Miscible-blend polysulfone/polyimide membrane for hydrogen purification from palm oil mill effluent fermentation
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2019
Abstract
The biogas produced from the anaerobic fermentation of palm oil mill effluent (POME) contains equal amount of H2 and CO2, in which the biohydrogen (bioH2) is a prospective source of renewable energy. Therefore, the determination of an efficient H2 purification technique has been a major concern. Membrane separation technology is highly recommended due to its excellent purification performance with high permeation of H2 and H2/CO2 selectivity. Polymer blending is a favourable approach due to its simplicity to refine membrane inner structural properties by combining different polymers with complementary features. In this study, the synthesized polysulfone-polyimide (PSf/PI) membrane is an alternative polymeric membrane practicable for H2/CO2 separation due to its outstanding permeation properties, enhanced membrane properties as well as improved tolerance to plasticizing gases. The effect of evaporation time on PSf/PI membranes was further investigated and was thoroughly characterized by FTIR, TGA, DSC and SEM. The miscibility of the PSf/PI blending was proven by DSC with the detection of only single glass transition temperature value. The highest permeability of both H2 and CO2 gas were presented by PSf/PI-60 membrane with 348 GPU and 86 GPU, respectively, H2/CO2 selectivity of 4.4 and H2 purification efficiency of 80%. Hence, PSf/PI membrane is a high potential candidate with inherent properties for H2/CO2 separation from POME fermentation.
Keywords
Biogas, Membrane, Hydrogen, Polyimide, Polysulfone
Divisions
fac_eng
Funders
GUP/086/2016 research grant
Publication Title
Separation and Purification Technology
Volume
209
Publisher
Elsevier