Membranes for Gas Separation and Purification Processes

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 December 2021) | Viewed by 13222

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Singapore Membrane Technology Centre (SMTC), Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637141Singapore Membrane Technology Centre (SMTC), Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637141, Singapore
Interests: gas separation; nanoporous materials; mixed-matrix membranes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The world’s energy consumption is generally driven by the strong demand arising from the rapid expansion in human population and economic growth. Nevertheless, energy generation which is conducted through the combustion of primary energy resources such as fossil fuel and natural gas leads to substantial environmental consequences such as air pollution, greenhouse gas emission, and the emission of undesirable pollutants. On the other hand, although natural gas (primarily methane) possesses lower carbon per unit of energy and burns a relatively cleaner flue gas in comparison to primary energy resources (thus minimizing CO2 emission), additional purification steps are still required, as the raw materials contain other desirable components such as light hydrocarbons (ethane and propane), which are desirable for the production of polymers (e.g., polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride). Thus, efforts in utilizing the energy resources effectively can be conducted through harvesting the valuable products from the raw materials together with the separation of emitted flue gas after the combustion process to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases to the environment. To date, existing technologies for gas separation have been represented by (water or amine) scrubbing, cryogenic distillation, and swing adsorption processes. Nevertheless, all these aforementioned processes come with a high energy penalty. Therefore, membrane-based separation processes have been proposed as alternative candidates for gas separation and purification due to their small plant footprint and lower energy penalty (no phase change is required).

The purpose of this Special Issue is to cover recent progress in membranes in the field of gas separation and purification processes, which are not limited to the development and synthesis of membranes in various configurations (flat sheets and hollow fibers), modelling of gas transport properties, techno-economic analyses, and the eventual verification of the gas separation performance of membranes. Interested authors are welcomed to submit their latest research findings, review papers, perspectives, and review papers on the topics listed above.

Dr. Chuah Chong Yang
Guest Editor

Keywords

  • Air Separation
  • Gas Permeation Test
  • Greenhouse Gas Separation
  • Hydrocarbon Separation
  • Membrane Characterization
  • Membrane Contactors
  • Mixed-matrix (Composite) Membranes
  • Molecular Sieve (Inorganic) Membranes
  • Polymeric Membranes
  • Process Modelling

Published Papers (5 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review, Other

3 pages, 201 KiB  
Editorial
Membranes for Gas Separation and Purification Processes
by Chong Yang Chuah
Membranes 2022, 12(6), 622; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12060622 - 15 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1812
Abstract
This Special Issue, entitled “Membranes for Gas Separation and Purification Processes”, was introduced to discuss the recent progress in the development of membranes for gas separation and purification [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Gas Separation and Purification Processes)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review, Other

