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    Separation of H2O/CO2 Mixtures by MFI Membranes: Experiment and Monte Carlo Study
    (Basel : MDPI, 2021) Wotzka, Alexander; Jorabchi, Majid Namayandeh; Wohlrab, Sebastian
    The separation of CO2 from gas streams is a central process to close the carbon cycle. Established amine scrubbing methods often require hot water vapour to desorb the previously stored CO2. In this work, the applicability of MFI membranes for H2O/CO2 separation is principally demonstrated by means of realistic adsorption isotherms computed by configurational-biased Monte Carlo (CBMC) simulations, then parameters such as temperatures, pressures and compositions were identified at which inorganic membranes with high selectivity can separate hot water vapour and thus make it available for recycling. Capillary condensation/adsorption by water in the microporous membranes used drastically reduces the transport and thus the CO2 permeance. Thus, separation factors of αH2O/CO2 = 6970 could be achieved at 70 °C and 1.8 bar feed pressure. Furthermore, the membranes were tested for stability against typical amines used in gas scrubbing processes. The preferred MFI membrane showed particularly high stability under application conditions.
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    Low-Temperature Steam Reforming of Natural Gas after LPG-Enrichment with MFI Membranes
    (Basel : MDPI, 2018-12-12) Seeburg, Dominik; Liu, Dongjing; Dragomirova, Radostina; Atia, Hanan; Pohl, Marga-Martina; Amani, Hadis; Georgi, Gabriele; Kreft, Stefanie; Wohlrab, Sebastian
    Low-temperature hydrogen production from natural gas via steam reforming requires novel processing concepts as well as stable catalysts. A process using zeolite membranes of the type MFI (Mobile FIve) was used to enrich natural gas with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) alkanes (in particular, propane and n-butane), in order to improve the hydrogen production from this mixture at a reduced temperature. For this purpose, a catalyst precursor based on Rh single-sites (1 mol% Rh) on alumina was transformed in situ to a Rh1/Al2O3 catalyst possessing better performance capabilities compared with commercial catalysts. A wet raw natural gas (57.6 vol% CH4) was fully reformed at 650 °C, with 1 bar absolute pressure over the Rh1/Al2O3 at a steam to carbon ratio S/C = 4, yielding 74.7% H2. However, at 350 °C only 21 vol% H2 was obtained under these conditions. The second mixture, enriched with LPG, was obtained from the raw gas after the membrane process and contained only 25.2 vol% CH4. From this second mixture, 47 vol% H2 was generated at 350 °C after steam reforming over the Rh1/Al2O3 catalyst at S/C = 4. At S/C = 1 conversion was suppressed for both gas mixtures. Single alkane reforming of C2–C4 showed different sensitivity for side reactions, e.g., methanation between 350 and 650 °C. These results contribute to ongoing research in the field of low-temperature hydrogen release from natural gas alkanes for fuel cell applications as well as for pre-reforming processes.