• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.140-149
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• 2022

In this study, the conditions of low temperature and high pressure of biogas upgrading process using polysulfone membrane have been designed and tested to achieve the high recovery and efficiency corresponding to those of the highly selective polymeric materials. Polysulfone hollow fiber membrane with 4-component dope solution was spun via non-solvent induced phase separation. The hollow fiber membrane was mounted into a 1.5 inch housing. The effective area was 1.6 m², and its performance was examined in various operation temperatures and pressures. CO₂ and CH₄ permeances were 412 and 12.7 GPU at 20℃, and 280 and 3.6 GPU at -20℃, respectively, while the CO₂/CH₄ selectivity increased from 32.4 to 77.8. Single gas test was followed by the mixed gas experiments using single-stage and double stage where the membrane area ratio varied from 1:1 to 1:3. At the single-stage, CH₄ purity increased and the recovery decreased as the stage-cut increased. At the double stage, the area ratio of 1:3 showed the higher CH₄ recovery as decreasing the operation temperature at the same purity of CH₄ 97%. Finally, polysulfone hollow fiber membranes have yielded of both CH₄ purity and recovery of 97% at -20℃ and 16 barg.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.147-156
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• 2005

It is well-known that polyethersulfone (PES) has high $CO_2$ selectivity over $N_2\;(or\;CH_4)$ and excellent pressure resistance of $CO_2$ plasticization among muy commercialized engineering plastics[1-4]. Asymmetric PES hollow fiber membranes for flue gas separation were developed by dry-wet spinning technique. The dope solution consists of PES, NMP and acetone. Water and water/NMP mixtures are used in outer and inner coagulants, respectively. Gas permeation rate (i.e., permeance) and $CO_2/N_2$ selectivity were measured with pure gas, respectively and the micro-structure of hollow fiber membranes was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The effects of polymer concentration, ratio of NMP to acetone, length of air gap, evaporation condition and silicone coating were investigated on the $CO_2/N_2$ separation properties of the hollow fibers. Optimized PES hollow fiber membranes exhibited high permeance of $25\~50$ GPU and $CO_2/N_2$ selectivity of $30\~40$ at room temperature and have the apparent skin layer thickness of about $0.1\;{\mu}m$. The developed PES hollow fiber membranes, would be a good candidate suitable for the flue gas separation process.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.320-325
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• 2010

This paper was carried out to study the preparation condition and the permeation flux of reinforced poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) hollow fiber microfiltration (MF) membrane with the solvent, additive, second miscible polymer, and preparation condition used poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) such as a material with the excellent chemical stability and the milder preparation condition. The performance of the reinforced MF membrane prepared obtained the average $0.3{\mu}m$ pore size, $42kg_f/cm^2$ tensile strength, and the high water flux of 600 LMH. The change of membrane performance with various additives was considerably affected on the water flux and rejection. For hydrophilic modification of hydrophobic PVDF MF membrane, the MF membrane might be prepared with a prefer water flux and rejection by addition of hydrophilic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.660-667
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• 2010

In this research polyimide, Matrimid 5218, hollow fiber membrane was used to recover sulfur hexafluoride($SF_6$) which is one of the six greenhouse gases from $N_2/SF_6$ mixture gas. Fibers were spun from using dry-wet phase inversion method. The module was manufactured by fabricating fibers after surface coating with silicone elastomer. The scanning electron microscopy(SEM) studies showed that the produced fibers typically had an asymmetric structure; a dense top layer supported by a sponge-like substructure. The developed module had a permeance of 0.78-1.36 GPU for $N_2$ with $N_2/SF_6$ selectivity of 2.44-5.08 at various pressure and temperature. For recovery of $SF_6$, a membrane module and 10 vol.% $SF_6$ from $N_2/SF_6$ mixture gas was used. The effects of various operating condition such as pressure, temperature, and retentate side flow rate were tested. When pressure and temperature were increased and retentate flow rate was decreased, the $SF_6$ purity in recovered gas was increased up to 37.5 vol.% with decreasing recovery ratio. When retentate flow rate was increased pressure and temperature was decreased, the $SF_6$ recovery ratio in retentate side was increased up to 89% with decreasing the $SF_6$ purity in retentate side.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.9-20
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• 2020

