of separating H{sub 2} from other gases at high temperatures could recover hydrogen from refinery waste streams, and facilitate catalytic dehydrogenation and the water gas shift (CO + H{sub 2}O {yields} H{sub 2} + CO{sub 2}) reaction. Natural gas purification requires separating CH{sub 4} from mixtures with CO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}S, H{sub 2}O, and higher alkanes. A dehydrating membrane would remove water vapor from gas streams in which water is a byproduct or a contaminant, such as refrigeration systems. Molecular sieve films offer the possibility of performing separations involving hydrogen, natural gas constituents, and water vapor at elevated temperatures with very high separation factors. It is in applications such as these that the authors expect inorganic molecular sieve membranes to compete most effectively with current gas separation technologies. Cryogenic separations are very energy intensive. Polymer membranes do not have the thermal stability appropriate for high temperature hydrogen recovery, and tend to swell in the presence of hydrocarbon natural gas constituents. The authors goal is to develop a family of microporous oxide films that offer permeability and selectivity exceeding those of polymer membranes, allowing gas membranes to compete with cryogenic and adsorption technologies for large-scale gas separation applications.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 494134
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/TM--13399; ON: DE97005392
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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