AIR SEPARATION BY MOLECULAR SIEVE ZEOLITE MEMBRANES

PRESSURE SWING ABSORPTION SYSTEMS UTILIZING MOLECULAR SIEVE ZEOLITES HAVE BEEN USED SUCCESSFULLY TO PRODUCE HIGH PURITY OXYGEN FROM AIR FOR BOTH LARGE AND SMALL SCALE AIR SEPARATION SYSTEMS. THESE SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN EXTENSIVELY EVALUATED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AS LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS ABOARD MILITARY AIRCRAFT. HOWEVER, THE VOLUME AND WEIGHT OF SUCH SYSTEMS WOULD BE PROHIBITIVE FOR THE VERY HIGH AIR HANDLING RATES REQUIRED FOR THE IN-FLIGHT COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF OXYGEN FOR SUBSEQUENT ROCKET USE. A NOVEL CONCEPT FOR OXYGEN/NITROGENSEPARATION INVOLVING THE USE OF CONTINUOUS MOLECULAR SIEVE ZEOLITE POLYMER MICROPOROUS MEMBRANES IS PROPOSED FOR THE PHASE I PROGRAM. ZEOLITES EMBEDDED EITHER WITHIN THE MATRIX OR ON THE SURFACE OF THE MEMBRANE WILL ADSORB NITROGEN TO THE EXCLUSION OF OXYGEN. THIS APPROACH OFFERS THE ADVANTAGES OF DEVELOPING A GAS SEPARATION SYSTEM BASED ON POROUS POLYMER MATRIX GEOMETRIES (HIGH AIR FLOW RATES, LOWER VOLUME AND WEIGHT SYSTEMS) AND BEING ABLE TO TAILOR THE ADSORPTIVE PROPERTIES OF THE MATRIX/ZEOLITE SYSTEM. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I PROGRAM WOULD BE TO DETERMINE THE CONCEPT FEASIBILITY BY FABRICATING DIFFERENT ZEOLIT/MATRIX MEMBRANES AND MEASURING THEIR PERMEABILITY AND SEPARATION EFFICIENCY.