View in EDS

Polymeric membrane materials for nitrogen production from air: A process synthesis study.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	Polymeric membrane materials for nitrogen production from air: A process synthesis study.
Authors:	Bozorg, M.¹ (AUTHOR), Addis, B.¹ (AUTHOR), Piccialli, V.¹ (AUTHOR), Ramírez-Santos, Álvaro A.¹ (AUTHOR), Castel, C.¹ (AUTHOR), Pinnau, I.¹ (AUTHOR), Favre, E.¹ (AUTHOR) eric.favre@univ-lorraine.fr
Source:	Chemical Engineering Science. Nov2019, Vol. 207, p1196-1213. 18p.
Subjects:	Polymeric membranes, Polymeric nanocomposites, Separation of gases, Membrane separation, Manufacturing processes, Industrial costs, Nitrogen
Abstract:	• Increasing process complexity with target nitrogen purity. • Similar design between industrial practice and process synthesis. • Vacuum pumping generates lower costs. • No interest to use different membranes in multistage units. • Higher permeance better than higher selectivity. Nitrogen production from air by membrane gas separation processes is a mature technology which is applied in numerous industrial sectors (chemical, food, aeronautics, space..). Depending on the nitrogen purity requirements (typically between 90 and 99.9%), single stage or multistage membrane process configurations are used. A very large number of advanced membrane materials have been recently reported, showing increasing permeability and/or selectivity for air separation applications (i.e. trade-off limits of dense polymeric materials for the O 2 / N 2 gas pair) compared to the commercially available membranes. The interest of these new materials in terms of nitrogen production cost and their impact in terms of process configuration are reported through a process synthesis study. Based on a tailor made optimization methodology and program, the production cost and associated optimal process configuration are first identified for two standard O 2 / N 2 separation membranes at four different levels of N 2 purity (90, 95, 99, 99.9%). The same strategy is then performed with advanced trade-off membrane materials, with the possibility to combine different materials in multistaged systems. The impact in terms of nitrogen production cost for the different purities and the corresponding optimal membrane materials and process configurations are discussed. Surprisingly, a medium membrane selectivity combined to a high permeability is shown to systematically offer the best set of performances, for mono or multistaged systems. Vacuum operation and recycling loops are shown to generate lower N 2 production costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Chemical Engineering Science is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Engineering Source

Description
Abstract:	• Increasing process complexity with target nitrogen purity. • Similar design between industrial practice and process synthesis. • Vacuum pumping generates lower costs. • No interest to use different membranes in multistage units. • Higher permeance better than higher selectivity. Nitrogen production from air by membrane gas separation processes is a mature technology which is applied in numerous industrial sectors (chemical, food, aeronautics, space..). Depending on the nitrogen purity requirements (typically between 90 and 99.9%), single stage or multistage membrane process configurations are used. A very large number of advanced membrane materials have been recently reported, showing increasing permeability and/or selectivity for air separation applications (i.e. trade-off limits of dense polymeric materials for the O 2 / N 2 gas pair) compared to the commercially available membranes. The interest of these new materials in terms of nitrogen production cost and their impact in terms of process configuration are reported through a process synthesis study. Based on a tailor made optimization methodology and program, the production cost and associated optimal process configuration are first identified for two standard O 2 / N 2 separation membranes at four different levels of N 2 purity (90, 95, 99, 99.9%). The same strategy is then performed with advanced trade-off membrane materials, with the possibility to combine different materials in multistaged systems. The impact in terms of nitrogen production cost for the different purities and the corresponding optimal membrane materials and process configurations are discussed. Surprisingly, a medium membrane selectivity combined to a high permeability is shown to systematically offer the best set of performances, for mono or multistaged systems. Vacuum operation and recycling loops are shown to generate lower N 2 production costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	00092509
DOI:	10.1016/j.ces.2019.07.029