薄膜分離技術因其具有較佳的分離效率及經濟性，目前已被視為氣體分離的技術之一。薄膜分離技術係藉由薄膜分子之組成及結構均勻，具有良好的分子均質特性，或是薄膜分子在孔洞或結構，具有化學或物理的異質性，而藉由一層薄的屏障(薄膜)，而達成流體與混合物分離的目的。高分子薄膜已廣泛應用於許多氣體分離的應用，例如天然氣、掩埋場氣體回收、氫氣回收及純化、廢氣分離及空氣分離等。高分子薄膜廣泛應用的主要原因，在於其具有較佳的功能性、機械強度、經濟競爭性以及其規模放大性等。然而，高分子薄膜的特性，主要受到氣體滲透性及選擇性的交易(trade-off)問題困擾，亦即如何兼顧氣體滲透性及選擇性，是現階段高分子薄膜應用的最大限制。因此，近年來混合基材薄膜的發展，即是在克服高分子薄膜無法兼顧滲透性及選擇性的問題。應用高分子薄膜於氣體分離的發展過程，氣體滲透性與選擇性的交易平衡問題，是一項極為重要的研究課題。文獻研究顯示混合基材薄膜的發展，可有效解決與兼顧氣體滲透性及選擇性的問題。其中合成混合基材薄膜，使其具有熱穩定、電子傳導特性、機械強度以及分子篩等特性的奈米材料，將是薄膜合成的重要關鍵技術。添加矽顆粒於高分子薄膜材料中，製備為高滲透及高選擇特性的氣體分離薄膜，將是本研究計畫的研發重點。有鑑於發展混合基材薄膜及應用於氣化合成氣分離，以期提升合成氣品質的重要性。本計畫主要的目的包括：(1)應用稻殼製備含矽混合基材薄膜，並探討其功能特性；(2)評估混合基材薄膜分離及純化氣化合成氣中硫化氫及氯化氫的效能；(3)評估實驗室規模之生質物氣化反應過程，製備之混合基材薄膜分離純化合成氣之效能，以及能源轉換效率。 ;Membrane separation is promising to become an efficient and economical technique for gas separation applications. Membrane-based separation involves using a thin barrier between miscible fluids to separate a mixture. This interface may be molecularly homogeneous in which it is completely uniform in composition and structure, or it may be chemically or physically heterogeneous, in which pores or layered structures are formed. Polymeric membranes become a common practical material for many gas separation applications such as natural gas sweetening, landfill gas recovery, hydrogen recovery and purification, flue gas separation and air separation. This might due to their processability, mechanical strength, economic competitiveness and the scalability. However, polymeric membranes still suffer a trade-off relationship between gas permeability and selectivity based on the Robeson upper-bound. Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have experienced rapid growth over the past decade, overcoming the trade-off relationship among polymeric membranes. The trade-off relationship between gas permeability and selectivity is well-known as the primary barrier to developing polymeric membranes for the gas separation process. Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) can be promoted as a solution to produce the desired membrane for gas separation processes. The general idea for synthesizing MMMs is to induce the thermal, electrical, mechanical, and molecular sieve properties of these Nano materials into the base membrane. The incorporation of silica particles with molecular sieving properties in the polymer matrix is expected to lead to higher permeability, higher selectivity, or both compared to polymeric membranes. Recognizing the importance of MMMs development and application in enhancing syngas quality, the objectives of this project were to: (1) fabricate co-polymer/RHS membranes with good physical and chemical characteristics and to ensure the compatibility of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs); (2) investigate the capability of mixed matrix membranes for separating and/or purifying the trace pollutants (H2S and HCl) from syngas; (3) determine the syngas separation and purification performance of MMMs in biomass gasification.
