(61b) Novel CO2-Selective Membrane for Syngas Applications

Fossil fuel accounts for three-quarters of worldwide CO₂ emissions, of which emissions from power production is the chief culprit. Therefore, the greatest bang-for-our-buck in regard to CO₂ emission reduction is by addressing CO₂ capture from power plants (conventional coal-fired and natural gas-fired). However, capturing CO₂ from these sources is enormously challenging as the partial pressure of CO₂ is very low. CO₂ from refineries, chemical productions, GTL, CTL and IGCC are available at higher CO₂ partial pressure. We can make a dent on our CO₂ footprint by addressing these low-hanging-fruits sources today.

Current commercially available CO₂-selective membrane used in the natural gas industry is not suitable for syngas application as it does not offer any appreciable selectivity of CO₂ over H₂. Hence, CO₂ capture from syngas is largely dominated by physical absorption systems such Solexol and Rectisol or chemical absorption systems such as amines.

MTR, a supplier of membrane-based separation systems has developed a novel membrane that preferentially permeates CO₂ while rejecting H₂ and CO. In addition to CO₂ removal, this membrane also preferentially permeates H₂S over other syngas components, ideal for bulk H₂S removal. This novel membrane is capable of removing greater than 90% CO₂ at high recovered-CO₂ concentration.