Scholes Colin A, Ghosh Ujjal K
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.
Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar.
Membranes (Basel). 2017 Feb 17;7(1):9. doi: 10.3390/membranes7010009.
Membrane gas separation has potential for the recovery and purification of helium, because the majority of membranes have selectivity for helium. This review reports on the current state of the research and patent literature for membranes undertaking helium separation. This includes direct recovery from natural gas, as an ancillary stage in natural gas processing, as well as niche applications where helium recycling has potential. A review of the available polymeric and inorganic membranes for helium separation is provided. Commercial gas separation membranes in comparable gas industries are discussed in terms of their potential in helium separation. Also presented are the various membrane process designs patented for the recovery and purification of helium from various sources, as these demonstrate that it is viable to separate helium through currently available polymeric membranes. This review places a particular focus on those processes where membranes are combined in series with another separation technology, commonly pressure swing adsorption. These combined processes have the most potential for membranes to produce a high purity helium product. The review demonstrates that membrane gas separation is technically feasible for helium recovery and purification, though membranes are currently only applied in niche applications focused on reusing helium rather than separation from natural sources.
膜气体分离技术在氦气回收与提纯方面具有潜力，因为大多数膜对氦气具有选择性。本综述报告了用于氦气分离的膜的研究现状以及专利文献情况。这包括从天然气中直接回收氦气，作为天然气加工的一个辅助阶段，以及氦气循环利用具有潜力的特定应用领域。本文对现有的用于氦气分离的聚合物膜和无机膜进行了综述。讨论了可比气体行业中的商业气体分离膜在氦气分离方面的潜力。还介绍了为从各种来源回收和提纯氦气而申请专利的各种膜工艺设计，因为这些设计表明通过目前可用的聚合物膜分离氦气是可行的。本综述特别关注那些将膜与另一种分离技术（通常是变压吸附）串联组合的工艺。这些组合工艺在利用膜生产高纯度氦气产品方面具有最大潜力。该综述表明，膜气体分离技术在氦气回收与提纯方面在技术上是可行的，不过目前膜仅应用于专注于氦气再利用而非从天然来源分离氦气的特定应用领域。
