Commercial and Practical Aspects of Gas Separation Membranes

This chapter covers the industrial utilization of gas separation membranes and hollow fibers, the properties required for such membranes to be broadly useful and some new developments of interest in the modification of membranes to improve their gas separation properties. It provides background and some practical perspective on how the fundamental and intrinsic properties of polymers relate to the behavior of membranes made from them when utilized in real working environments. The development of commercial-scale controllable asymmetric membranes has made gas separations based on membranes possible. The development of membranes with high fluxes and selectivities was, and still is, an important element in the ability to use membranes in a wider range of applications. Cost, quality control, and process control are all critical factors in determining the ultimate viability of a hollow fiber or membrane in most industrial large-scale applications. Petrochemical and refinery applications can be considered "medium-pressure" applications.