Membrane module for pilot scale oxygen production

An oxygen transport membrane module capable of total 596 Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-delta (BSCF) membranes was constructed and tested under various capacities. The module is designed to operate with up to 20 bar feed pressure and a vacuum on the permeate side. The separation performance was tested with of up to 96 membranes tubes. A maximum oxygen purity of 98.9% was obtained and a maximum oxygen flux of 2.8 ml cm(-2) min(-1) was measured under a feed pressure of 10 bar. The maximum permeate oxygen flow rate achieved was 22 l min(-1). The performance is lower than expected, for which an inhomogeneous module temperature and suboptimal flow distribution can be accounted for, as CFD simulations show. A lot of membrane breakages occurred during operation. Some reasons for that could be identified and the module could be optimized throughout the 2 years of testing. Within that time, three long term tests were performed and a maximum continuous operational time of 1800 h was achieved.