Optimising nanoporous adsorbents for hydrogen purification: development of a chemistry/chemical engineering skills base
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Materials and Processes
Abstract
Hydrogen is considered a promising alternative automotive fuel, as the only combustion products are carbon dioxide and water. In the petrochemical industry, hydrogen is a byproduct which can be found in many process streams and which is sometimes burnt as waste. This project aims at designing porous materials that can recover and purify hydrogen for industrial gas streams. The different molecules present in a process stream interact differently with the internal surface of the porous solids (this process is called adsorption) and can therefore be selectively removed. For this project, we will be using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), materials synthesised in a building-block approach from corner units and linkers. The properties of MOFs can be changed by using different building blocks, offerering the possibility to fine tune the interactions between the gas molecules and the surface.In this project we will be designing MOFs tailored to hydrogen purification. For this, we will use an integrated approach that combines skills from chemistry and chemical engineering, including the computer simulation of the synthesis of MOFs and of their adsorption performance, the actual synthesis of the materials, and the evaluation of their structure and their performance under industrially relevant conditions. In addition to the technical objectives of the project, we will be training researchers who are capable of carrying out research at this important interface between chemistry and chemical engineering. The researchers will learn how chemistry and chemical engineering research can be integrated effectively and therefore will be able to work effectively in mixed teams of scientists and engineers.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Tina Duren (Principal Investigator) | |
Nigel Seaton (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Banu A
(2013)
A Multiscale Study of MOFs as Adsorbents in H 2 PSA Purification
in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Cessford N
(2012)
Evaluation of Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory as a Tool for the Design of Metal-Organic Framework Materials
in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Graham AJ
(2014)
Stabilization of scandium terephthalate MOFs against reversible amorphization and structural phase transition by guest uptake at extreme pressure.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Mohideen MI
(2011)
Protecting group and switchable pore-discriminating adsorption properties of a hydrophilic-hydrophobic metal-organic framework.
in Nature chemistry
Prosenjak C
(2012)
Hydrogen thermal desorption spectra: insights from molecular simulation.
in Dalton transactions (Cambridge, England : 2003)
Wells SA
(2019)
Early stages of phase selection in MOF formation observed in molecular Monte Carlo simulations.
in RSC advances
Description | 1) Developed methodology to predict what MOF structure forms under different synthesis conditions.2) We showed that the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) is generally accurate for MOFs. Where we find IAST is less accurate, deviations result from both mixture effects, in the form of nonidealities in the adsorbed phase, and characteristics of the adsorbent structures. In terms of the MOF structure, departures from IAST are a consequence of heterogeneities both on the scale of the unit cell and on shorter length scales, whereby competition for adsorption sites has a strong influence. 3) We integrated molecular simulation results into the process simulation of a pressure swing in a multi-scale approach. Our results show that only looking at equilibrium properties to assess MOFs is not enough but that break-through curves need to be considered as well to identify promising structures.Have submitted final report |
Exploitation Route | The project has led to fundamental insight into the adsorption behaviour of metal-organic frameworks. Findings from this work have already been taken up by other research groups and in the longer term will contribute to finding applications for MOFs in specialised fields such as the separation of high value products in the pharmaceutical, chemical industry as well as in biotech applications (e.g. the separation of products from biobroth fermentation). |
Sectors | Chemicals,Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
Description | ERC Consolidator grant |
Amount | € 1,738,715 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 648283 |
Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | Belgium |
Start | 08/2015 |
End | 07/2019 |
Description | FP7 Scale Integrating Collaborative Project |
Amount | £252,585 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Macademia |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 07/2009 |
End | 06/2013 |