For over a century, the Haber–Bosch process has remained the primary method for ammonia
production; however, its efficiency is constrained by extreme operating conditions (350–500 °C,
100–250 bar) and limited single-pass conversion of around 20%. Consequently, separation of
ammonia from unreacted hydrogen and nitrogen is typically achieved through energy-intensive
condensation, involving multiple cooling and refrigeration steps to liquefy and remove ammonia,
further adding to the process energy burden. These drawbacks have motivated increasing interest
in alternative, energy-efficient strategies for ammonia separation. Among these, membrane-based
separation has shown strong potential to lower energy consumption while maintaining high-purity
ammonia. Notably, immobilized ZnCl2 molten salt membranes (IMS) have exhibited exceptional
performance, outperforming other ammonia-selective membranes in terms of the permeability–
selectivity trade-off. Herein, we employ eutectic mixing of ZnCl2 with lithium chloride (LiCl) to
develop a highly stable IMS membrane for efficient ammonia separation at high temperatures. The
binary eutectic salt (ZnCl2-LiCl) was analyzed for thermal stability and ammonia uptake using
thermo-gravimetric technique. Eutectic IMS membranes exhibited NH3 permeance up to 367 GPU
in pure gas tests and NH3/N2 selectivity exceeding 107
under operating conditions of 300 °C and
1 bar. The employment of eutectic mixing of salts resulted in enhanced ammonia separation
performance and improved membrane stability.
Wednesday, 09/24/2025 at 04:30
CAMP 176
Zoom: https://clarkson.zoom.us/j/97688690186
Abdulkadir is a second-year PhD student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular
Engineering at Clarkson University, working with Dr. Simona Liguori. His research is focused on
the synthesis and application of eutectic molten salt membranes for energy-efficient ammonia
separation at high temperatures. He earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello
University, Nigeria, and MS in Energy System Engineering from Cyprus International University,
Cyprus.