Low-temperature membranes

Alves VD and Coelheso IM, Low temperature membrane processes for fruit juice concentration. Euromembrane 2004, Hamburg, Germany, September 28-October 1, 2004. 

With the conventional technology, decarbonized fuel is purified by removing the CO2 from the shifted syngas by low temperature membranes. However, with the OA WGSR membrane reactor, the fuel stream is enriched in H2 by the membrane reactor and requires only polishing by PSA. 

Pre-, Post-, and Oxy-combustion CO2 Capture High- versus Low-Temperature Membrane Technologies... 

A wide range and a number of purification steps are required to make available hydrogen/synthesis gas having the desired purity that depends on use. Technology is available in many forms and combinations for specific hydrogen purification requirements. Methods include physical and chemical treatments (solvent scmbbing) low temperature (cryogenic) systems adsorption on soHds, such as active carbon, metal oxides, and molecular sieves, and various membrane systems. Composition of the raw gas and the amount of impurities that can be tolerated in the product determine the selection of the most suitable process. 

BP. These nitrile alloy membranes are compounded from PVC, flexibilized by the addition of butadiene—acrylonitrile copolymers, PVC, and other proprietary ingredients. Typically reinforced with polyester scrim, NBP membranes are 1 mm thick and have a width of 1.5 m. They ate ptedominandy used in mechanically fastened roofing systems. NBP membranes exhibit excellent teat and puncture resistance as well as good weatherabihty, and remain flexible at low temperatures. They ate resistant to most chemicals but ate sensitive to aromatic hydrocarbons. The sheet is usually offered in light colors. The physical characteristics of NBP membranes have been described (15). 

At constant PBT/PTMO composition, when the molar mass of PTMO block is >2000, partial crystallization of the polyether phase leads to copolymer stiffening. The properties of polyesterether TPEs are not dramatically different when PTMO is replaced by polyethers such as poly(oxyethylene) (PEO) or poly(oxypropylene). PEO-based TPEs present higher hydrophilicity, which may be of interest for some applications such as waterproof breathable membranes but which also results in much lower hydrolysis resistance. Changing PBT into a more rigid polymer by using 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid instead of terephthalic acid results in compounds that exhibit excellent general properties but poorer low-temperature stiffening characteristics. 

The concept of a promoter can also be extended to the case of substances which enhance the performance of an electrocatalyst by accelerating the rate of an electrocatalytic reaction. This can be quite important for the performance, e.g., of low temperature (polymer electrolyte membrane, PEM) fuel cells where poisoning of the anodic Pt electrocatalyst (reaction 1.7) by trace amounts of strongly adsorbed CO poses a serious problem. Such a promoter which when added to the Pt electrocatalyst would accelerate the desired reaction (1.5 or 1.7) could be termed an electrocatalytic promoter, or electropromoter, but this concept will not be dealt with in the present book, where the term promoter will always be used for substances which enhance the performance of a catalyst. 

The rate of catalysis of membrane bound enzymes (Plot B, Figure 1) is more greatly affected than soluble enzymes by lowering the temperature. This is due to the effect of low temperatures on the solidification of the membranes. Thus, an Arrhenius plot of the rate of a membrane-bound enzyme as a function of temperature often shows a discontinuity with a sharp break point (transition temperature) and loss of activity at the temperature where the membrane becomes a gel or more solid phase. 

Quinn, P.J. (1985). A lipid-phase separation model of low temperature damage to biological membranes. Cryobiology, 22, 128-40. 

The fluidity of the cellular membrane presents a limiting factor at low temperatures. After a decrease in temperature, membranes are too rigid and must therefore be desaturated. Normally, membranes are in a liquid crystalline form... 

Cyanobacteria, prokaryotic algae that perform oxygenic photosynthesis, respond to a decrease in ambient growth temperature by desaturating the fatty acids of membrane lipids to compensate for the decrease in the molecular motion of the membrane lipids at low temperatures. During low-temperature acclimation of cyanobacterial cells, the desaturation of fatty acids occurs without de novo synthesis of fatty acids [110, 111]. All known cyanobacterial desaturases are intrinsic membrane proteins that act on acyl-Hpid substrates. 

A shift in temperature from 38 to 22 °C leads to desaturation of fatty acids in Anabaena variabilis [110], resulting in control of the fluidity of the plasma membrane. Mutants have been isolated in Synechocystis PCC 6803 that were defective in desaturation of fatty acids, and the growth rate of one of these mutants was much lower than that of the wild-type at 22 °C [112]. It turned out that the mutant strain had a mutation in the gene desA, and when the wild-type allele was introduced into the chilling-sensitive cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans, it resulted in increasing the tolerance of that strain to low temperature [113]. These experiments nicely demonstrate the existence of a mechanism of adaptation to low temperature in a chilling-tolerant cyanobacterium. 

Sol-gel techniques have been widely used to prepare ceramic or glass materials with controlled microstructures. Applications of the sol-gel method in fabrication of high-temperature fuel cells are steadily reported. Modification of electrodes, electrolytes or electrolyte/electrode interface of the fuel cell has been also performed to produce components with improved microstructures. Recently, the sol-gel method has expanded into inorganic-organic hybrid membranes for low-temperature fuel cells. This paper presents an overview concerning current applications of sol-gel techniques in fabrication of fuel cell components. 

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