Membrane Process Laboratory

- At SINTEF Materials and Chemistry

Contact: Rune Bredesen

The Membrane Process Laboratory is a part of SINTEF Materials and Chemistry. The laboratory is situated in Oslo and is one of 3 laboratories where the Functional Ceramics (FC) group has its main activity. The other two laboratories are the Sol-gel - MOCVD Precursor Synthesis Laboratory and the Ceramics Laboratory.

The Membrane Process Laboratory of the FC group is well equipped for testing membranes under different conditions for many processes.

Below are listed examples of on-going activities in the FC group where membrane testing is an integrated part of the research and development.

• Gas separation with microporous inorganic membranes

• Hydrogen separation with dense Pd-based membranes

• Hydrogen separation with ceramic mixed conductor membranes

• Oxygen separation with ceramic mixed conductor membranes

• CO2 separation with microporous, hybrid and dual phase membranes

• Pervaporation with microporous inorganic membranes

• Wet Air Oxidation (WAO) in catalytic membrane reactor

• Liquid filtration and separation (various applications)

• Production of emulsions and nanocapsules with membranes

In addition to the FC group work on membrane material and membrane process technology development, activities are on-going to develop materials for High temperature sorbents for CO₂ capture

• High temperature materials for Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC)

• Electroceramics for transducers, actuators and optical applications

• Coatings for corrosion protection (high and low temperature) and wear resistance

The main equipment available in the Membrane Process Laboratory is listed in the table below. Most of the equipment is controlled and monitored through PC Lab-view software. The laboratory gas pipeline infrastructure of 40 bars pressure contains 7 standard gases, which are distributed to the equipment through electronic mass and pressure controllers. Additional special gases can be added at the site of the equipment.
 

Equipment	Temp (ºC)	Pressure (bar)
(Membrane) material conditioning reactor. Reactor can be fed with CO2, CO, CH4, H2O, inert gas	700	30
Gas separation units, tubular membranes	600	30
Gas separation units, flat membranes	600	30
Pervaporation unit	250	30
Nanofiltration unit	250	30
Catalytic membrane contactor (gas - liquid) unit	200	20
Membrane filtration unit with automatic back-flushing (MF, UF)	100	7
Membrane emulsification unit	100	7
Pressure swing adsorption unit	600	30
Thermogravimetry units	900	30
High temperature membrane units	1100	1
GC and MS units

Materials conditioning unit 700ºC and 30 bar

Thermogravimetry unit
900°C, 30 bar