Separation of Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide from Syngas Using Clinoptilolite Natural Zeolite and Ordinary Portland Cement Composite Membranes

• Author / Creator

  Zarro, Omar

• Separating hydrogen and carbon dioxide from syngas is a necessary step for many industrial processes. Membrane separations are an attractive solution as they can operate at process temperatures (200-500 °C) and operate with a simple process.
  Pure thermally stable (up to 600 °C) clinoptilolite zeolite was mixed with a Portland cement matrix, pressed, and cured to prepare composite membranes. Such systems offer scalable, thermally stable, and low cost membranes for H2 and CO2 separation from syngas.
  Pure cement membranes demonstrated CO2 impermeability. Single gas permeation measurement of H2 and CO2 was conducted and demonstrated high H2/CO2 selectivities up to 115 with permeances on the order of 10-9 mol/m2·Pa·s for the composite membranes. The gas diffusion tests firmly exhibited molecular sieving toward H2 and CO2. These results suggest that cost-effective natural zeolites combined with ordinary Portland cement are capable of selective separation of H2 and encourage future development of this concept.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Membrane gas separation
  • Cement
  • Mixed matrix membranes
  • Clinoptilolite
  • Syngas
  • Membranes
  • Natural Zeolite
  • Gas Permeation Measurement

• Graduation date

  Spring 2014

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R32T14

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.