Stable Membranes for Separating Hydrogen-Containing
Petrochemical and Refinery Streams--Membrane
Technology and Research, Inc., 1360 Willow Road, Suite 103, Menlo Park, CA
94025-1524; 650-328-2228, www.mtrinc.com
Ms.
Zhenjie He, Principal Investigator, jennyhe@mtrinc.com
Ms.
Elizabeth Weiss, Business Official, egweiss@mtrinc.com
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-04ER84000
Amount:
$100,000
As
the Nation moves toward a hydrogen economy, new sources of hydrogen will be
required. Many low-pressure,
hydrogen-containing refinery and petrochemical streams would appear to be good
candidates for hydrogen separation by membranes. However,
membranes have not been used for these applications because hydrocarbons in the
gas stream plasticize the membranes, resulting in collapse and failure.
This project will develop new perfluoropolymer materials that are
completely inert to hydrocarbon liquids. Membranes
made from these materials will not fail after exposure to vapors or condensed
liquids. The membranes also will be
ten to twenty times more permeable to hydrogen than current membranes, allowing
important refinery and petrochemical vapor mixtures to be economically separated
for the first time. In Phase I, the
new material will be made into a composite membrane, which will be demonstrated
in laboratory module tests with gas mixtures known to cause failure of current
membranes. A technical and economic
analysis of refinery and petrochemical plant hydrogen recovery processes that
use these membranes will be performed.
Commercial
Applications and Other Benefits
as described by the awardee: Membranes
have not been widely used to separate hydrogen from refinery and petrochemical
streams because of poor reliability. The
hydrogen permeable, hydrocarbon resistant membranes should allow for the
economical separation of hydrogen from these streams.