Trace Water Removal from Nitrous Oxide in a Membrane Cascade

Abstract

A method is proposed for the removal of water vapor from commercial grade nitrous oxide during its high purification using membrane gas-separation technologies. A single membrane module, a two-stage recirculation unit with the recycling of permeate stream, and two-stage cascades with membranes of different selectivity and experimentally determined the permeability of Lestosil, PVTMS, and CTA test membranes to nitrous oxide have been considered. The optimum values of the main operating parameters of the drying system have been determined, and the energy efficiency of membrane gas separation and low-temperature filtration processes have been evaluated with taking into account the operating costs and purified gas losses.