(305g) Preparation and Application of Zeolite and MOF Membranes from an Industrial viewpoint
AIChE Annual Meeting
2020
2020 Virtual AIChE Annual Meeting
Separations Division
In Honor of Jerry Lin V (Invited Talks)
Friday, November 20, 2020 - 9:30am to 9:45am
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) possess not only zeolite-like topologies and properties, but also, more importantly, tunable pore sizes and well-designed functionalities, which makes them strong candidates for molecular sieve membranes. During the last 15 years, much progress in the development of MOF membranes has been witnessed. For example, numerous synthetic routes have been developed for preparing ZIF-8 membranes that demonstrate superior separation properties for propylene/propane mixture. However, the ZIF-8 membranes still face challenges in industrial applications. One of the biggest challenges is the unsatisfactory propylene flux when utilized in propylene/propane separation. Statistically, most of the reported ZIF-8 membranes have propylene flux of 0.1~0.2 kgm-2h-1, which is an order of magnitude lower than the water flux (1~5 kgm-2h-1) of commercialized LTA membrane for ethanol dehydration. Besides, the membrane stability under the real separation conditions needs further study.
In the presentation, we will report a continuous production line for zeolite membranes, with the aim to greatly increase the productivity and to reduce the membrane cost. Examples will be given in terms of ultra-deep dewatering of organic solvents. We will also talk about the possibility of continuous and scalable manufacture of ZIF-8 membranes. Compared with zeolite membranes, MOF membranes, endowed with simple preparation process, high separation efficiency and low manufacturing cost, offer enormous potential for scale-up preparation and commercial application. MOF membranes as a whole have an edge over zeolite membranes for commercialization in terms of the processing advantages. The application of MOF membranes in industrial gas separation can be reasonably expected for the next future.