Novel Applications for Gas Separation Membranes

Abstract

Monsanto successfully commercialised Prism® separators for industrial scale membrane gas separation system in 1980. Following a 6 year period of growth and development, Monsanto formed Permea Inc. in 1986 to manage the global gas separation membrane business. During the same year Monsanto introduced Prism® Alpha separators for air separation. Today 10 years after commercialisation over 10,000 Prism® separators have been used in more than 2,500 installations. These installations cover some 100 applications and are located in most parts of the world. The scale of system is from less than 1 Nm3/hr to over 80,000 Nm3/hr.

Membranes can be utilised in many industrial applications where they replace conventional gas separation technologies with cheaper and simpler solutions. Membranes are increasingly used in novel application areas where conventional technology has not utilised either because of the scale of production or the membrane performs a function that no other technology can duplicate. This paper reviews some of these novel applications for which gas separation membranes are suited.