Fabrication Challenges in Synthesizing Porous Ceramic Membrane to Effective Flue Gas Treatment

Ihsan Ur Rahman; Hamin Jaafar Mohammed; Misbah Ullah; Muhammad Tayyeb; Muhammad Farooq Siddique

doi:10.24237/djes.2023.16302

Authors

Ihsan Ur Rahman
ihsanrahman.uspcase@uetpeshawar.edu.pk
Thermal System Engineering, U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E), University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, KPK, Pakistan.
Hamin Jaafar Mohammed Department of Chemical Engineering, Soran University, Erbil Kurdistan region –Iraq.
Misbah Ullah Thermal System Engineering, U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E), University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, KPK, Pakistan.
Muhammad Tayyeb Elementary and Secondary Education Department, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Muhammad Farooq Siddique Department of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610 Korea.

Keywords:

Air pollution, Ceramic membrane technology, Fly ash, pore size and porosity, thermal stability

Abstract

Global warming is a serious concern worldwide, and many sources contribute to the rise in the temperature of Earth. One major source is air pollution. It is of utmost importance to apply the necessary remedial actions to address the contaminants in outdoor and indoor environments. In this research, a step is taken to treat flue gases, for which membrane technology is introduced. A porous ceramic membrane is synthesised from calcined porous alumina (Al₂O₃) and activated washed fly ash. Some other additives such as starch (C₆H₁₀O₅) n, binder solution along with ethyl silicate (C₈H₂O₄Si) and a deflocculating agent carbonic acid (H₂CO₃) are employed. Some of the issues faced during the fabrication of a porous ceramic membrane are discussed, i.e., cracks in membrane sample, nonactive reactant issue, uneven rise or fall during demoisturisation or sintering steps. The membrane sample is characterised through different tests, including thermogravimetric analysis and DTG. Satisfactory results are obtained, with a negligible percentage weight loss after 750 °C. X-ray fluorescence for fly ash portrayal and X-ray diffraction analysis for structure assessment are conducted, which describe that the fabricated membrane has a crystalline structure similar to ceramic. Archimedes’ principle is used to determine the bulk density and porosity of the membrane sample, and the values are 4.484 g/cm³ and 62.5%, respectively. An average pore size of 7.6 µm is identified through optical microscopy, and the mechanical strength is determined to be 2.7 MPa. Furthermore, a pilot-scale visual permeability test is performed for flue gas treatment of combustion fuel containing tyre and coal powder. The results show the compatibility of the fabricated porous ceramic membrane to be utilised for the treatment of flue gases.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

J. Van Bavel, “The world population explosion: causes, backgrounds and projections for the future,” Facts, Views Vis. ObGyn, vol. 5, no. 4, p. 281, 2013, Accessed: May 18, 2022. [Online]. Available: /pmc/articles/PMC3987379/.

“Air pollution.” https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1 (accessed May 18, 2022).

“Pakistan Air Quality Index (AQI) and Air Pollution information | IQAir.” https://www.iqair.com/pakistan (accessed May 18, 2022).

A. Afshari et al., “Electrostatic Precipitators as an Indoor Air Cleaner—A Literature Review,” Sustain. 2020, Vol. 12, Page 8774, vol. 12, no. 21, p. 8774, Oct. 2020, doi: 10.3390/SU12218774. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12218774

G. Skodras, S. P. Kaldis, D. Sofialidis, O. Faltsi, P. Grammelis, and G. P. Sakellaropoulos, “Particulate removal via electrostatic precipitators - CFD simulation,” Fuel Process. Technol., vol. 87, no. 7, pp. 623–631, 2006,doi: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2006.01.012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2006.01.012

U. R. Ihsan, A. Khurshid, H. Muhammad, M. Ullah, M. Sohail, and M. F. Siddique, “Fabrication and Characterization of porous Alumina and Fly Ash Based Filtering Membrane through Appending pore forming Agent Technique,” 2020.

Wilhelm A. Meulenberg, F. Schulze-Ku¨ppers, W. Deibert, T. Van Gestel, and S. Baumann, “Ceramic Membranes : Materials – Components – Potential Applications,” ChemBioEng Rev., vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 198–208, 2019, doi: 10.1002/cben.201900022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cben.201900022

P. Colombo, “Ceramic foams: Fabrication, properties and applications,” Key Eng. Mater., no. 213 PART 3, pp. 1913–1918, 2001, doi: 10.4028/WWW.SCIENTIFIC.NET/KEM.206-213.1913. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.206-213.1913

