Hydrogen cyanide recovery by membrane gas separation

Abstract

Hydrogen cyanide is an important feedstock in many chemical industries, synthesized from natural gas and ammonia. To recovery unreacted ammonia and purify the hydrogen cyanide from water and hydrogen, additional chemical separation processes are required. The conventional approach is to undertake these separations through solvent absorption; but gas separation membranes are a competitive alternative. This investigation examines the potential for membrane gas separation to replace solvent absorption in hydrogen cyanide processing. Importantly, the HCN permeability through a range of common polymeric membranes were measured and resulting HCN selectivity reported. Rubbery polymeric membranes’ p..