(8f) Application of Hitz Zeolite Membranes for Removal of Water and CO2 From Air

Membrane separation will offer us great opportunity to deliver more compact and less capital-intensive processes, in comparison with conventional separation technologies such as distillation, extraction, and adsorption.  So far, Hitachi Zosen Corporation (Hitz) has successfully developed zeolite membranes with both high flux and high selectivity, resulting in the commercial application for bio-ethanol plant with the capacity of 50,000 L/d in Japan, 2008.  The developed membranes, or NaA-type and NaY-type zeolite membranes, showed excellent separation performance in bio-ethanol production and solvents purification; however, performances in other applications are yet to be clarified. 

In this study, we applied the zeolite membranes to removal of water and CO₂ from air for production of purified dry air required in various industries.  The system we have developed successfully provides dry air with CO₂ concentration of less than 100 ppm.  Detailed permeation and separation properties of the zeolite membranes will be presented.