Gas separation process: analysis of composite membranes based on alumina/PVDF at lower power consumption energy

Abstract

Human activity have been emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for a long time. To separate these gases, especially CO₂ and CH₄, polymeric membranes have been used in the chemical industry as this technology has a lower power consumption when compared to other separation processes. In this work, α-alumina ceramic tubes (support) were internally impregnated with poly(fluoride vinylidene) (PVDF), and the permeability and selectivity of the membrane to CO₂, CH₄, and O₂ was studied. All membranes (MT1 and MT2), when tested at low pressures, presented higher selectivity to CH₄ gas, and with increasing pressure the selectivity for CO₂ increased as well. The MT2 membrane was more efficient in the separation of CO₂/CH₄ gases, which is an important result because both of them are the most impacting gases to the greenhouse effect and the most difficult to separate using membrane process.

Keywords:

• Composite membranes
• Alumina/PVDF
• Gás separation
• GHG

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank the UNIVILLE, UCS and CNPq.

Notes

Presented at the International Conference on Desalination for the Environment, Clean Water and Energy, European Desalination Society, 23–26 April 2012, Barcelona, Spain