27.12.2012 Views

Inorganic Microporous Membranes for Gas Separation in Fossil Fuel ...

Inorganic Microporous Membranes for Gas Separation in Fossil Fuel ...

Inorganic Microporous Membranes for Gas Separation in Fossil Fuel ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

5 Conclusions and recommendations<br />

mesoporous defects or <strong>in</strong>tercrystall<strong>in</strong>e channels between ZrO2 crystals that are <strong>in</strong> the<br />

same order as the layer thickness. It is expected that crystall<strong>in</strong>e TiO2 or ZrO2 may not<br />

<strong>for</strong>m ultramicroporous membranes with crystallisation temperatures of 500ºC and higher<br />

due to the relative large crystall<strong>in</strong>ity of these layers. Defect free, TiO2 or ZrO2<br />

membranes should be prepared and studied with gas permeability to confirm the absence<br />

of ultramicropores.<br />

H2/CO2 permselectivity higher than Knudsen factor is observed <strong>for</strong> Ti0.5Zr0.5O2 films<br />

calc<strong>in</strong>ed at 500 and 600ºC. He and H2 gas transport is thermally activated <strong>in</strong>dicat<strong>in</strong>g the<br />

presence of micropore diffusion. Knudsen mass transport is obta<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>for</strong> gasses with<br />

k<strong>in</strong>etic diameter of CO2 and larger. These results show that Ti0.5Zr0.5O2 films calc<strong>in</strong>ed at<br />

500 and 600ºC conta<strong>in</strong> a pore size distribution of ~0.3 to ~0.5 nm <strong>in</strong> diameter.<br />

The He permeance of 1·10 -7 mol/m 2 sPa with a He/N2 permselectivity of 5.9 or the He<br />

permeance 2·10 -8 mol/m 2 sPa with a He/N2 permselectivity of 14 are lower than state of<br />

the art SiO2 membranes but are higher than TiO2-ZrO2 membranes found <strong>in</strong> literature. 80<br />

These results fulfil the primary aim of achiev<strong>in</strong>g gas separation membranes from TiO2-<br />

ZrO2 material. The permeance might be <strong>in</strong>creased by the <strong>for</strong>mation of th<strong>in</strong>ner or more<br />

porous γ-Al2O3 <strong>in</strong>termediate layers. The permselectivity might be improved us<strong>in</strong>g<br />

structure direct<strong>in</strong>g agents (SDAs) <strong>in</strong> the sols, avoid<strong>in</strong>g larger pores or metal load<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong><br />

the f<strong>in</strong>al membrane layer.<br />

The micropores <strong>in</strong> these membranes are stable <strong>for</strong> at least 1500 hours. Steam test results<br />

<strong>in</strong> reversible pore block<strong>in</strong>g without layer delam<strong>in</strong>ation or destruction while ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g<br />

the He/N2 permselectivity of ~10. These gas separation membranes show the chemical<br />

stability at high temperatures <strong>in</strong> humid conditions fulfill<strong>in</strong>g the aim of hydrothermally<br />

stable membrane preparation. This evidence <strong>in</strong>dicates that b<strong>in</strong>ary oxide 50 mol % TiO2 <strong>in</strong><br />

ZrO2 microporous th<strong>in</strong> layers could be alternatives to SiO2 membranes <strong>for</strong> precombustion<br />

applications. However, the permselectivity and permeability values of the prepared<br />

Ti0.5Zr0.5O2 membranes do not reach <strong>in</strong>dustrial targets and these membranes might not<br />

have sufficient hydrothermal stability. The hydrothermal stability might be improved by<br />

us<strong>in</strong>g SDAs used <strong>in</strong> hydrothermal stable SiO2 membranes.<br />

113

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!