The majority of state-of-the-art polymeric membranes for industrial or medical applications are fabricated by phase inversion. Complexation induced phase separation (CIPS)—a surprising variation of this well-known process—allows direct fabrication of hybrid membranes in existing facilities. In the CIPS process, a first step forms the thin metal-rich selective layer of the membrane, and a succeeding step the porous support. Precipitation of the selective layer takes place in the same solvent used to dissolve the polymer and is induced by a small concentration of metal ions. These ions form metal-coordination-based crosslinks leading to the formation of a solid skin floating on top of the liquid polymer film. A subsequent precipitation in a nonsolvent bath leads to the formation of the porous support structure. Forming the dense layer and porous support by different mechanisms while maintaining the simplicity of a phase inversion process, results in unprecedented control over the final structure of the membrane. The thickness and morphology of the dense layer as well as the porosity of the support can be controlled over a wide range by manipulating simple process parameters. CIPS facilitates control over (i) the thickness of the dense layer throughout several orders of magnitude—from less than 15 nm to more than 6 μm, (ii) the type and amount of metal ions loaded in the dense layer, (iii) the morphology of the membrane surface, and (iv) the porosity and structure of the support. The nature of the CIPS process facilitates a precise loading of a high concentration of metal ions that are located in only the top layer of the membrane. Moreover, these metal ions can be converted—during the membrane fabrication process—to nanoparticles or crystals. This simple method opens up fascinating possibilities for the fabrication of metal-rich polymeric membranes with a new set of properties. This dissertation describes the process in depth and explores promising applications: (i) catalytic membranes containing palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs), (ii) antibiofouling tight-UF membranes containing silver chloride (AgCl) crystals, and (iii) palladiumrich PBI hollow fibers for H2 recovery.

A new concept of a "fiber sorbent" has been investigated. The fiber sorbent is produced as a pseudo-monolithic material comprising polymer (cellulose acetate, CA) and zeolite (NaY) by applying hollow fiber spinning technology. Phase separation of the polymer solution provides an appropriately porous structure throughout the fiber matrix. In addition, the zeolite crystals are homogeneously dispersed in the polymer matrix with high loading. The zeolite is the main contributor to sorption capacity of the fiber sorbent. Mass transfer processes in the fiber sorbent module are analyzed for hydrogen recovery and compared with results for an equivalent size packed bed with identical diameter and length. The model indicates advantageous cases for application of fiber sorbent module over packed bed technology that allows system downsizing and energy saving by changing the outer and bore diameters to maintain or even reduce the pressure drop. The CA-NaY fiber sorbent was spun successfully with highly porous structure and high CO2 sorption capacity. The fiber sorbent enables the shell-side void space for thermal moderation to heat of adsorption, while this cannot be applied to the packed bed. The poly(vinyl alcohol) coated CA-NaY demonstrated the thermal moderation with paraffin wax, which was carefully selected and melt at slightly above operating temperature, in the shell-side in a rapidly cycled pressure swing adsorption. So this new approach is attractive for some hydrogen recovery applications as an alternative to traditional zeolite pellets.

Dans ce travail, la production in-situ d'hydrogène (pur) à partir de vapo-reformage d’éthanol (ESR) dans un réacteur catalytique à membrane (MR) a été étudiée. Un mélange d'éthanol pur et distillé a été utilisé comme combustible. Le réacteur est constitué d’un catalyseur Pd-Rh/CeO2 et d’une membrane Pd-Ag: l’ensemble est désigné par « reformeur ». Les expériences sur ce reformeur ont été effectuées dans diverses conditions de fonctionnement: température, pression, débit de combustible et rapport molaire de l'eau-éthanol (rapportSC). La performance du réacteur catalytique à membrane (CMR) a été étudiée en termes de facteur de production d'hydrogène théorique, d’efficacité de production de l’hydrogène et de la part d’hydrogène récupérée. L’évaluation thermodynamique du reformeur a été présentée. L'analyse exergétique a été réalisée sur la base des résultats expérimentaux visant non seulement à comprendre la performance thermodynamique du reformeur, mais aussi d'introduire l'application de l'analyse exergétique dans les études CMRs. L'analyse exergétique a fourni des informations importantes sur l'effet des conditions d'exploitation et les pertes thermodynamiques, et a donné lieu à la compréhension des meilleures conditions de fonctionnement. Outre les évaluations expérimentales et thermodynamiques du reformeur, la simulation de la dynamique de la production d'hydrogène (perméation) a été effectuée comme la dernière étape pour étudier l'applicabilité d'un tel système dans le cadre d'une utilisation finale réelle, qui peut être l’alimentation d’une pile à combustible. La simulation présentée dans ce travail est semblable aux ajustements de débit d'hydrogène nécessaires pour régler la charge électrique d'une pile à combustible répondant à des besoins variables. / In this work, in-situ production of fuel cell grade hydrogen (pure hydrogen) via catalytic ethanol steam reforming (ESR) in a membrane reactor (MR) was investigated. A mixture of pure ethanol and distilled was used as the fuel. ESR experiments were carried out over a Pd-Rh/CeO2 catalyst in a Pd-Ag membrane reactor – named as the fuel reformer – at variety of operating conditions regarding the operating temperature, pressure, fuel flow rate, and the molar ratio of water-ethanol (S/C ratio). The performance of the catalytic membrane reactor (CMR) was studied in terms of pure hydrogen production, hydrogen yield, andhydrogen recovery.Thermodynamic evaluation of the CMR was presented as a supplement to the comprehensive investigation of the overall performance of the mentioned pure hydrogen generating system. Exergy analysis was performed based on the experimental results aiming not only to understand the thermodynamic performance of the fuel reformer, but also to introduce the application of the exergy analysis in CMRs studies. Exergy analysis provided important information on the effect of operating conditions and thermodynamic losses, resulting in understanding of the best operating conditions.In addition to the experimental and thermodynamic evaluation of the reforming system, the simulation of the dynamics of hydrogen production (permeation) was performed as the last step to study the applicability of such a system in connection with a real end user, which can be a fuel cell. The simulation presented in this work is similar to the hydrogen flow rate adjustments needed to set the electrical load of a fuel cell, if fed on line by the studied pure hydrogen generating system.