Natural Gas Purification Using Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)
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Author(s)
Joshi, Jayraj
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Abstract
Of all fossil energy sources, natural gas has
exhibited the strongest worldwide growth. Global demand for the fuel has
increased at a rate of 3% per year over the past thirty years, and is
predicted to account for nearly 23% of the global energy supply by 2030.
Consequently, the efficient and cost-effective purification of hydrocarbons
in natural gas reserves is becoming increasingly important for the petroleum
industry. About 40% of extraction fields possess appreciable levels of
hydrogen sulfide (H2S): a toxic and corrosive acid gas that must be removed
to preserve the environmental and economic viability of the fuel. Mixtures of
H2S with well-head hydrocarbons are known as “sour gas”, and they must be
remediated prior to downstream processing. Unfortunately, current
purification schemes entail either gas flaring into the atmosphere or heavily
energy intensive separation schemes. These activities subsequently carry both
economical and environmental concerns. Engineering selective adsorption media
to facilitate the removal of H2S from sour gas can be a promising alternative
natural gas refinement operation. The selective adsorption of H2S over carbon
dioxide, methane, and other common sour gas constitutients is pursued in this
thesis work through the modular chemistry offered by a class of nanoporous
materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). MOF synthesis allows for
users to carefully construct these highly porous and stable frameworks to
contain a myriad of chemical functional groups and reaction sites, such that
specific separations can be targeted through careful selection of the two (1)
organic and (2) metallic MOF precursors utilized. This “designer
chemistry” at the nanoscale will be utilized to construct and test a
variety of tailor-made MOFs for sour gas purification applications.
Constructed adsorbents will be evaluated in a fixed-bed adsorption column,
simulating sour gas mixtures that are representative of actual well-head
compositions in the United States. By utilizing the atomic-level adsorbent
control afforded through MOF construction, stable and highly effective H2S
adsorbents are sought to be produced through this work, in an effort to help
sustain ecological and cost-effective improvements in global energy.
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Date
2017-11-13
Extent
03:13 minutes
Resource Type
Moving Image
Resource Subtype
Presentation