MEMBRANES FOR A FLUE GAS TREATMENT PROCESS

CURRENT METHODS OF FLUE GAS TREATMENT TO REMOVE SO2 AND NOX ARE COMPLEX AND EXPENSIVE, AND GENERALLY ARE NOT APPLICABLE TO SMALL-SCALE COMBUSTORS. GAS SEPARATION MEMBRANES APPEAR TO BE AN ATTRACTIVE NEW TECHNIQUE THAT COULD LEAD TO A BREAKTHROUGH IN TREATMENT COSTS. A NEW MEMBRANE MATERIAL AND METHOD OF MEMBRANE MANUFACTURE HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED. THESE HAVE THE REQUIRED SELECTIVITY AND PERMEABILITY TO MAKE SO2 AND NOX REMOVAL FROM FLUE GAS BY MEMBRANES ECONOMICALLY ATTRACTIVE. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP THIS TECHNOLOGY AND LEAD TO ITS EVALUATION IN A BENCH-SCALE LABORATORY SYSTEM. IN PHASE I POLYMERS WILL BE EVALUATED AS THICK FILMS AND, IN SOME CASES, AS HIGH PERFORMANCES COMPOSITE MEMBRANES. CALCULATIONS WILL BE MADE TO DEFINE THE TARGET MEMBRANE PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS NEEDED TO MAKE A MEMBRANE FLUE GAS PROCESS ECONOMICALLY VIABLE. IN PHASE II THE MEMBRANE PRODUCTION PROCESS WOULD BE OPTIMIZED AND HIGH TEMPERATURE MODULES WOULD BE USED TO DEMONSTRATE THE PROCESS AT THE LABORATORY BENCH SCALE.