Gas Separation and

Applications

By
Rakesh Jaiswal

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WHY GAS SEPARATION BY
MEMBRANES
– Low energy consumption,

– No environmental pollution,

– Space savings,

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• Gas separation is important in many industries,
e.g.,
– Development of natural gas and oil resources
– Petrochemicals
– Foodstuffs

• Separations are needed to:

– Purify products to required purity specifications
– Remove toxic or environmentally damaging byproduct

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Milestones in the Development of Gas Separation

• Membranes: used extensively for separations since the

1960’s
– Desalination
– haemodialysis and separations of dairy proteins
– pharmaceutical products
– processing of alcoholic and soft drinks

• Last 15 years:
– Increased demand for new types of membranes for gas
separations
– low-energy consumption, environment-friendly separation
solutions that cannot be obtained through the use of traditional
approaches (e.g. distillation)

• Beyond traditional polymeric membranes applications:

– Development of membranes from new polymers, carbon, or
sophisticated ceramics

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A membrane is a selective semi permeable barrier that allows
different gases, vapours, or liquids to move through it at different
rates

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Mechanisms for gas separation using membranes

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PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE
PERFORMANCE OF MEMBRANE
GAS SEPARATION SYSTEMS

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ROBSON PLOT

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Gas separation permeability and
selectivity

Upper bound relationship for O2/N2 separation

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Membranes material and
structures

1. Metal Membranes

2. Polymeric Membranes

3. Zeolite & Ceramic

Membranes

4. Mixed Matrix
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Mechanism of permeation of hydrogen through
metal membranes

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Two-layer composite membrane formed by
coating a thin layer of a selective polymer on a
micro porous support that provides mechanical
strength

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Gas permeation through mixed-
matrix membranes containing
different amounts of dispersed
zeolite particles

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 G a s S e p a r a t io n M e m b r a n e
A p p lic a t io n s

HYDROGEN SEPARATION

CARBON DIOXIDE REMOVAL

SEPARATION OF OXYGEN AND NITROGEN

NATURAL GAS SEPARATION

DEHYDRATION OF NATURAL GAS

SEPARATION OF HYDROCARBONS FROM AIR

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HYDROGEN RECOVERY

1.Simplified flow schematic of the membrane system to recover

hydrogen from an ammonia reactor purge stream

2. A two-step membrane system is used to reduce permeate

compression costs

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Approximate competitive range of current
membrane nitrogen production systems.

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Glassy membranes generally separate
by differences in size
Rubbery membranes separate by
differences in condensability

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Flow scheme of one-stage and two-stage membrane separation plants to
remove carbon dioxide from natural gas

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Issues and limitations
•Existing issues include:
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•Plasticization
•Compaction
•Aging
•Fouling
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•Pre-combustion capture is likely to be viable, particularly
for hydrogen separation within membrane reactors
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•Post-combustion capture offers the greatest challenge for
membranes

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 Reference

Membrane Technology and Applications

Richard W. Baker, McGraw-Hill

Synthetic Membranes and Membrane Separation Precesses

Takeshi Matsuura, CRC Press

Membrane Handbook
W. S. Winston. Ho

Basic Principles of Membrane Technology

Marcel Mulder, Kluwer academic publishers

Membrane Science and Technology

Yoshihito Osada, Marcel Dekker, Inc.

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THANK YOU

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