Robust and high-performance membranes for CO2 separation and sequestration from natural gas (MEMCO2)

Naturgass er en viktig energikilde, og ca. 20 % inneholder overflødig CO2 som må fjernes for å oppfylle spesifikasjonene for rørledninger. Den eneste mulige løsningen for å redusere klimagassutslippene er å utvikle og implementere karbondioksid (CO2)-fangst og deponerings-teknologier. Det primære målet for MEMCO2-prosjektet er å redusere kostnader og energi for CO2-fangst sammenlignet med eksisterende teknologier, ved å utvikle og implementere "neste generasjon" polymermembraner for CO2-fjerning fra naturgass (og derved redusere metanutslipp og fakling) med påfølgende CO2-binding i akviferer. Prosjektet vil fremme en tverrfaglig tilnærming som involverer grunnleggende forskning på nye polymerer, membranseparasjon og prosessmodellering. Vi vil undersøke nye polymerer for membraner og teste CO2-permeabilitet og CO2/CH4-selektivitet med CO2/CH4 blandingsgasser ved høyt trykk og vanndamp-innhold som ligner på ekte naturgass, og vil utføre prosessmodellering for kostnads- og prosessoptimalisering.

MEMCO2 will develop new, stable and high performance CO2 separation membranes that will provide significant cost reductions compared to existent membranes and absorption technology: CO2 capture cost <5.7 USD $/1000Nm3 and power consumption <0.2 kWh/ Nm3 natural gas treated. The project aims for education of 1 PhD and 3 master students and comprises international and national cooperation. We will develop 2-3 novel membranes having a CO2 permeance higher than 0.3 m3 (STP)/(bar m2 h) and CO2/CH4 selectivity>40, (state of the art) using synthetic natural gas and real process conditions. Our multidisciplinary approach is based on chemically modifying in a precise and controlled manner polymers and membrane surfaces known to have the highest reported CO2 permeability but low CO2/CH4 selectivity (pPTMSP, siloxanes) and use of novel polymers. We already obtained initial good separation for a surface modified membrane: CO2 permeability of 804 Barrer and CO2/CH4 selectivity of 250. The main challenge is to obtain sufficient enhancement of CO2/CH4 selectivity without decreasing the CO2 permeability already present. This will be mitigated by using well-established modifications methods and the excellent expertise of participants. MEMCO2 consists in 5 interactive work packages: WP1 will develop new polymers and membranes by synthesis and chemical modification of commercial ones. The membranes obtained in WP1 will be tested by gas permeation and durability in WP2. The feedback from WP2, gas permeation testing, will be used in WP1 membranes for material selection and membrane optimization. In WP3 the feedback from process simulations will be used for membrane optimization in WP1. WP4 covers project management and WP5 dissemination of results. We realistically aim to upscale the membranes in a next stage, after proof of concept is demonstrated, with involvement of membrane producers (Fuji, EVONIK, 3M) and end-users (Equinor, TOTAL).