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Title: SAPO-34 Membranes for N-2/CH4 separation: Preparation, characterization, separation performance and economic evaluation

Abstract

SAPO-34 membranes were synthesized by several routes towards N-2/CH4 separation. Membrane synthesis parameters including water content in the gel, crystallization time, support pore size, and aluminum source were investigated. High performance N-2-selective membranes were obtained on 100-nm-pore alumina tubes by using Al(i-C3H7O)(3) as aluminum source with a crystallization time of 6 h. These membranes separated N-2 from CH, with N-2 permeance as high as 500 GPU with separation selectivity of 8 at 24 degrees C. for a 50/50 N-2/CH4 mixture. Nitrogen and CH, adsorption isotherms were measured on SAPO-34 crystals. The N-2 and CH, heats of adsorption were 11 and 15 kJ/mol, respectively, which lead to a preferential adsorption of CE-H-4 over N-2 in the N-2/CH4 mixture. Despite this, the SAPO-34 membranes were selective for N-2 over CH4 in the mixture because N-2 diffuses much faster than CH4 and differences in diffusivity played a more critical role than the competitive adsorption. Preliminary economic evaluation indicates that the required N-2/CH4 selectivity would be 15 in order to maintain a CH4 loss below 10%. For small nitrogen-contaminated gas wells, our current SAPO-34 membranes have potential to compete with the benchmark technology cryogenic distillation for N-2 rejection. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rightsmore » reserved,« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
OSTI Identifier:
1211089
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AR0000247
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Membrane Science
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 487; Journal ID: ISSN 0376-7388
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Citation Formats

Li, SG, Zong, ZW, Zhou, SJ, Huang, Y, Song, ZN, Feng, XH, Zhou, RF, Meyer, HS, Yu, M, and Carreon, MA. SAPO-34 Membranes for N-2/CH4 separation: Preparation, characterization, separation performance and economic evaluation. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2015.03.078.
Li, SG, Zong, ZW, Zhou, SJ, Huang, Y, Song, ZN, Feng, XH, Zhou, RF, Meyer, HS, Yu, M, & Carreon, MA. SAPO-34 Membranes for N-2/CH4 separation: Preparation, characterization, separation performance and economic evaluation. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.03.078
Li, SG, Zong, ZW, Zhou, SJ, Huang, Y, Song, ZN, Feng, XH, Zhou, RF, Meyer, HS, Yu, M, and Carreon, MA. 2015. "SAPO-34 Membranes for N-2/CH4 separation: Preparation, characterization, separation performance and economic evaluation". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.03.078.
@article{osti_1211089,
title = {SAPO-34 Membranes for N-2/CH4 separation: Preparation, characterization, separation performance and economic evaluation},
author = {Li, SG and Zong, ZW and Zhou, SJ and Huang, Y and Song, ZN and Feng, XH and Zhou, RF and Meyer, HS and Yu, M and Carreon, MA},
abstractNote = {SAPO-34 membranes were synthesized by several routes towards N-2/CH4 separation. Membrane synthesis parameters including water content in the gel, crystallization time, support pore size, and aluminum source were investigated. High performance N-2-selective membranes were obtained on 100-nm-pore alumina tubes by using Al(i-C3H7O)(3) as aluminum source with a crystallization time of 6 h. These membranes separated N-2 from CH, with N-2 permeance as high as 500 GPU with separation selectivity of 8 at 24 degrees C. for a 50/50 N-2/CH4 mixture. Nitrogen and CH, adsorption isotherms were measured on SAPO-34 crystals. The N-2 and CH, heats of adsorption were 11 and 15 kJ/mol, respectively, which lead to a preferential adsorption of CE-H-4 over N-2 in the N-2/CH4 mixture. Despite this, the SAPO-34 membranes were selective for N-2 over CH4 in the mixture because N-2 diffuses much faster than CH4 and differences in diffusivity played a more critical role than the competitive adsorption. Preliminary economic evaluation indicates that the required N-2/CH4 selectivity would be 15 in order to maintain a CH4 loss below 10%. For small nitrogen-contaminated gas wells, our current SAPO-34 membranes have potential to compete with the benchmark technology cryogenic distillation for N-2 rejection. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved,},
doi = {10.1016/j.memsci.2015.03.078},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1211089}, journal = {Journal of Membrane Science},
issn = {0376-7388},
number = ,
volume = 487,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}