The area of gas stream separation and purification has been revolutionized in the past decade by the development of hollow-fiber membrane systems. These new technologies are rapidly replacing antiquated ones and are being incorporated into the modern areas of chemical engineering. Applications are found in gas recovery for: waste gas streams, landfill gases, etc. and for gas generation and purification for: ammonia and petrochemical production, food processing and storage, semi-conductor manufacturing and the medical/health care industry. The present Chemical Engineering curriculum at Manhattan College will be supplemented by providing instruction and laboratory experience in gas separation by membrane processes. This will be accomplished through current course supplement, new course development and the introduction of new laboratory experiments covering the fundamentals of membrane gas transport and the operation of a hollow fiber membrane gas separator. Experiments on the laboratory-scale membrane system will illustrate the concepts of the driving forces for separation of gaseous components, overall material and component balances, separation factors in mass transfer, and temperature and residence time effects on gas separation. After completion of the course and laboratory developments, the student will have gained both theoretical and working knowledge of membrane processes used for gas stream separation and purification.
