SCI和EI收录∣中国化工学会会刊

Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering ›› 2022, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (9): 122-129.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2021.09.004

• Special Column: Membranes for Life Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Helium extraction from natural gas using DD3R zeolite membranes

Ping Zhang, Chao Gong, Tao Zhou, Peng Du, Jieyu Song, Mengyang Shi, Xuerui Wang, Xuehong Gu   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
  • Received:2021-06-24 Revised:2021-09-01 Online:2022-10-19
  • Contact: Xuerui Wang,E-mail:x.wang@njtech.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work is sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21908097, 22035002), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2101203), Jiangsu Specially-Appointed Professors Program and "333 Talent Project" of Jiangsu Province, State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering (ZK202002).

Helium extraction from natural gas using DD3R zeolite membranes

Ping Zhang, Chao Gong, Tao Zhou, Peng Du, Jieyu Song, Mengyang Shi, Xuerui Wang, Xuehong Gu   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
  • 通讯作者: Xuerui Wang,E-mail:x.wang@njtech.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    This work is sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21908097, 22035002), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2101203), Jiangsu Specially-Appointed Professors Program and "333 Talent Project" of Jiangsu Province, State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering (ZK202002).

Abstract: Helium (He) is commercially produced from natural gas by low-temperature condensation. The process is energy extensive because of the extremely low He concentration (<0.3%) and the operation at cryogenic temperature. Herein we demonstrated DD3R zeolite membrane was efficient to extract He from natural gas at atmosphere temperature. The membrane performance was evaluated in terms of temperature, pressure and molar fractions. The overall membrane performance was dominated by the diffusivity selectivity. The single He permeance and ideal He/CH4 selectivity were 5.8×10-9 mol·m-2·s-1·Pa-1 and 79 under a feed pressure of 1.3 MPa. Even though He concentration was as low as 0.22%, the He permeance and He/CH4 mixture selectivity were 3.0×10-9 mol·m-2·s-1·Pa-1 and 44 at 0.7 MPa. During the long-term operation (~130 h) the membrane performance was stable even the feed mixture containing 3.6% ethane as contaminations. The results approved the feasibility of DD3R zeolite membranes for He extraction from natural gas.

Key words: He extraction, Zeolite, Membranes, He/CH4 separation, Natural gas

摘要: Helium (He) is commercially produced from natural gas by low-temperature condensation. The process is energy extensive because of the extremely low He concentration (<0.3%) and the operation at cryogenic temperature. Herein we demonstrated DD3R zeolite membrane was efficient to extract He from natural gas at atmosphere temperature. The membrane performance was evaluated in terms of temperature, pressure and molar fractions. The overall membrane performance was dominated by the diffusivity selectivity. The single He permeance and ideal He/CH4 selectivity were 5.8×10-9 mol·m-2·s-1·Pa-1 and 79 under a feed pressure of 1.3 MPa. Even though He concentration was as low as 0.22%, the He permeance and He/CH4 mixture selectivity were 3.0×10-9 mol·m-2·s-1·Pa-1 and 44 at 0.7 MPa. During the long-term operation (~130 h) the membrane performance was stable even the feed mixture containing 3.6% ethane as contaminations. The results approved the feasibility of DD3R zeolite membranes for He extraction from natural gas.

关键词: He extraction, Zeolite, Membranes, He/CH4 separation, Natural gas