Catalytic removal of gas phase contaminants

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9700747-B2
Application number	US-201414216089-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 17, 2014
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods for removal of gas phase contaminants may utilize catalytic oxidation. For example, a method may include passing a gas that includes a gas phase contaminant through a catalytic membrane reactor at a temperature of about 150° C. to about 300° C., wherein the catalytic membrane reactor includes a bundle of tubular inorganic membranes, wherein each of the tubular inorganic membranes comprise a macroporous tubular substrate with an oxidative catalyst and a microporous layer disposed on a bore side of the macroporous tubular substrate, and wherein at least about 50% of the gas flows through the tubular inorganic membranes in a Knudsen flow regime; and oxidizing at least some of the gas phase contaminant with the oxidative catalyst layer, thereby reducing a concentration of the gas phase contaminant in the gas.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a catalytic membrane reactor comprising a heating element in thermal communication with a bundle of tubular inorganic membranes and a housing having a gas inlet and a gas outlet and containing the bundle of tubular inorganic membranes, wherein the catalytic membrane reactor is configured such that, when in operation to catalytically remove gas phase contaminants from a gas, the gas flows, in order, into the housing through the gas inlet, into a bore of the tubular inorganic membranes, through a wall of the tubular inorganic membranes, and out of the housing through the gas outlet, wherein each of the tubular inorganic membranes comprise a macroporous tubular substrate with an oxidative catalyst and a microporous layer disposed on a bore side of the macroporous tubular substrate.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the oxidative catalyst is impregnated in the microporous layer.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the oxidative catalyst is in a layer disposed between the microporous layer and the macroporous tubular substrate.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the microporous layer has a thickness of about 1 micron to about 10 microns.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the microporous layer has a porosity of about 25% to about 50%.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the microporous layer has an average pore size of about 4 nm to about 50 nm.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising:
an adsorption bed upstream or downstream of the catalytic membrane reactor.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising:
a photo-oxidation reactor upstream or downstream of the catalytic membrane reactor, the photo-oxidation reactor comprising a gas flow path and UV source arranged relative to the gas flow path to allow for UV irradiation of a gas contained in the gas flow path.

9. The system of claim 8 further comprising:
a particle filtration unit disposed downstream of the photo-oxidation reactor.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising:
a selective surface flow reactor upstream or downstream of the catalytic membrane reactor.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising:
an adsorption bed downstream of the catalytic membrane reactor and the selective surface flow reactor.

Assignees

• Univ Southern California
• Gc Env

Inventors

• Tsotsis Theodore T
• Egolfopoulos Fokion
• Nair Nitin
• Prosser Richard
• Ren Jyh-Yih
• Divsalar Alireza
• Motamedhashemi Mirmohammadyousef
• Monji Majid

Classifications

• B01D53/75 Primary

  Multi-step processes · CPC title

• B01D2255/1021

  Platinum · CPC title

• B01D2255/20761

  Copper · CPC title

• B01D2255/20723

  Vanadium · CPC title

• B01D2255/20784

  Chromium · CPC title