TDA RESEARCH, INC. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 24a

Description

While cryogenic ASU is the technology of choice to supply oxygen to large plants, such plants are very expensive and include complex hardware that prevent their cost-effective scale down and use in small installations. At small scale, pressure swing adsorption PSA) is widely used. PSA is based on the selective reversible adsorption of nitrogen but not oxygen) onto molecular sieve sorbents. The conventional PSA process delivers a more expensive product mainly due to the inefficiencies involved in the adsorption of the major component nitrogen) from a high pressure air and its subsequent discharge at ambient pressure most of the work input provided during compression is lost). TDA Research has developed a novel method to synthesize a new metal organic frameworks MOFs) adsorbent which exhibits very high selectivity for oxygen. Due to this high selectivity to oxygen, the separation process could be potentially much more energy efficient than a conventional PSA process. We propose to further develop these new materials into manufacturable, highly effective adsorbents. We will also develop a highly efficient separation process based on their use, supported by detailed engineering design and process simulations. In Phase I, we will synthesize the new MOFs at large-scale using high throughput commercial equipment. We will use low energy densification techniques to make pellets or granules while preserving the desired adsorptive properties. We will demonstrate the stable operation of the new material through many cycles under representative conditions. We will design and optimize a cycle sequence that will achieve both high product oxygen) yield and high purity. We will complete a techno-economic analysis to assess the economic merits of the new technology. Oxygen is a strategically important chemical, with a $3.8 billion market value in the U.S. It supports various industrial processes and enters into oxidative combination with many materials. The new technology has the potential to cut the energy input required for the process in half, providing a low cost oxygen product.