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Inorganic Membranes Synthesis, Characteristics and Applications pp 155–176Cite as

Gas Separations with Inorganic Membranes

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Abstract

This chapter will deal with the application of inorganic membranes in gas separations. Because the separation mechanisms differ significantly, the inorganic membranes will be divided into two categories: porous inorganic membranes and nonporous ones. Examples of porous membranes are, e.g. Vycor glass, alumina membranes and carbon molecular sieve membranes and those for nonporous membranes are metal membranes and liquid- immobilized membranes (LIM), in which the liquid is a molten salt (Pez and Carlin 1986). Important transport and separation mechanisms in porous membranes are Knudsen diffusion (gas phase transport), surface diffusion (surface transport), multilayer diffusion and capillary condensation. When the pore size of the medium is of molecular dimensions, the transport mechanism is molecular sieving or micropore diffusion. In nonporous membranes the transport is by solution of the (gas) molecules in the membrane, followed by diffusion of the species through the membrane and finally dissolution.

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Abbreviations

A:

outer membrane surface, m2

Ds :

surface diffusion coefficient, m2-s-1

F0 :

permeabihty, mol/m2-s-Pa

J:

flux, mol-m-2-s-1

Kn :

Knudsen number,

L, l:

membrane thickness, m

M:

molar mass, kg-mol-1

P0 :

corrected permeabihty, m3-m-m-2-h-1-bar-1P pressure,N-m-2

q:

surface occupation, mol-kg-1

r:

pore radius, m

R:

gas constant, 8.314 J-mol-1-K-1

T:

temperature, K

\(\bar v\) :

mean molecular speed, m-s-1

Ε:

porosity

η:

viscosity, N-s-m-2

λ:

mean free path, m

μ:

shape factor

ρapp :

apparent density, kg-m-3

Pn:

Knudsen regime

P:

Poiseuille flow regime

g:

gas phase

s:

surface phase

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    R. J. R. Uhlhorn & A. J. Burggraaf

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  1. R. J. R. Uhlhorn
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© 1991 Van Nostrand Reinhold

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Uhlhorn, R.J.R., Burggraaf, A.J. (1991). Gas Separations with Inorganic Membranes. In: Inorganic Membranes Synthesis, Characteristics and Applications. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6547-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6547-1_6

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