Gas purification technologies

生物甲烷是从二氧化碳(CO2)和甲烷(CH4)的混合物沼气的提纯或升级中获得的。生物甲烷被认为是一种碳中性能源，它利用废物产生的能量可以注入天然气电网，也可以用作清洁汽车燃料。目前的升级技术虽然成熟和成熟，但环境和能源成本相对较高，降低了生物甲烷生产过程的碳中性。该项目的目的是开发用于气体净化的材料，并将其应用于沼气升级。通过开发高效、可持续和经济的替代方案，取代目前存在的高能源和化学密集型多步操作，我们希望为减少这些净化操作的温室气体排放做出贡献。研究将集中于使用各种吸收剂(如液体、聚合物和膜)全面解决气体净化问题的策略。我们的目标是设计、生产和评估这些选择性去除杂质的新材料，例如离子液体(ILS)、深共熔溶剂(DES)、熔盐(MS)、分子印迹聚合物(MIP)和环糊精(CD)等超分子材料。这些材料将被测试为散装液体吸收剂、支撑或固体吸收剂(应用于化学循环场景)或支撑液膜。这将涉及有机和聚合物合成技术的组合，结合核磁共振和质谱学、热重分析(TGA)、差示扫描量热(DSC)、气相色谱(GC)、粉末和单晶X射线和中子衍射。新材料的气体净化能力和效率将通过顶空气相色谱和研究小组设计的多功能气液平衡装置进行测试。多功能气体系统允许在真实条件下(压力高达5bar、温度范围宽和混合气流)测定气体的溶解度和选择性。将气体加入气体混合室，通过顶空气相色谱(通过GC小瓶适配器的HS-GC)确定准确的组成。在与液体吸收剂(在平衡室中)平衡后，再次采样顶空以确定气体混合物的组成变化。系统的温度和压力由压力变送器密切监控。有了这些信息和适当的状态方程，我们就可以计算出吸收剂提供的真实气体吸收能力和选择性。此外，气体系统还提供了一种安全可靠的方法来进行吸收材料的快速筛选。通过加入HS-GC小瓶，然后在受控的组成和压力下装入气体混合物，可以快速筛选出各种吸收剂。只有最有希望的吸收剂，即对其中一种气体的最高选择性吸收，才被保留在气体系统中进行详细测试。观察到的这些结果和趋势将反过来允许设计用于沼气升级的优化材料。工作将以奎尔(女王大学离子液体实验室)为基础，该实验室拥有离子液体基础研究的优秀设施，与工业的紧密联系，并在国际环境中培养跨学科合作的文化，以及对高质量科学和大学精神的欣赏。与合作伙伴组织的非正式合作将允许交流知识、想法和研究访问(如果旅行限制允许)。非正式项目合作组织：法国敦刻尔克ULCO的Sophie Fourentin教授

"Biomethane is obtained from the purification, or upgrading, of biogas, a mixture of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). Biomethane is considered a carbon-neutral energy source that makes use of waste to produce energy that can be injected into natural gas grids and also used as clean vehicle fuel. Current upgrading technologies, although established and mature, present a relatively high environmental and energetic cost, devaluing the carbon-neutrality of the biomethane production process. The aim of this project is to develop materials for the purification of gas streams, with application in biogas upgrading. By developing efficient, sustainable and economic alternatives to the highly energy and chemical intensive multi-step operations currently in place we hope to contribute to the decrease of the GHG emissions of these purification operations.The research will focus on strategies to gas purification issues in a comprehensive way with a variety of absorbents such as liquids, polymers and membranes. The objective is to design, produce, and evaluate these new materials to selectively scrub impurities, based for example in ionic liquids (ILs), deep eutectic solvents (DES), molten salts (MS), molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and supramolecular materials such as cyclodextrins (CD). The materials will be tested as bulk liquid absorbents, supported or solid absorbents (to be applied in chemical looping scenarios) or as supported-liquid membranes.This will involve a combination of organic and polymer synthesis techniques, combined with characterisation by NMR and mass spectroscopy, TGA (thermogravimetric analysis), DSC (differential scanning calorimetry), GC (gas chromatography), powder and single crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction. Gas purification ability and efficiency of new materials will be performed by headspace gas chromatography and by a multifunctional gas-liquid equilibria equipment designed by the research group.The multifunctional gas system allows for the determination of gas solubility and selectivity under real conditions (pressures up to 5 bar, wide temperature range and mixed gas streams). The gases are added to a gas mixing chamber and the exact composition is determined by headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC via a GC vial adaptor). After equilibration with the liquid absorbents (in the equilibrium chamber) the headspace is again sampled to determine the composition change of the gas mixture. The temperature and pressure of the system are closely monitored by pressure transmitters. With this information and an appropriate equation of state we can calculate the real gas absorption capacity and selectivity provided by the absorbents.Furthermore, the gas system also provides a safe and reliable way to perform the fast screening of absorbent materials. A large variety of absorbents can be quickly screened by addition to HS-GC vials that are then filled with gas mixtures at controlled compositions and pressures. Only the most promising absorbents, i.e. the highest selective absorption for one of the gases, are retained for detailed testing in the gas system. These results and tendencies observed will, in turn, allow for the design of optimised materials for biogas upgrading.The works will be based in QUILL (the Queen's University Ionic Liquid Laboratories), which has excellent facilities for fundamental research on ionic liquids and strong links to industry and fosters a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration in an international environment, and appreciation for both high-quality science and collegial spirit.Informal collaborations with partners organisations will allow the exchange of knowledge, ideas and research visits (if allowed by travel restrictions).Informal project partner organisations:Professor Sophie Fourmentin, ULCO, Dunkirk, France"