SBIR-STTR Award

Oxygen is ranked among the top five in the production of commodity chemicals in the U.S. Hence, there is a strong market pull for developing high-energy-efficient, low-cost, high-flux oxygen separation technology. In addition, a pure-oxygen-assisted combustion process also would have implications for capturing CO2 emission from coal power plants, one of the major sources of CO2. However, the low energy efficiency and high cost of traditional oxygen-separation technology is preventing its widespread implementation. This project will develop a novel, high-selectivity, highly-efficient oxygen separation membrane. This membrane will be simple to make, suitable for making the membrane with any shape or dimension, and easily scaled up. In combination with low energy consumption, the membrane will be well positioned to meet the requirement for low-cost oxygen production.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
Oxygen gas has found wide usage in the steel making industry, in nonferrous metallurgy, in varieties of chemical processes, in the paper industry, in waste water treatment plants, and in medical procedures for patients suffering impaired respiratory function. Therefore, a low-cost and highly-energy-efficient oxygen separation technology should have a huge economic impact on a wide range of industries

The production of oxygen is ranked among the top five commodity chemicals in the U.S. However, low energy efficiencies and high costs are preventing the widespread implementation of traditional oxygen separation technologies. This project will develop and demonstrate a novel, low-cost, high-flux, high-selectivity, highly-efficient oxygen separation membrane. The Phase I effort demonstrated that the membrane (1) is simple to make in any shape or dimension; (2) can be easily scaled up; (3) would reduce the energy consumption of the overall oxygen separation system by 12% compared to cryogenic and ion transport membrane techniques; and (4) would provide oxygen permeability and O2/N2 selectivity that exceeds the performance of state-­of-­the-­art polymer membranes. In Phase II, membrane performance will be further improved and prototype oxygen separation device will be designed, fabricated, and tested. The Phase II goals are to reduce energy consumption 25% and system cost by 80%.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
The oxygen separation technology should be applicable to the production of pure oxygen needed in the steel making industry, in varieties of chemical processes, in the paper industry, and in waste water treatment plants. In addition, oxygen gas also is used extensively in medical procedures for patients suffering from impaired respiratory function.