STTR Phase II: New Perfluorodioxolane- and Perfluorodioxane-based Copolymer Membranes for Gas Separations

这项小型企业技术转让第二期项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是生产一种更好的天然气处理膜，使最终用户能够以大幅降低的价格获得膜技术的易于处理和环境优势。天然气处理去除二氧化碳和其他污染物是最大的工业气体分离应用，估计全球分离设备市场每年约为20 - 30亿美元。目前，膜工艺占有10%的市场份额，而胺吸收工艺占据了大部分市场。传统膜材料的CO2/CH4选择性相对较低，这抵消了其环境和效率优势。在这个程序中开发的新型全氟聚合物膜在工业相关条件下处理气体混合物时表现出增强的性能。这些全氟聚合物膜的研究将提高对新材料家族结构/性能关系的科学理解。最重要的是，在商业规模上的应用，这些新的全氟膜提供了克服现有膜的局限性的潜力，从而改变天然气加工。第二阶段研究项目的目标是完成用于天然气二氧化碳去除的新型全氟聚合物膜的开发。在第一阶段，通过对比高压混合试验，确定了与商用膜相比具有更好CO2/CH4分离性能的膜。在第二阶段，研发计划是扩大最有前途的全氟聚合物的生产规模。基于这种聚合物的优化膜将在卷对卷生产线上生产，并制成膜模块。这些模块将在实验室参数实验中进行评估，并在运营中的天然气田现场进行验证测试。这些测试的结果将用于更新对全氟膜与用于天然气二氧化碳去除的常规技术的经济评价。这些技术目标的完成将把这种先进的膜技术推向商业化的风口浪尖。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer Phase II project is to produce a better natural gas treatment membrane that will allow end users to capture the ease of processing and environmental advantages of membrane technology at a substantially reduced price. Natural gas processing to remove CO2 and other contaminants is the largest industrial gas separation application with an estimated global separation equipment market of approximately $2-3 billion per year. At present, membrane processes have a 10% market share, while amine absorption processes account for the bulk of the market. Conventional membrane materials are limited by their relatively modest CO2/CH4 selectivity, which offsets their environmental and efficiency advantages. The novel perfluoro polymer membranes developed in this program show enhanced performance when treating gas mixtures at industrial relevant conditions. Study of these perfluoro polymer membranes will improve scientific understanding of structure/property relationships for a new family of materials. Most importantly, applied at a commercial scale, these new perfluoro membranes offer the potential to overcome the limitations of prior membranes, and thereby, transform natural gas processing.The objectives of this Phase II research project are to complete the development of novel perfluoropolymer membranes for use in natural gas CO2 removal. During Phase I, membranes with superior CO2/CH4 separation performance compared to commercial membranes were identified in comparative high-pressure mixture tests. In Phase II, the research and development plan is to scale up production of the most promising perfluoro polymer. An optimized membrane based on this polymer will be made on a roll-to-roll production line and fabricated into membrane modules. These modules will be evaluated in laboratory parametric experiments and validation tested at an operating natural gas field site. Results from these tests will be used to update an economic evaluation of the perfluoro membranes compared to conventional technology applied to natural gas CO2 removal. Completion of these technical objectives will bring this advanced membrane technology to the cusp of commercialization.