The possibility of application of zeolyte powders for the construction of membranes for carbon dioxide separation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to construct a polymer-based mixed matrix membrane that could be used for waste gases treatment. Therefore, high permeability for the carbon dioxide and low permeability for other gases commonly present in the industrial combustion waste gases (nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen and methane) are essential. These membranes belong to the group of dense composite membranes, whose separation is based on the solution diffusion mechanism. In this paper, feasibility of the application of poly(ethylene oxide)-copoly(phtalamide) was tested. In order to enhance the permeability of carbon dioxide, three different zeolites with two-dimensional pores (IHW, NSI and TER) were incorporated, and in order to improve compatibility between the inorganic particles and polymer chains, n-tetradecyldimethylamonium bromide (NTAB) was added. The best results in carbon dioxide/hydrogen selectivity were obtained with the membrane constructed with PEBAX 1657 and surface treated zeolites, while better results concerning selectivity were gained with membranes based on Polyactive.

Cilj ovog rada je bio da se konstruiše neporozna kompozitna membrana bazirana na polimernom matriksu koja može da bude upotrebljena za tretman otpadnih gasova. Za ovu svrhu, neophodno je da membrana ima visoku permeabilnost za ugljen-dioksid i nisku permeabilnost za druge gasove koji ne najčešće sreću u produktima sagorevanja (azot, kiseonik, vodonik, metan). Ove membrane pripadaju grupi neporoznih membrana i mehanizam separacije gasova je baziran na rastvorljivosti i difuziji. U ovom radu, testirana je mogućnost primene poli(etilenoksida)-kopoli(ftalamida). Da bi se povećala permeabilnost ugljen-dioksida, dodavana su tri različita zeolitna praha, a da bi se poboljšala kompatibilnost neorganskih čestica i polimernih lanaca, dodat je n-tetradeciltrimetilamonijum-bromid (NTAB). Ispitivani zeoliti pripadaju grupi sa dvodimenzionalnim porama (IHW, NSI i TER). Najbolji rezultati u separaciji ugljen-dioksida i vodonika su postignuti kod membrana baziranim na polimeru PEBAX 1657 i zeolitima uz dodatak aditiva. Sa druge strane, bolja selektivnost je postignuta kod membrana baziranih na Polyactive polimeru.