Biomethane generation from biogas upgrading by means of thin-film composite membrane comprising Linde T and fluorinated polyimide: optimization of fabrication parameters

Abstract

Generation of biogas from organic substances is an attractive evolution of energy generation from fossil-based energy supply to renewable resources. In order to exhibit viability in terms of technical execution while being economically feasible, successful purification strategies for biomethane formation must be applicable to industrial gas streams at realistic pressures and temperatures. Membrane-based upgrading technologies have great potential to promote biogas processes because they involve less energy and low maintenance. However, the development of membranes with good polymer-filler contact and minimum defects remains a great challenge. Hitherto, researchers have been making many attempts at developing an established route to fabricate thin-film composite membranes. In the present work, an innovative coupling between Linde T and fluorinated polyimide was employed for biogas upgrading. A facile technique for membrane fabrication was proposed via optimization of the fabrication parameters. The results indicated that composite membrane fabricated with 2 hours of total dispersion duration demonstrated a homogeneous distribution of Linde T particles in the fluorinated polyimide matrix and improved the separation characteristics by up to 172% in upgrading biomethane quality. Thus, the fabricated membrane is feasible to be employed for large-scale and lucrative production with enhanced performance in biogas purification via the feasible fabrication method employed in this work.