Natural gas extracted from wellheads is not a pure stream of methane. Rather, it is a mixture of about 90% methane (C1), with the remainder mostly ethane (C2), propane (C3), and butanes (C4). Small amounts of CO2, H2S, and N2 are also present. Gas processing plants remove these impurities to meet pipeline specifications.
Various solid and liquid sorbent materials can be used to remove the CO2, but those systems have limitations and drawbacks. Liquid amine-based processes are frequently used to selectively absorb sulfur compounds and CO2 from natural gas streams. However, such systems are complex, costly, and involve corrosive and toxic chemicals. In addition, they are not ideal for high-pressure gas uptake. A promising solid sorbent is micro-porous activated carbon, which has high surface area and pore volume, with significant adsorption capacity. The problem with these membranes is that they can be optimized for either CO2 uptake or methane flow, but not both.
Through designed experiments that explored a range of variables, researchers at Rice Univ. have identified the parameters for creating optimal microporous activated carbon membranes that balance CO2 capture and methane flow.
鈥淭he challenge is to capture as much...
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