Highly permeable and selective tubular zeolite CHA membranes

Highly permeable and selective tubular zeolite CHA membranes with a thickness of about 450 nm and a length of 100 mm and an inner diameter of 7 mm were evaluated by single gas permeation experiments and for separation of an equimolar CO2/CH4 mixture. The membranes displayed high H2 and CO2 single gas permeances of 55 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1 and 94 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1, respectively, and a very low SF6 permeance of 3 × 10−9 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1. The highest observed mixture separation factor was 99 with CO2 permeance of 60 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1 at a feed pressure of 5 bar and permeate pressure of 0.12 bar. The corresponding CO2 flux was 1.46 mol m−2 s−1. The highest observed flux was 1.98 mol m−2 s−1 with a separation factor of 52 at a feed pressure of 10 bar and permeate pressure of 0.12 bar at room temperature. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing highly permeable and selective tubular CHA membranes. The results indicate that the membranes have a great potential for industrial separation of CO2 from natural gas and biogas.