High-performance polymer membranes for natural-gas sweetening

An approach to design polymeric membranes for the removal of acid gases such as CO2 and H2S from natural gas, using a highly branched, crosslinked poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) hydrogel, was illustrated. These solubility-selective membranes exhibited good performance for CO 2 /CH4 separation relative to the conventional size-selective membranes. Their advantages could be further enhanced by operating at low temperatures, which may provide additional flexibility for integrating membranes into natural gas processes. The results show that these polymeric membranes could be potentially used to remove polar molecules from mixtures with light gases.