Development of carbon membrane for CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 separation

Carbon membranes were prepared using stainless steel supports and evaluated for the separation of two mixtures, i.e. CO2/N-2 and CO2/CH4. The effect of several operating variables, including temperature, pressure and precursor concentration was examined. In this study, carbon membranes were synthesized using a sucrose precursor. Sucrose was subjected to pyrolysis in the temperature range 300-700 degrees C, leading to the complete formation of carbon structure. The gas separation characteristics of the produced membranes were estimated by evaluating CO2, CH4 and N-2 permeation. The highest selectivity obtained for CO2/CH4 and CO2/N-2 was 1.64 and 1.41 respectively. The emphasis towards CO2/CH4 and CO2/N-2 separation is due to their importance and direct relevance to the gas industry processes.