The Need

Supported zeolite films/membranes with controlled microstructures are important in applications as diverse as catalysis, ion-exchange, nuclear waste disposal, light harvesting devices, chemical sensing, and gas separations. Separation by zeolite membranes are controlled by two factors. The first is size exclusion, in which certain species are discriminated against since they cannot enter into zeolite pores due to size restrictions. Second, for those molecules that enter into the zeolite pores, membrane transport and separation are dependent upon a combination of affinity (sorption) and mobility (diffusion). CO2 separation is one of the most studied applications for zeolite Y membranes because of its industrial significance, such as CO2 capture for carbon sequestration, natural gas purification, and separation of product streams from water gas shift reactions for hydrogen production.

The Market

• For both the power sector and industry, carbon capture is the only large-scale option to reduce emissions at relatively low cost while preserving the value of fossil fuel reserves and existing infrastructures.
• The combined U.S. market for membranes used in liquid and gas separations should reach $4.6 billion by 2021 from $3.4 billion in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2%, from 2016 to 2021. (BCC Research)
• Gas separations as a market in the US should reach $497.0 million by 2021 from $353.1 million in 2016 at a CAGR of 7.1%, from 2016 to 2021. (BCC Research)
• The FY 2017 US budget includes $170.3 million for carbon capture research and development, and $90.9 million for carbon storage research and development. (energy.gov)
• There are industrial and merchant markets for captured CO2 that include the food industry and refrigeration industries. Enhanced oil recovery represents an almost endless market if CO2 is cheap enough and readily available. The world market for merchant CO2 exceeds 44 million metric tons (MMTs) a year. (BCC Research)
• Global power generation is forecasted to grow by 3.0% annually over the period 2014-2019. Coal is expected to remain the leading fuel with a share of 39.1% in 2019. (BCC Research)

The Technology

The Ohio State researchers, led by Dr. Prabir Dutta, developed membranes of modified zeolite Y that were two micrometers thick and free of pinholes on smooth, multi-layer graded alumina ceramic supports. The thin, supported membranes exhibited high CO2 permeance and selectivity. They are stable for up to three months as there were no indications of any degradation mechanisms. To produce industry required permeance, the membranes can be constructed with lower thicknesses to magnitudes of nanometers. At these thicknesses, pinholes have been known to develop in membranes, but the researchers have separately developed a non-selective polymer modification to account for this phenomenon.

Patent Protection

• United States Patent No. 8,337,588