Hybrid Membrane Technology

DuPont has announced that they will produce hthium-ion battery separators using their Hybrid Membrane Technology (HMT), which is based on a nontraditional electrospinning process. Currently a nano-fiber mat is available based on nylon. Products for lithium-ion batteries are yet to be aimounced. 

Pont D, Hybrid Membrane Technology (HMT). http //www2.dupont.com/Separation Solutions/en US/tech info/hmt/hmt.html. Accessed 29 Apr 2015... 

The preceding discussions illustrate that membranes have shown great potential as an alternative for olefin/paraffin separation, yet the performance of current membranes is insufficient for commercial deployment of this technology. Advanced material development is highly desired to improve the membrane properties and reduce cost. Another possible approach involves hybrid membranes with zeolites or CMS incorporated in a continuous polymer phase. More discussion in this regard will be covered later in this chapter. 

The above laboratory-based successes show the future of this technology is promising, but they need to be supplemented with novel modification and processing techniques that can be scaled for high production levels. These hybrid membranes show considerable potential, however, they still require extensive research before implementation. Indeed if the number of patents filed recently is any indication, hybrid membranes are attracting industrial attention [64-81],... 

Lisitzin, D., Hasson, D. and Semiat, R.(June 2006) Membrane crystallizer for increased desalination recovery, ECI -Advanced Membranes Technology III. Membrane Engineering for Process Intensification, Cetraro, Calabria, Italy. Awerbuch, L. (1997) Dual purpose power desalination/hybrid systems/energy and economics. IDA Desalination Seminar, Cairo, Egypt. 

Concentrate the CO2 using membrane technology. Distill the retentate to remove the methane. Take the bottoms from the demethanizer and perform an azeotropic distillation to separate CO2 from C2 using a C4 extraction fluid. Treat theazaotrope overhead with a membrane distillation hybrid to remove the CO2. Now combine the various streams as shown in Fig. P-23b. 

Olsen S, Tripathi B, Mill H, and Gobina E. Hybrid inorganic membrane technology shows promise in gas processing. Membrane... 

Hybrid concepts combining the principles of selective adsorption with those of membrane technology and reaction engineering have been developed to enhance the overall separation or reaction efficiency. ° Two examples are given below. 

Suratt W.B., Pinto T.G., O Keefe B. (1993), Low cost membrane softening-two years of operation with a hybrid membrane system, Proc. of AWWA Membrane Technology Conf., Baltimore, Aug 93, 491-512. 

Arthanareeswaran, G. and Thanikaivelan, P. 2010. Fabrication of cellulose acetate-zirconia hybrid membranes for ultrafiltration applications Performance, structure and fouling analysis. Separation and Purification Technology lA 230-235. 

FIGURE 5.2 Scheme of a hybrid membrane/cryogenic distillation plant for removal of nitrogen from natural gas. (Reprinted with permission from Baker, R.W., Future directions of membrane gas separation technology, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.. 41, 1393. Copyright [2002] American Chemical Society.)... 

Benali, M. and Aydin, B. (2010) Ethane/ethylene and propane/propylene separation in hybrid membrane distillation systems Optimization and economic analysis. Separation and Purification Technology, 73 (3), 377-390. 

In the case of gasoline tank farm apphcations in Germany membrane-based recovery plants have the highest market share of more than 55%. The hybrid process of membrane technology combined with pressure swing adsorption was the best selling system in the case of TI-Air requirements. 

The hybrid systems described below include membrane technologies for processing a wide spectrum of feed streams in various applications. A small sampling of current and potential applications is discussed. The list of examples selected is intentionally Hmited the intention is to illustrate the extent of process alternatives possible with various hybrid membrane processes. 

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