Comparative evaluation of the effect of pore size and temperature on gas transport in nano-structured ceramic membranes for biogas upgrading.

Ogunlude, Priscilla; Abunumah, Ofasa; Orakwe, Ifeyinwa; Shehu, Habiba; Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus; Gobina, Edward

Abstract

As a result of rising economies and environmental constraints, the demand for clean and renewable sources of energy is fast increasing. Biogas is a renewable form of energy that fits all expectations in terms of delivery, cost, and greenhouse emissions reduction. Biogas utilization is advantageous because it is a means of creating wealth from daily human, agricultural, household and municipal waste that could otherwise be polluting the environment as waste is deposited on a daily basis which are potential biogas sources; it is not dependent on weather conditions as other renewable forms (solar and wind). Biogas can also be compressed, stored and transported, and therefore easily responds to changes in demand. This paper entails the use of nano-structured membranes to upgrade biogas (which contains primarily methane and carbon dioxide). The benefits of membranes include their compact structure and ease of usage with low maintenance, their low running costs and minimal loss of the upgraded gas. 15nm, 200nm and 6000nm membranes were used to ascertain the flux of the model biogas mixture passing through it under various operating conditions. In each case, the exit flowrate of methane was higher than that of carbon dioxide and this is attributed to the pore sizes of the membrane and its ability to filter the heavier gases. The results show that the molecular weight of the gases also play a role in their permeation rate as it follows the Knudsen regime.

Citation

OGUNLUDE, P., ABUNUMAH, O., ORAKWE, I., SHEHU, H., MUHAMMAD-SUKKI, F. and GOBINA, E. 2019. Comparative evaluation of the effect of pore size and temperature on gas transport in nano-structured ceramic membranes for biogas upgrading. WEENTECH proceedings in energy [online], 5(1): proceedings of the 4th International conference on energy, environment and economics (ICEEE2019), 20-22 August 2019, Edinburgh, UK, pages 195-205. Available from: https://doi.org/10.32438/WPE.8319

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 4th International conference on energy, environment and economics (ICEEE2019)
• Acceptance Date: Apr 13, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Nov 12, 2019
• Publication Date: Nov 12, 2019
• Deposit Date: Nov 18, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 18, 2019
• Journal: WEENTECH proceedings in energy
• Print ISSN: 2059-2353
• Publisher: World Energy and Environment Technology Publishers (WEENTECH)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 195-205
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.32438/WPE.8319
• Keywords: Biogas upgrading; Sustainable; Nano-structured; Ceramic; Membrane; Carbon capture
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/770948