High Purity Oxygen Production via BBCN Perovskite Hollow Fiber Membrane Swept by Steam

Abstract

BaBi0.05Co0.8Nb0.15O3−δ (BBCN) ceramic hollow fiber membranes have been fabricated via a phase conversion and sintering technology. An oxygen permeation test was operated under steam as sweep gas, and the highest oxygen permeation flux is 11.07 mL cm–2 min–1 with a purity of around 99.8% at 950 °C. The stability of the membrane exposure to steam was also investigated by oxygen permeation studies and further characterization by SEM, EDX, ICP, XRD, FTIR, and XPS techniques. BBCN hollow fiber membrane still maintained oxygen permeability upon exposure to steam for 325 h. The results show that, despite an initial drop of around 30% in the oxygen permeation for the first 20–30 h, it stabilized in the remaining time. Interestingly, the oxygen permeation can be in situ recovered upon using inert sweep gas for 18 h at high temperatures. This study also reveals that the BBCN membrane exhibits good potential for integration with a catalyst in a membrane reactor for oxidative steam reforming of hydrocarbon reactions.