Membranes are used in most processes of biopharmaceutical production. It is used for pretreatment of other processes, separation of impurities in the process, virus removal, control of products concentration and buffer solution exchange. Virus filters play an important role in ensuring product efficacy and stability because viral contamination of biopharmaceuticals for humans is a sensitive issue that is directly related to serious clinical outcomes. Virus filters typically have complex multilayer structures made of various polymers such as surface-modified PVDF, PES, CRC. Depending on the manufacturer, filters have different pore structures and shapes, such as symmetric or asymmetric, and is used in the form of pleated membrane, flat sheets or hollow fibers. Virus filters are exclusively supplied by few foreign companies such as Asahi Kasei, Millipore, Pall and Sartorius. Replacing virus filters can be time consuming and expensive, including approval from regulatory agencies through validation. As localization has become important due to Japan's recent export regulations, it is necessary to increase the degree of technical independence.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.223-230
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• 2015

We synthesized novel polyimides with high gas permeability and selectivity for application of gas separation membrane. 2,2-bis(3,4-carboxylphenyl) hexafluoropropane dianhydride (6FDA) and two kinds of amines with high permeability and solubility were used to prepare the novel polymide. 2,4,6-Trimethyl-1,3-phenylenediamine (DAM) was used to improve gas permeability and 4,4-Methylenedianiline was used to improve the gas selectivity respectively. The polyimide copolymers were synthesized by commercial chemical imidization method using Triethylamine and Acetic anhydride and their average molecular weights were over 100,000 g/mol. The glass temperature (Tg) and the thermal degradation temperature were characterized using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The synthesized copolymers showed high Tg over $300^{\circ}C$ and high thermal degradation temperature over $500^{\circ}C$. The gas permeation properties were measured by time-lag equipment. Although general polyimides showed very low gas permeability, synthesized polyimide copolymer showed high $O_2$ permeability of 10.1 barrer with high $O_2/N_2$ selectivity around 5.3. From this result, we confirm that these membranes have possibility to apply to gas separation membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.222-232
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• 2023

In this study, a hollow fiber support membrane was prepared by a non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method using a polysulfone (PSf). The prepared hollow fiber support membrane was coated with PDMS and Pebax to prepare a hollow fiber composite membrane. The prepared composite membrane was measured for permeance and selectivity for pure CO₂, H₂, O₂ and N₂. Gas separation performance of the module having the highest selectivity (CO₂/H₂) among the prepared composite membrane modules was measured according to the change in stage cut using simulated gas. The composition of the simulated gas used at this time was 70% CO₂ and 30% H₂. In the 1 stage experiment, it was possible to obtain values of about 60% of H₂ concentration and 12% of H₂ recovery. In order to overcome the low H₂ concentration and recovery, 2 stage serial test was performed, and through this, it was possible to achieve 70% H₂ concentration and 70% recovery. Through this, it was possible to derive a separation process configuration for CO₂/H₂ separation.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2011

During the maintenance, repair and replacement process of circuit breaker, $SF_6$ reacted with input air in arc discharge, which led to the production of by-product gases (eg, $N_2$, $O_2$, $CF_4$, $SO_2$, $H_2O$, HF, $SOF_2$, $CuF_2$, $WO_3$). Among these various by-product gases, $N_2$, $O_2$, $CF_4$ is major component. Therefore, the effective separation process is necessary to recycle the $SF_6$ gas from the mixture gas containing $N_2$, $O_2$, $CF_4$. In this study, the membrane separation process was applied to recycle the $SF_6$ gas from the mixture gas containing $N_2$, $O_2$, $CF_4$. The concentration of $SF_6$ gas in gas produced from the electric power industry is over than 90 vol%. Therefore, we made the simulated gas containing $N_2$, $O_2$, $CF_4$, $SF_6$ which the concentration of $SF_6$ gas is minimum 90 vol%. From the results of membrane separation process of $SF_6$ gas from $N_2$, $O_2$, $CF_4$ $SF_6$ mixture gases, PSF membrane shown the highest recovery efficiency 92.7%, in $25^{\circ}C$ and 150 cc/min of retentate flow rate. On the other hand, PC membrane shown the highest recovery efficiency 74.8%, in $45^{\circ}C$ and 150 cc/min of retentate flow rate. Also, the highest rejection rate of $N_2$, $O_2$, $CF_4$ is 80, 74 and 58.9% seperately in the same operation condition of highest recovery efficiency. From the results, we supposed the membrane separation process as the effective $SF_6$ separation and recycle process from the mixture gas containing $N_2$, $O_2$, $CF_4$, $SF_6$.