ENRICHED AIR

BIOENGINEERING PROCESSES WOULD BENEFIT SIGNIFICANTLY FROM A LOWER-COST SUPPLY OF OXYGEN-ENRICHED AIR. OXYGEN IS PRODUCEDON LARGE SCALE INDUSTRIALLY USING CRYOGENIC FRACTIONATION, BUT THIS PROCESS IS CAPITAL INTENSIVE AND IS NOT ECONOMIC FOR SMALLER SCALE OPERATIONS. PRESSURE SWING ASORPTION COMPETES FOR OXYGEN PRODUCTION WHERE INTERMEDIATE QUANTITIESOF PARTIALLY ENRICHED OXYGEN ARE DESIRED, BUT THE COMPLEX VALVING AND CYCLIC NATURE OF THIS PROCESS MAKE IT ALSO CAPITAL INTENSIVE AND INHIBIT ITS USE FOR BIOENGINEERING APPLICATIONS. GAS SEPARATION MEMBRANES HAVE RECENTLY BEEN COMMERCIALIZED AND ARE BEING APPLIED TO HYDROGEN RECOVERY AND ACID GAS REMOVAL. ALTHOUGH GAS SEPARATION MEMBRANES ARE NOT YET ECONOMIC FRO PRODUCTION OF MEDIUM PURITY (80-95%) OXYGEN, THEY ARE BEING APPLIED TO ENRICH THE OXYGEN CONTENT OF AIR TO 40% AND ARE UNDER ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT FOR OXYGEN ENRICHMENT APPLICATIONS, PRINCIPALLY BY JAPANESE COMPANIES. A NEW APPROACH TO THE FABRICATION OF GAS SEPARATION MEMBRANES FOR PRODUCTION OF OXYGEN-ENRICHED AIR IS PROPOSED WHICH COUPLES THE PROVEN CAPABILITY OF GLOW DISCHARGE POLYMERIZATION TO DEPOSIT FLAWLESS THIN COATINGS WITH A NOVEL SUBSTRATE. THIS SHOULD ENABLE AN ORDER-OF-MAGNITUDE IMPROVEMENT IN MEMBRANE FLUX OVER PRESENT MODULES AND MAKE ECONOMIC TWO STAGE MEMBRANE MODULE OPERATION AND THE PRODUCTION OF THE MEDIUM PURITY OXYGEN.