FIMLab International Collaborations
FIMLab at the University of Queensland and the Forschungszentrum Jülich (Research Centre Jülich or FZJ), a member of the Helmholtz Research Centres, have embarked on a joint R and D collaborative effort. The project represents a strategic alliance between excellent research teams with complementary skills and expertise. The project aims to deliver nanostructured membranes on porous metal substrates for high temperature gas separation, and, in particular, addresses current limitations of the technology in this field. These include:
- Sealing technology for gas tight systems operating at high temperature.
- Stability of metal oxide layers for industrial applications.
- Scale up of membrane systems and testing at high temperatures
FZJ contribute to the project through their ceramic coating technology and porous metal substrates, while FIMLab supply our nano-structured Molecular Sieve Silica membrane technology.
One of the most recent membranes to be produced through this collaboration was tested for over 1100 hours in a flue gas stream of the Karlsruhe coal fired power plant (setup shown below). The flue gas stream consisted of CO2 and N2 and the membrane operated within expected parameters at all times. These results are extremely promising and demonstrate the strength of the research teams involved.
FIMLab supports our PhD students in visiting other universities and research centres. This helps to expand their knowledge, world view and offers them a chance to work with other world experts in the field outside their normal environment at UQ. This collaboration with FZJ has seen three PhD students spend time in the partner institute (2 have visited FIMLab from FZJ and 1 of our students spent time at FZJ) and we hope this will continue into the future.