F. Aouadja, F. Bouzerara, C. M. Guvenc, and M. M. Demir, “Fabrication and properties of novel porous ceramic membrane supports from the (Sig) diatomite and alumina mixtures,” Boletín la Soc. Española Cerámica y Vidr., May 2021, doi: 10.1016/J.BSECV.2021.04.002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bsecv.2021.04.002

C. Cheng, H. Fu, J. Wu, H. Zhang, and H. Chen, “Study on the Preparation and Properties of Talcum-Fly Ash Based Ceramic Membrane Supports,” Membr. 2020, Vol. 10, Page 207, vol. 10, no. 9, p. 207, Aug. 2020, doi: 10.3390/MEMBRANES10090207. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes10090207

M. R. de la Rocha, M. Virginie, A. Khodakov, L. D. Pollo, N. R. Marcílio, and I. C. Tessaro, “Preparation of alumina based tubular asymmetric membranes incorporated with coal fly ash by centrifugal casting,” Ceram. Int., vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 4187–4196, Feb. 2020, doi: 10.1016/J.CERAMINT.2020.09.296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2020.09.296

J. Liu et al., “Feasible recycling of industrial waste coal fly ash for preparation of anorthite-cordierite based porous ceramic membrane supports with addition of dolomite,” J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 1059–1071, Mar. 2016, doi: 10.1016/J.JEURCERAMSOC.2015.11.012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2015.11.012

M. Fu, J. Liu, X. Dong, L. Zhu, Y. Dong, and S. Hampshire, “Waste recycling of coal fly ash for design of highly porous whisker-structured mullite ceramic membranes,” J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., vol. 39, no. 16, pp. 5320–5331, Dec. 2019, doi: 10.1016/J.JEURCERAMSOC.2019.08.042. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2019.08.042

M. Sedlačík, M. Nguyen, T. Opravil, and R. Sokolář, “Preparation and Characterization of Glass-Ceramic Foam from Clay-Rich Waste Diatomaceous Earth,” Materials (Basel)., vol. 15, no. 4, 2022, doi: 10.3390/ma15041384. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15041384

A. Abdullayev et al., “Fabrication and characterization of porous mullite ceramics derived from fluoride-assisted Metakaolin-Al(OH)3 annealing for filtration applications,” Open Ceram., vol. 9, p. 100240, Mar. 2022, doi: 10.1016/J.OCERAM.2022.100240. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceram.2022.100240

R. Wang, H. Y. Zhang, P. H. M. Feron, and D. T. Liang, “Influence of membrane wetting on CO2 capture in microporous hollow fiber membrane contactors,” Sep. Purif. Technol., vol. 46, no. 1–2, pp. 33–40, Nov. 2005,doi: 10.1016/J.SEPPUR.2005.04.007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2005.04.007

H. Chen, X. Li, J. Wei, Y. Feng, and D. Gao, “Preparation and Properties of Coal Ash Ceramic Membranes for Water and Heat Recovery from Flue Gas,” vol. 2019, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/2403618

Y. Yang, F. Liu, Q. Chang, Z. Hu, Q. Wang, and Y. Wang, “Preparation of Fly Ash-Based Porous Ceramic with Alumina as the Pore-Forming Agent,” Ceram. 2019, Vol. 2, Pages 286-295, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 286–295, Apr. 2019, doi: 10.3390/CERAMICS2020023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ceramics2020023

J. Zhao, Z. Liu, and Y. Li, “Preparation and characterization of low-density mullite-based ceramic proppant by a dynamic sintering method,” Mater. Lett., vol. C, no. 152, pp. 72–75, Aug. 2015, doi: 10.1016/J.MATLET.2015.03.060. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2015.03.060

X. Wu, Z. Huo, Q. Ren, H. Li, F. Lin, and T. Wei, “Preparation and characterization of ceramic proppants with low density and high strength using fly ash,” J. Alloys Compd., vol. 702, pp. 442–448, 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.01.262. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.01.262

M. M. Lorente-Ayza, E. Sánchez, V. Sanz, and S. Mestre, “Influence of starch content on the properties of low-cost microfiltration ceramic membranes,” Ceram. Int., vol. 41, no. 10, pp. 13064–13073, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2015.07.092. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2015.07.092

L. Alekseeva, A. V Nokhrin, M. Boldin, and E. A. Lantcev, “Study of the Hydrolytic Stability of Fine-Grained Ceramics,” no. April, pp. 0–11, 2021.

D. Liang, J. Huang, Y. Zhang, Z. Zhang, H. Chen, and H. Zhang, “Influence of dextrin content and sintering temperature on the properties of coal fly ash-based tubular ceramic membrane for flue gas moisture recovery,” J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., vol. 41, no. 11, pp. 5696–5710, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2021.04.055. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2021.04.055