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Title:
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Feasibility of the application of porous inorganic gas separation membranesin some large-scale chemical processes
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Author(s):
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Published by:
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Publication date:
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ECN
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1996
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ECN report number:
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Document type:
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ECN-RX--96-012
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Other
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Number of pages:
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Full text:
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47
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Download PDF
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Abstract:
During the last decade there has been an intensified activity in researchand development of ceramic membranes for gas separation applications. In
several studies it is said that the market for these membranes will expand
very rapidly in the near future. This market growth will be due to advantages
such as high permeation and membrane stability as compared with other
membrane separation technologies. During the first years of inorganic
membrane development, R&D was mainly focused on the membrane as the product,
and research was driven by material development and material scientists.
Research was carried out by universities, while research institutes and
especially (end-user) industry were hardly involved. Main reason for this was
that a lot of fundamental knowledge was needed before these membranes could
be implemented in the foreseen market. Nowadays somewhat more attention is
paid towards applications and use of these membranes in processes and under
process conditions. Industry is now getting more involved in R&D. In several
review articles, membrane development and possibilities of inorganic
membranes in gas separation applications and especially in membrane reactor
applications have been summarised. In most of the literature the use of
inorganic membranes for gas separation and reactor applications are
considered to be very promising. However, research is still strongly focused
on the membrane as a material and much less on the membrane process. The aim
of this report is to show that a multidisciplinary approach, focusing on
materials, processes and modelling, is needed to judge the techno-economic
feasibility of inorganic membranes in large-scale processes. This will be
done by discussing examples of the potential use of porous inorganic
membranes in three different membrane reactor applications. In all three,
hydrogen separation will take place: the dehydrogenation of propane to
propylene, the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene, and the water-gas
shift reaction. Membrane characteristics such as permeation, selectivity and
separation factor are given throughout this chapter. The definitions for
these characteristics are given in the appendix. 15 figs., 11 tabs., 1
appendix, 71 refs.
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