Influence of sintering temperature on the development of alumina membrane shaped by centrifugal casting for gas separation

Abstract

The development of ceramic membranes for the most diverse separation processes has gained high visibility, mainly due to their better performance in harsh environments in comparison to polymeric materials. Among the different techniques used to prepare tubular ceramic membranes, the centrifugal casting (CC) is interesting for obtaining highly homogeneous structures, essential for gas separations. This study assessed the influence of two sintering temperatures (1450 and 1500 °C) of alumina membranes prepared by CC on the membrane morphology and on the permeation of helium, nitrogen and oxygen gases. The membranes were characterized by their morphology, apparent porosity, and gas permeation. The results indicated that the sintering temperature is a fundamental parameter for controlling membrane properties, an increase of only 50 °C led to a tenfold decrease in the gas permeate flux, indicating densification of membrane porous structure. This was in accordance with the results observed in the membrane micrographs and the apparent porosity.

Synthesis and characterization of low-cost ceramic membranes using red mud from the eastern Amazon as waste from the Bayer process

“…In several process, membranes act like a selective barrier, allowing or restricting components that permute based on affinity from molecules with the material from the membrane or the difference between the pores from the membrane e the molecules. In this way, membranes can be fabricated from different materials organics and inorganics to have a characteristic that is need for given separation [1] .…”