A composite ion conducting tube is made by wrapping a support material or ion conducting sheet to from a tube having overlaps of layers that are bonded. The ion conducting sheet or tape used to make the tube may be very thin and the tube may be formed in situ by wrapping the support material and then coating with ion conducting polymer. The ion conducting tubes may be used in a pervaporation module or desalination system. The ion conducting tubes may be spirally wrapped or longitudinally wrapped and may be very thin having a tube wall thickness of no more than 25 microns.

According to one embodiment, a gas recovering apparatus includes a casing and a tube. The casing is provided with an inlet through which a gas flows in, a first outlet for discharging a first gas containing a gas to be recovered of the gas, and a second outlet for discharging a second gas other than the first gas of the gas. The casing is evacuated via the first outlet. The tube is provided in the casing from the inlet to the second outlet, and has a high permeability to the first gas and a low permeability to the second gas.

Systems and methods are provided that obtain the same or better level of performance by using lower operating flow rates, pressures and/or optimized flow distributions within the system. This extends the life of system components and lower energy consumption. In one embodiment, gas separation (or sieve) beds that are used to separate gaseous components are provided that have lower flow and pressure requirements compared to conventional beds. The sieve beds include, for example, a diffuser having low solid area in cross-section and maximum open area for flow while providing adequate mechanical properties to contain sieve material and support filter media. In another embodiment, systems and methods are provided having an indicator when a component has been serviced or repaired. This provides an indication whether the component has been tampered with in any manner. This allows the manufacturer to determine if the component was serviced, repaired, or tampered with outside the manufacturer's domain.

Systems and methods are provided that obtain the same or better level of performance by using lower operating flow rates, pressures and/or optimized flow distributions within the system. This extends the life of system components and lower energy consumption. In one embodiment, gas separation (or sieve) beds that are used to separate gaseous components are provided that have lower flow and pressure requirements compared to conventional beds. The sieve beds include, for example, a diffuser having low solid area in cross-section and maximum open area for flow while providing adequate mechanical properties to contain sieve material and support filter media. In another embodiment, systems and methods are provided having an indicator when a component has been serviced or repaired. This provides an indication whether the component has been tampered with in any manner. This allows the manufacturer to determine if the component was serviced, repaired, or tampered with outside the manufacturer's domain.

A hybrid cooler/dryer that conditions a sample gas includes a heat exchanger, a condensate-removal device, and a membrane dryer. In some embodiments, the hybrid cooler/dryer also includes passive cooling, as embodied by an air amplifier and heat sink, or a length of tubing that exposes the sample gas to ambient temperature. The hybrid cooler/dryer requires no electrical power.

A multi-stage system comprising a digester, a bioreactor, a scrubber, a biofilter, and a membrane filter extracts and purifies biogas from a wastewater feed. The digester separates raw biogas from wastewater, the wastewater is then purified with a three-stage bacterial process in a bioreactor. The scrubber receives raw biogas from the digester under pressure, dissolving waste gases and purifying the methane, which can be further condensed and purified in the membrane filter. The bioreactor receives waste gases from the scrubber and membrane filter, with the ammonia portion of the waste gases rising through water from the bioreactor and being converted by annamox bacteria into nitrogen gas. The multiply recycled gas and water feeds produce a biogas having high purity and reduced atmospheric emissions of waste gases.

A porous cylindrical support for use in supporting a zeolite membrane has a generally cylindrical inside surface having a central axis extending in the longitudinal direction and a generally cylindrical outside surface that surrounds the inside surface. A zeolite membrane is formed on the outside surface. A maximum value A and a minimum value B of a support thickness in a circumferential direction satisfy (A−B)/(A+B)≤0.3 in at least part of the support in the longitudinal direction, the support thickness being a radial distance between the inside surface and the outside surface. By reducing a variation in support thickness, it is possible to improve uniformity in the thickness of the zeolite membrane formed on the support.

An air separation module includes a canister, a separator, and a perforated plate. The canister has a plenum portion connecting an inlet portion to an outlet portion, extends circumferentially about a canister axis, and has a plenum diameter that is larger than a canister diameter defined by the inlet and outlet portion of the canister. The separator is arranged within the canister and axially spans the plenum portion to separate air received at the inlet end portion into nitrogen-enriched and oxygen-enriched air flows. The perforated plate is seated within the plenum portion, fluidly couples the separator to an oxygen-enriched air outlet port defined by the plenum portion, and has a snap-fit major dimension smaller than the plenum diameter to radially support a portion of the separator axially spanning the plenum portion of the canister. Nitrogen generation systems and methods of making air separation modules are also described.

A fluid separation apparatus comprising a fluid separation membrane is provided. The fluid separation apparatus comprises a fluid separation membrane extending in one direction and having a cross-section with a closed curve shape, wherein the fluid separation membrane has a thickness of 0.1 mm to 2 mm, and an outer diameter of 60 mm to 360 mm when the cross-section is adjusted to be circular.

A method of separately producing tert-butanol and sec-butanol, comprising the steps of introducing a mixed butenes stream to a tube side of a reaction membrane unit, introducing a TBA reactor water feed to the tube side of the reaction membrane unit, introducing a sweep gas to a shell side of the reaction membrane unit, introducing an SBA reactor water feed to the shell side, allowing the mixed butenes stream to contact the tube side of a such that selective gases in the mixed butenes stream permeate through the membrane to the shell side, allowing the selective gases that permeate through the membrane to react with water to produce sec-butanol, allowing retentate gases that fail to permeate through the membrane to react with water to produce tert-butanol, collecting the tert-butanol in a TBA reactor effluent, and collecting the sec-butanol in a SBA reactor effluent.