Separation of Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide from Syngas Using Clinoptilolite Natural Zeolite and Ordinary Portland Cement Composite Membranes

Separating hydrogen and carbon dioxide from syngas is a necessary step for many industrial processes. Membrane separations are an attractive solution as they can operate at process temperatures (200-500 °C) and operate with a simple process.;Pure cement membranes demonstrated CO2 impermeability. Single gas permeation measurement of H2 and CO2 was conducted and demonstrated high H2/CO2 selectivities up to 115 with permeances on the order of 10-9 mol/m2·Pa·s for the composite membranes. The gas diffusion tests firmly exhibited molecular sieving toward H2 and CO2. These results suggest that cost-effective natural zeolites combined with ordinary Portland cement are capable of selective separation of H2 and encourage future development of this concept.;Pure thermally stable (up to 600 °C) clinoptilolite zeolite was mixed with a Portland cement matrix, pressed, and cured to prepare composite membranes. Such systems offer scalable, thermally stable, and low cost membranes for H2 and CO2 separation from syngas.