You are invited to join the Department of Chemical Engineering for a seminar, titled Polymer Membranes for Gas Separations, by Dr. Jeong-Hoon Kim. He is the Head/Research Fellow at the Greenhouse Gas Separation and Recovery Research Group in the C1 Gas Separation and Conversion Research Center of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology’s Carbon Resources Institute.
Abstract
This seminar will be on gas separations by polymer membranes. Specifically, the presentation will cover UV-crosslinked poly(PEGMA-co-MMA-co-BPMA) membranes for separation of CO2 from byproduct gases in steel industry, and Novel semi-alicyclic polyimide membranes for recovery of CH4, CO2 and H2 from the by-product gases in steel industry.
Membrane technology is a promising new separation technology, owing to cheap plant construction, easy operation, environmental friendliness etc.
A large amount of byproduct gas mixtures (CO2, H2, CH4, CO, N2 etc.) is produced from the steel industry in Korea and worldwide. Among them, CH4 and H2 are present in Coke Oven Gas (COG), and CO2 and CO are present in Blast Furnace Gas (BFG) and Linz Donawitz Gas (LDG). If separated at a high purity and recovery, these gases can be used as a valuable feed for producing such chemical products as methanol, ethannol, ethylene, and acetic acid, thereby contributing to reduction of global warming.
A series of CO2-philic terpolymers were prepared by free radical polymerization using poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 4-hydroxybenzophenone (BPMA), to develop CO2/N2 and CO2/CO separation membranes. The terpolymers were cast into thin precursor films, which were then crosslinked by a UV-induced photochemical reaction.
In another study, his research group developed homo- and co-polyimides with various dianhydrides and diamines, and the polyimide mmebranes showed excellent CO2/N2, CO2/CO, H2/CH4 and CO2/CH4 selectivities, and high CO2 and H2 permeabilities.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Kim has a BSc in Industrial Chemical and a MSc in Polymer Chemistry, both from Han-Yang University, and a PhD in Polymer Chemistry from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He has been on staff at KRICT since 1987, and is currently a Principal Investigator in charge of Greenhouse Gas Separation and Recovery.
He has received several awards from the Korean government, including the Ministry of Environment for achievement in biogas separation by membrane technology and the Ministry of Science and Knowledge Information for achievement in ion exchange membranes for electrodialysis. Currently, he also serves as Vice-President of the Membrane Society of Korea. Dr. Kim’s research has resulted in 110 refereed papers.