Meniscus membranes for separations
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsRobert C. Dye, Betty Jorgensen, David R. Pesiri
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Abstract
Gas separation membranes, especially meniscus-shaped membranes for gas separations are disclosed together with the use of such meniscus-shaped membranes for applications such as thermal gas valves, pre-concentration of a gas stream, and selective pre-screening of a gas stream. In addition, a rapid screening system for simultaneously screening polymer materials for effectiveness in gas separation is provided.
Claims15
A process for simultaneously screening a multiplicity of polymer materials for comparative effectiveness in gas separation, the process comprising:
- preparing an array of individual ports on a substrate, each individual port including a pore passing through said substrate, a gas inlet to said pore at a first location of said substrate and a gas outlet from said pore at a second location of said substrate;
- placing said multiplicity of polymer materials, each within a pore of at least one individual port in an amount sufficient to form a meniscus-shaped polymer membrane within said pore;
- passing a pre-selected gas flow to said inlet gas flows;
- analyzing gas from each of said outlet gas flows;
- and,
- comparing gas separation properties for said multiplicity of polymer materials.
A screening system for simultaneously screening polymer materials for effectiveness in gas separation comprising;
- a substrate containing an array of individual ports, each individual port including a pore passing through said substrate, a gas inlet to said pore at a first location of said substrate and a gas outlet from said pore at a second location of said substrate;
- a meniscus-shaped polymer membrane situated within said pore of each individual port, with each meniscus-shaped polymer membrane formed of a pre-selected polymer material;
- and,
- a gas analyzer controllably attached to said gas outlets.
A gas separation module comprising:
- a substrate containing therein at least one opening passing between two locations of said substrate;
- and,
- a polymer material contained within the opening of said substrate, said polymer material characterized as forming a meniscus-shaped separator within said opening.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.