(401aa) Pilot Deposition of Zeolite-Y Nanoparticles on Polyethersulfone Substrate for Composite Membrane Fabrication in CO2 Separation

A vacuum-assisted deposition setup was developed in pilot scale to continuously deposit zeolite-Y (ZY) nanoparticles on a 14-inch wide nanoporous polyethersulfone (PES) substrate. The deposited substrate was used for composite membrane fabrication for carbon capture from flue gas in coal- and/or natural gas-fired power plants. The effects of operating parameters, including ZY dispersion concentration, pressure differential, and web speed, on the ZY layer thickness and uniformity were studied. A ZY dispersion concentration of 0.08 wt.%, a pressure differential of 3.7 inch Hg, and a web speed of 3 feet/min were identified as the optimal operating conditions for depositing a thin and uniform ZY layer with a thickness of approximately 160 nm. A mathematical model with two adjustable parameters was derived from Darcy’s law to correlate the operating parameters to the ZY layer thickness. The model was validified by the parametric study, and the adjustable parameters were determined by fitting the experimental data. After coating an amine-containing polymer selective layer on top of the ZY layer, the composite membrane showed a CO₂ permeance of 800 GPU (1 GPU = 10^-6 cm³ (STP)·cm^-2·s^-1·cmHg^-1) with a CO₂/N₂ selectivity over 150 at the typical flue gas temperature of 57 °C, which was superior to the performance of the membrane coated on the bare PES substrate. This improvement was due to the reduced selective layer penetration, resulting from the smaller interparticle pore size on the ZY layer. The scale-up vacuum-assisted deposition process developed in this study is also suitable for the scale-up of the deposition of other fine particles onto a porous polymeric substrate. The developed roll-to-roll fabrication process can be applied to the mass production of the nanoparticle layers, which could potentially reduce the fabrication cost of inorganic membranes in a variety of applications.