Separation of Carbon Dioxide and Methane Mixture by an Adsorbent/Membrane Hybrid System Using Zeolite 5A Pellets and FAU-Zeolite Membrane

The permeation and separation of a CO2/CH4 mixture in an adsorbent/membrane hybrid (AMH) system, comprising zeolite 5A pellets packed into a tubular-type FAU-zeolite membrane, were compared to those in the FAU-zeolite membrane-only system. The separation factor of the AMH system was higher than that of the FAU-zeolite membrane under the same condition because of the difference in the propagation of each gas and the radial contact efficiency. The integration of two equilibrium separating media (zeolite 5A pellets as a bulk separator and FAU-zeolite membrane as a purifier) led to improved separation efficiency and reduced performance-fluctuation by varying input conditions because of the strong interaction between zeolite 5A and CO2. However, the permeation flux in the AMH was reduced due to the gas adsorption by the packed adsorbents. The dynamic behavior in the AMH system was well-predicted by integrating the mathematical models for an adsorbent-packed bed and a tubular-type membrane.