Robeson’s upperbound-oriented enhancement of performance of hollow fiber carbon membrane for H2/N2 ideal separation
List of Authors
  • Jalani, M.A. , Jaya, M. A. T.

Keyword
  • H2/N2 separation, poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide), poly (p-phenylene oxide), optimization, carbon membrane

Abstract
  • Poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) was successfully converted into hollow fiber carbon membrane for H2/N2 separation study. The ideal separation parameters were enhanced by tuning the pyrolysis temperature, heating rate, and thermal soak time utilizing the Robeson’s 2008 upperbound and commercial boundary to obtain maximum balanced point between permeability and ideal selectivity. Using this approach, the optimum H2 permeability and H2/N2 ideal selectivity were 2868 Barrer and 586, respectively. SEM images depicted the surface of the PPO and carbon membrane were both dense, non-porous, symmetrical, and homogeneous. The estimated thickness of the carbon membrane was 14-15 µm. The permeability study indicated that the transport mechanism of the H2 across the membrane layer was dominated by molecular sieving. Excessively high or very low pyrolysis temperature reduced the H2 permeability and H2/N2 ideal selectivity. The H2/N2 ideal selectivity decreased against increasing heating rate as the H2 and N2 permeabilities increased significantly. Thermal soak time was highly effective in increasing the H2 permeability and H2/N2 ideal selectivity. Both H2 permeability and H2/N2 permselectivity from binary test was significantly lower than the ideal separation values due to competitive gas transport through the membrane pore which was completely dominated by the larger N2.

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