SBIR-STTR Award

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer Program Phase I project could lead to a dramatic improvement in natural gas processing economics using membrane technology. Natural gas processing is the largest industrial gas separation application, and natural gas separation equipment currently represents a market of approximately $3-5 billion per year. Due to high energy intensity and environmental concerns with currently dominant amine systems, gas processors are seeking alternative separation options. Membrane technology offers many advantages including clean, simple, and efficient operation. However, expanded use of clean membrane technology has been hindered by insufficient separation performance of existing membranes. If successfully developed, the new perfluoro polymeric composite membranes to be developed in this project will strengthen the competitive position of membrane technology in the natural gas treatment market, allowing users to capture the ease of processing and environmental advantages offered by membranes. If gas selectivity and permeance targets are met, significant reductions in the operating cost (up to 30%) and in the capital cost (up to 40%) can be achieved. Corresponding gas processing costs would also drop about 35%. The proposed technology can potentially be extended to other applications such as H2/CH4, He/CH4, and olefin/paraffin separations. The objectives of this Phase I research project are to optimize synthesis of new perfluoro dioxolane copolymers and to fabricate these materials into robust composite membranes, whose gas separation performance is superior to commercially available membranes. Building on recent synthesis work at NYU, a series of perfluoro dioxolane copolymers will be prepared to study structure/property relationships. Optimization of the polymerization reaction will be carried out to obtain the targeted copolymers with optimized gas separation performance, reasonably low cost, excellent chemical and thermal stability, good film-forming properties and solvent-processability. The resulting copolymers will be fabricated into thin-film composite membranes and tested with industrially relevant mixtures at MTR. At the end of the Phase I project, the most promising copolymer will be selected for scale up and commercialization in a Phase II program.

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.