Helium recovery from LNG waste stream using two-dimensional nanostructured MXene membranes

使用二维纳米结构 MXene 膜从 LNG 废物流中回收氦气

• 批准号: 409987259
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Armin Feldhoff
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2018-12-31 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/409987259?language=en
• 关键词: Helium; recovery; LNG; waste; stream

Helium (He) is a strategic industrial gas which becomes increasingly important within a wide range of high-tech applications. The current global demand for He is appr. 200 Mio m3 (STP) per annum with a value of US$ 6 billion. The primary objective of the separation of He from N2 and trace amounts of CH4 and CO2 has been accomplished solely by cryogenic distillation - a highly energy and capital intensive process - followed by an adsorption on charcoal increase the He purity up to > 99.95%. This project aims to develop inorganic hollow-fiber supported nanostructured 2D MXene membranes as advanced functional material for He separation from its mixture with N2 and trace amounts of CH4, CO2 for He recovery in liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants. The key concept of the research is material science-oriented and aims at the synthesis of layered 2D MXene membranes with controlled pore sizes to be assembled on porous inorganic hollow-fiber support, delivering high He permeability of > 1000 Barrer with a selectivity of He against other gases of > 30 at room temperature. These permeation parameters allow to produce 99% pure He in a 1-stage permeation process instead of the cryo-distillation thus giving a suitable feed for the final adsorption process. The scientific challenges will be the direct synthesis of MXene nanosheets or their preparation by delamination of multilayer MXene powder. Another crucial step will be the deposition of the nanosheets on supports to get a controllable pore size. For practice application, the MXene membrane will be prepared on inorganic hollow-fiber supports like ceramic or stainless steel material as the hollow fibre geometry can provide the largest membrane area per unit volume. Specifically, the objectives of this project are to (1) Synthesise and functionalise MXene nanosheets; (2) Maximize He selectivity and flux by optimizing the interlayer spacing of the MXene membranes and the flake size of the MXene nanosheets; (3) Understand the gas transportation behaviour through the assembled two-dimensional nanostructured MXene membranes.

氦（He）是一种战略工业气体，在广泛的高科技应用中变得越来越重要。目前全球对He的需求量约为100万美元。每年2亿立方米（STP），价值60亿美元。从N2和痕量的CH 4和CO2中分离He的主要目的仅通过低温蒸馏-一种高能量和资本密集型工艺-然后通过活性炭吸附将He纯度提高到> 99.95%来实现。该项目旨在开发无机中空纤维支撑的纳米结构2D MXene膜作为先进的功能材料，用于从其与N2和痕量CH 4，CO2的混合物中分离He，用于液化天然气（LNG）工厂的He回收。该研究的关键概念是以材料科学为导向，旨在合成具有可控孔径的层状2D MXene膜，将其组装在多孔无机中空纤维支撑体上，提供> 1000 Barrer的高He渗透率，在室温下He对其他气体的选择性> 30。这些渗透参数允许在1级渗透过程中而不是低温蒸馏中产生99%纯He，从而为最终吸附过程提供合适的进料。科学挑战将是直接合成MXene纳米片或通过多层MXene粉末分层制备。另一个关键步骤是将纳米片沉积在载体上，以获得可控的孔径。对于实际应用，MXene膜将在无机中空纤维载体如陶瓷或不锈钢材料上制备，因为中空纤维几何形状可以提供每单位体积的最大膜面积。具体而言，该项目的目标是（1）合成和功能化MXene纳米片;（2）通过优化MXene膜的层间距和MXene纳米片的薄片尺寸来最大化He选择性和通量;（3）了解通过组装的二维纳米结构MXene膜的气体传输行为。