11 pages, 6675 KiB  
Article
Density Functional Theory Study of B, N, and Si Doped Penta-Graphene as the Potential Gas Sensors for NH3 Detection
by Guangjun Chen, Lei Gan, Huihui Xiong and Haihui Zhang
Membranes 2022, 12(1), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12010077 - 8 Jan 2022
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2315
Abstract
Designing a high-performance gas sensor to efficiently detect the hazardous NH3 molecule is beneficial to air monitoring and pollution control. In this work, the first-principles calculations were employed to investigate the adsorption structures, electronic characteristics, and gas sensing properties of the pristine [...] Read more.
Designing a high-performance gas sensor to efficiently detect the hazardous NH3 molecule is beneficial to air monitoring and pollution control. In this work, the first-principles calculations were employed to investigate the adsorption structures, electronic characteristics, and gas sensing properties of the pristine and B-, N-, P-, Al-, and Si-doped penta-graphene (PG) toward the NH3, H2S, and SO2 molecules. The results indicate that the pristine PG is insensitive to those toxic gases due to the weak adsorption strength and long adsorption distance. Nevertheless, the doping of B, N, Al, and Si (B and Al) results in the transition of NH3 (H2S and SO2) adsorption from physisorption to chemisorption, which is primarily ascribed to the large charge transfer and strong orbital hybridizations between gas molecules and doping atoms. In addition, NH3 adsorption leads to the remarkable variation of electrical conductivity for the B-, N-, and Si-doped PG, and the adsorption strength of NH3 on the B-, N-, and Si-doped PG is larger than that of H2S and SO2. Moreover, the chemically adsorbed NH3 molecule on the N-, B-, and Si-doped PG can be effectively desorbed by injecting electrons into the systems. Those results shed light on the potential application of PG-based nanosheets as reusable gas sensors for NH3 detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Gas Separation and Purification Processes)
Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 8350 KiB  
Article
Preparation of Al-Containing ZSM-58 Zeolite Membranes Using Rapid Thermal Processing for CO2/CH4 Mixture Separation
by Eiji Hayakawa and Shuji Himeno
Membranes 2021, 11(8), 623; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11080623 - 13 Aug 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2638
Abstract
The synthesis of DDR-type zeolite membranes faces the problem of cracks that occur on the zeolite membrane due to differences in the thermal expansion coefficient between zeolite and the porous substrate during the detemplating process. In this study, Al-containing ZSM-58 zeolite membranes with [...] Read more.
The synthesis of DDR-type zeolite membranes faces the problem of cracks that occur on the zeolite membrane due to differences in the thermal expansion coefficient between zeolite and the porous substrate during the detemplating process. In this study, Al-containing ZSM-58 zeolite membranes with DDR topology were prepared by rapid thermal processing (RTP), with the aim of developing a reproducible method for preparing DDR zeolite membrane without cracks. Moreover, we verified the influence of RTP before performing conventional thermal calcination (CTC) on ZSM-58 membranes with various silica-to-aluminum (Si/Al) molar ratios. Using the developed method, an Al-containing ZSM-58 membrane without cracks was obtained, along with complete template removal by RTP, and it had higher CO2/CH4 selectivity. An all-silica ZSM-58 membrane without cracks was obtained by only using the ozone detemplating method. ZSM-58 crystals and membranes with various Si/Al molar ratios were analyzed by using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to confirm the effects of RTP treatment. Al-containing ZSM-58 zeolites had higher silanol concentrations than all-silica zeolites, confirming many silanol condensations by RTP. The condensation of silanol forms results in the formation of siloxane bonds and stronger resistance to thermal stress; therefore, RTP caused crack suppression in Al-containing ZSM-58 membranes. The results demonstrate that Al-containing ZSM-58 zeolite membranes with high CO2 permeance and CO2/CH4 selectivity and minimal cracking can be produced by using RTP. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Gas Separation and Purification Processes)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Editorial, Research, Other

15 pages, 1598 KiB  
Review
Review: Mixed-Matrix Membranes with CNT for CO2 Separation Processes
by Marquidia J. Pacheco, Luis J. Vences, Hilda Moreno, Joel O. Pacheco, Ricardo Valdivia and Celso Hernández
Membranes 2021, 11(6), 457; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11060457 - 21 Jun 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3577
Abstract
The membranes’ role is of supreme importance in the separation of compounds under different phases of matter. The topic addressed here is based on the use of membranes on the gases separation, specifically the advantages of mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) when using carbon nanotubes [...] Read more.
The membranes’ role is of supreme importance in the separation of compounds under different phases of matter. The topic addressed here is based on the use of membranes on the gases separation, specifically the advantages of mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) when using carbon nanotubes as fillers to separate carbon dioxide (CO2) from other carrier gas. MMMs consist of a polymer support with additive fillers to improve their efficiency by increasing both selectivity and permeability. The most promising fillers in the MMM development are nanostructured molecules. Due to the good prospects of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as MMM fillers, this article aims to concentrate the advances and developments of CNT–MMM to separate gases, such as CO2. The influence of functionalized CNT or mixtures of CNT with additional materials such as zeolites, hydrogel and, graphene sheets on membranes performance is highlighted in the present work. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Gas Separation and Purification Processes)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Other

15 pages, 26060 KiB  
Perspective
Recent Advances in Mixed-Matrix Membranes for Light Hydrocarbon (C1–C3) Separation
by Chong Yang Chuah and Tae-Hyun Bae
Membranes 2022, 12(2), 201; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12020201 - 9 Feb 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2056
Abstract
Light hydrocarbons, obtained through the petroleum refining process, are used in numerous applications. The separation of the various light hydrocarbons is challenging and expensive due to their similar melting and boiling points. Alternative methods have been investigated to supplement cryogenic distillation, which is [...] Read more.
Light hydrocarbons, obtained through the petroleum refining process, are used in numerous applications. The separation of the various light hydrocarbons is challenging and expensive due to their similar melting and boiling points. Alternative methods have been investigated to supplement cryogenic distillation, which is energy intensive. Membrane technology, on the other hand, can be an attractive alternative in light hydrocarbon separation as a phase change that is known to be energy-intensive is not required during the separation. In this regard, this study focuses on recent advances in mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) for light hydrocarbon (C1–C3) separation based on gas permeability and selectivity. Moreover, the future research and development direction of MMMs in light hydrocarbon separation is discussed, considering the low intrinsic gas permeability of polymeric membranes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Gas Separation and Purification Processes)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop