Polymeric Membrane for Flue Gas Separation and Other Minor Components in Carbon Dioxide Capture

Silicone rubber has an enormous permeability and adequate vapour/inert gas selectivity for most applications; composite membranes of silicone rubber are majorly utilized in all the installed vapour separation systems. Both glassy and rubbery polymers are used to produce polymeric membranes. Although the main obstacle of a polymeric membrane is its very low thermal stability these membranes may be plasticized with influence of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in membrane while their selectivity and permeability is usually high for CO₂ separation. The glassy polymer membranes operate below the glass transition temperature which means the membrane never reaches thermodynamic equilibrium; hence, the polymer rearrangement takes a very long time. The effect of minor components and the performance on membrane gas separation for application in pre- and post-combustion CO₂ capture. Various gases such as sulphur oxide, nitric oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, argon, water and hydrocarbons have been evaluated for polymeric membrane performance.