Separation of Gases by Fractional Permeation through Membranes

Abstract

The permeability of a number of thin organic films toward oxygen and nitrogen has been measured. For an ethyl cellulose film the studies were extended to include CO₂, A, He, and H₂. The enrichment of a binary gas mixture in a single stage of permeation has been calculated for the extreme cases of perfect mixing and no mixing. Application of these results indicates that the use of a fractional permeation process may be of practical importance in effecting the separation of oxygen from air, helium from natural gas, and hydrogen from coke‐oven gas, as examples.