A review of separation of gases using membrane systems

Gas flaring has been an option used by the petroleum industry for many decades. With increasing awareness of its environmental impact and the ratification of the Kyoto protocol by most of the member countries, it is expected that the process will be discouraged for the near future. It will require significant changes in the current practices of oil and gas production and even though advances are being made in separation technologies of liquids and gases, immediate solutions are required in case of the latter. This article investigates the current options of gas separation and outlines the future trends in the subject. In separation of gases, membranes offer the greatest potential. In interaction with a membrane, a high degree of permeability coupled with a large selectivity of a specific gaseous species ensures superior performances in the gas processing industry. Economically, the advantage of membrane separation technology is immense. The separation of natural gas by thin barriers termed as membranes is a dynamic and rapidly growing field, and it has been proven to be technically and economically superior to other emerging technologies. This superiority is due to certain advantages which membrane technology benefits from, including low capital investment, low weight, and space requirement and high process flexibility. In the past ten years, the membrane gas separation technology has advanced greatly and can now be regarded as a competitive industrial gas separation method. The benefits of "Membrane Technology" also include higher recovery of the desired gaseous effluent that can be reused for multiple purposes. This article discusses various experimental and analytical models related to current and future membrane technologies that include regular, liquid and hybrid systems. Economically attractive options that are also environmentally appealing are discussed. Finally, research topics that need to be undertaken in order to establish no-flare designs in the future are presented.