Smart ceramic hollow fibers for energy efficient gas and vapour sorption
The aim of this project is to develop a novel ceramic hollow fiber adsorption system for high throughput, energy efficient separation and purification of gases/ vapours. Current adsorption technologies are grossly energy inefficient due to waste heat generation and long regeneration times. Therefore, it is important to develop new energy efficient, smart functional materials in order to meet society’s future energy demands. Functional hollow fibers with smart characteristics (such as self-regulated heating and regeneration of the adsorbent bed) have the potential to meet these challenges, and compact systems could be formed that also exhibit low pressure drop, no adsorbent bed settling and channelling, and have a low thermal mass for rapid regeneration of the adsorbent layer. The novel hollow fiber will consist of a thin film zeolite inner layer for adsorption of target species, while the outer layer is formed from a perovskite-type Lanthanum doped BaTiO3 ceramic with positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PTCR) characteristics. The PTCR layer provides inherent temperature control, imparting self-regulating and self-limited Ohmic (Joule) heating with thermal energy directed onto the inner adsorbent layer in order to regenerate the system for the next process cycle. This is a highly multidisciplinary project encompassing the formation of electro-ceramic hollow fibers from wet spinning techniques, zeolite deposition chemistry, and industrial engineering. The MSC-IF researcher will work within the Swiss Federal Institute for Materials Research (EMPA) in the High Performance Ceramics Group, where he will develop expertise in ceramic processing and extrusion. A prototype ceramic hollow fiber, gas purification system will be developed and benchmarked against conventional packed-bed technology, during a secondment phase to NanoPurification Solutions Ltd (UK), a manufacturer of industrial gas separation technology.