Abstract
Separation of inert nitrogen from natural gas by membranes is much more energy-saving than cryogenic distillation but very challenging because the size difference of both gas molecules is quite small. Herein, high-quality and N-2-selective SSZ-13 membranes on a-alumina tubes were prepared using a novel synthesis approach called seeded-gel synthesis. Seeded-gel synthesis was more convenient and credible than the conventional secondary growth because a seeding step on the substrate was omitted for the former method. The effect of calcination atmosphere on the quality of membranes was also discussed. SSZ-13 membranes had the fewest defects when ozone calcination was used. The predicted values of single-component N-2 and CH4 permeances by the Maxwell-Stefan equations agreed well with the experimental ones. The SSZ-13 membrane exhibited ultrahigh N-2 permeance of 850 x 10(-9) mol m(-2) s(-1) Pa-1 (equals 2500 GPU) and a high N-2/CH4 selectivity of 13.5 at 298 K and 0.303 MPa feed pressure (absolute). Membrane preparation by seeded-gel method had good reproducibility. The effects of temperature, pressure drop and feed flow rate on membrane performances were investigated for N-2/CH4 mixture separations. The membrane also displayed good separation performance in N-2/CH4 system either at 2.6 MPa feed pressure or under humid conditions. The continuous SSZ-13 thin membranes prepared by the simple seeded-gel synthesis showed great potentials for energy-efficient N-2 removal from unconventional gases.