Permeation of single gases through TEG liquid membranes modified by Na-Y nano-zeolite particles

In this research, a triethylene glycol (TEG)/nano-zeolite Na-Y liquid membrane was developed in order to investigate the effect of zeolite nanoparticles on separation performance of a liquid membrane. To do this, a high yield nano-zeolite Na-Y was synthesized using mid-synthesis addition method. The synthesized samples were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, and SEM (EDX) instrumental techniques. A supported liquid membrane was prepared by impregnating a porous hydrophilic PVDF support with TEG and nano-zeolite Na-Y. The permeation tests of single gas components of O-2, N-2 and CO2 were carried out at pressure differences of 0.8 and 1.8 bar. The permeances of the single gases were found to be: CO2 > N-2> O-2. Our results showed that higher loading of nano-zeolite Na-Y in TEG and higher pressure differences enhanced the permeation of CO2 in comparison with N-2 and O-2. Also, these two factors improved the selectivity of CO2/O-2 and CO2/N-2 separation, but did not change N-2/O-2 separation. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.