A biogas combustion system that obtains a stable output and saves energy is realized. A combustion system comprises a separation portion 14 that removes carbon dioxide from a treatment target gas containing a mixture gas containing methane as a main component and containing carbon dioxide to obtain methane gas of a high purity in which at least a content of carbon dioxide has been reduced, and a combustion portion 15 that combusts the methane gas. The separation portion 14 includes a first treatment chamber 11 and a second treatment chamber 12 separated from each other by a separation membrane 13 therebetween. The separation membrane 13 selectively allows the carbon dioxide in the treatment target gas supplied to the first treatment chamber 11 to pass therethrough to the second treatment chamber 12 to obtain a first separation gas having a higher methane purity than the treatment target gas in the first treatment chamber 11 and a second separation gas containing the carbon dioxide in the treatment target gas in the second treatment chamber 12.

This invention provides a new high selectivity stable facilitated transport membrane comprising a polyethersulfone (PES)/polyethylene oxide-polysilsesquioxane (PEO-Si) blend support membrane, a hydrophilic polymer inside the pores on the skin layer surface of the PES/PEO-Si blend support membrane; a hydrophilic polymer coated on the skin layer surface of the PES/PEO-Si blend support membrane, and metal salts incorporated in the hydrophilic polymer coating layer and the skin layer surface pores of the PES/PEO-Si blend support membrane, and methods of making such membranes. This invention also provides a method of using the high selectivity stable facilitated transport membrane comprising PES/PEO-Si blend support membrane for olefin/paraffin separations such as propylene/propane and ethylene/ethane separations.

This invention provides a new high flux reverse osmosis (RO) membrane comprising a nanoporous polyethersulfone (PES)/polyethylene oxide-polysilsesquioxane (PEO-Si) blend support membrane (PES/PEO-Si) comprising a polyethylene oxide-polysilsesquioxane (PEO-Si) polymer and a polyethersulfone (PES) polymer, a hydrophilic polymer inside the pores on the skin layer surface of the polyethersulfone/polyethylene oxide-polysilsesquioxane blend support membrane, and a thin, nanometer layer of cross-linked polyamide on the skin layer surface of said polyethersulfone/polyethylene oxide-polysilsesquioxane blend support membrane, and a method of making such a membrane. This invention also provides a method of using the new high flux reverse osmosis membrane comprising nanoporous PES/PEO-Si blend support membrane for water purification.

A system for degassing a hydrocarbon fluid from a hydrocarbon liquid has a plurality of hollow tube membranes. The hollow tube membranes are formed of a plastic providing an inner support body and an outer selective layer which is denser than the inner support body. The inner support body is formed of spherulitic structures. A fuel supply system and a method ae also disclosed.

A porous composite membrane includes a porous support layer of a poly(phenylene ether) or poly(phenylene ether) copolymer; and an amphiphilic copolymer having a hydrophobic block and a hydrophilic block or graft, wherein the hydrophobic block includes a polystyrene block, a poly(phenylene ether) block, or a poly(phenylene ether) copolymer block; and an ultrathin, cross-linked, water permeable layer, which is the reaction product of an electrophilic monomer and a nucleophilic monomer, in contact with a side of the porous support layer. The reaction product can be a polyamide that is the interfacial condensation product of: an aromatic, polyfunctional acyl halide comprising of 3 to 6 acyl halide groups per aromatic ring and an aromatic polyamine comprising at least two primary amine groups and a maximum number of primary amine groups that is less than or equal to the number of acyl halide groups on the polyfunctional acyl halide.

The present invention provides a separation membrane element packed with a rugged sheet object, the separation membrane element being effective in attaining both stabilization of steps for producing the separation membrane element and an increase in fresh-water production rate. The present invention relates to a separation membrane element including: a separation membrane; and a permeate-side channel material disposed on a permeate side of the separation membrane, in which the permeate-side channel material is a porous sheet object having a recess and a protrusion on at least one face thereof, the recess being a coarsely porous region and the protrusion being a densely porous region.

The present invention provides a RO membrane or a FO membrane comprising a coating layer made of a phospholipid bilayer membrane and formed on a surface of a porous membrane body, having a high water permeate flow rate and salt rejection performance, the membrane being a permselective membrane comprising a porous membrane having a pore size of 5 nm to 50 nm and a coating layer made of a phospholipid bilayer and formed on a surface of the porous membrane, wherein (i) the phospholipid bilayer comprises phospholipid, amphotericin B, and ergosterol; (ii) a content of the amphotericin B is 3 to 20 mol % based on the phospholipid bilayer; (iii) a total content of the ergosterol and the amphotericin B in the phospholipid bilayer is 10 to 30 mol %.

A water purification system utilizes an ionomer membrane and mild vacuum to draw water from source water through the membrane. A water source may be salt water or a contaminated water source. The water drawn through the membrane passes across the condenser chamber to a condenser surface where it is condensed into purified water. The condenser surface may be metal or any other suitable surface and may be flat or pleated. In addition, the condenser surface may be maintained at a lower temperature than the water on the water source side of the membrane. The ionomer membrane may be configured in a cartridge, a pleated or flat plate configuration. A latent heat loop may be configured to carry the latent heat of vaporization from the condenser back to the water source side of the ionomer membrane. The source water may be heated by a solar water heater.

The invention relates to a process for recovering methane from digester biogas or landfill gas. More specifically, the invention pertains to a method for producing biomethane that removes impurities from a compressed digester biogas with staged membrane modules of at least two different types, to produce a biomethane having at least 94% CH.sub.4, below 3% of CO.sub.2, and below 4 ppm of H.sub.2S.

A method for manufacturing an ion exchange membrane is provided. The method for manufacturing an ion exchange membrane, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises the step of electrospinning a support fiber producing solution and an ion exchange fiber producing solution respectively to prepare a laminate in which a support fiber mat consisting of a support fiber and an ion exchange fiber mat consisting of an ion exchange fiber are alternatively laminated. According to the present invention, it is possible to simply control factors, such as the thickness, electroconductivity and mechanical strength of the membrane, and the diameter/ratio of a pore, etc. to be suitable for the use of ion exchange membrane during the manufacturing process, to simplify the manufacturing process. As such, the ion exchange membrane manufactured by the method can be utilized as a universal ion exchange membrane which has a large ion exchange capacity, a small electrical resistance, and a small diffusion coefficient as well as excellent mechanical strength and durability.