Novel Dual-Functional Membrane for Controlling Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Fossil Fuel Power Plants
CO{sub 2} captured from coal-fired power plants represents three-quarters of the total cost of an entire carbon sequestration process. Conventional amine absorption or cryogenic separation requires high capital investment and is very energy intensive. Our novel membrane process is energy efficient with great potential for economical CO{sub 2} capture. Three classes of microporous sol-gel derived silica-based membranes were developed for selective CO{sub 2} removal under simulated flue gas conditions (SFG), e.g. feed of 10% vol. CO{sub 22} in N{sub 2}, 1 atm total pressure, T = 50-60 C, RH>50%, SO2>10 ppm. A novel class of amine-functional microporous silica membranes was prepared using an amine-derivatized alkoxysilane precursor, exhibiting enhanced (>70) CO{sub 2}:N{sub 2} selectivity in the presence of H{sub 2}O vapor, but its CO{sub 2} permeance was lagging (<1 MPU). Pure siliceous membranes showed higher CO{sub 2} permeance (1.5-2 MPU) but subsequent densification occurred under prolonged SFG conditions. We incorporated NiO in the microporous network up to a loading of Ni:Si = 0.2 to retard densification and achieved CO2 permeance of 0.5 MPU and CO{sub 2}:N{sub 2} selectivity of 50 after 163 h exposure to SFG conditions. However, CO{sub 2} permeance should reach greater than 2.0 MPU in order to achieve the cost of electricity (COE) goal set by DOE. We introduced the atomic layer deposition (ALD), a molecular deposition technique that substantially reduces membrane thickness with intent to improve permeance and selectivity. The deposition technique also allows the incorporation of Ni or Ag cations by proper selection of metallorganic precursors. In addition, preliminary economic analysis provides a sensitivity study on the performance and cost of the proposed membranes for CO{sub 2} capture. Significant progress has been made toward the practical applications for CO{sub 2} capture. (1 MPU = 1.0 cm{sup 3}(STP){center_dot}cm-2{center_dot}min-1{center_dot}atm-1)
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG26-04NT42120
- OSTI ID:
- 981923
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Microporous sol-gel derived aminosilicate membrane for enhanced CO2 separation.
High-Temperature Ceramic-Carbonate Dual-Phase Membrane Reactor for Pre-combustion Carbon Dioxide Capture (Final Scientific/Technical Report)