Membrane Solutions for a Safer, Cleaner, More Productive World
Membranes
Air Products Membrane Solutions develops and manufactures membrane separators for onsite gas generation. This group pioneered gas membrane separation for commercial use with early projects commissioned in 1977 and full-scale commercialization in 1979.
Membrane separators are employed in a variety of industries, including marine, aerospace, oil and gas, food and beverage, and many more. The one-of-a-kind membrane manufacturing plant is located in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Pioneering Membrane Technology Worldwide
Air Products Membrane Solutions was the first to commercialize hollow fiber membranes for nitrogen separation onboard ships and offshore installations. The first on-site nitrogen generation plant using hollow fiber membranes onboard a ship was installed in 1984, and the first on an offshore platform in 1985. To date, the team has delivered more than 1200 PRISM® membrane nitrogen systems for a wide variety of ship applications, and more than 220 PRISM membranes nitrogen systems for offshore installations.
Turning Biomass Into Hydrogen
Air Products PRISM® PB Membrane technology has made the biogas-to-hydrogen concept—creating clean burning hydrogen fuel from renewable sources rather than synthesizing with fossil fuels—a reality at the Shikaoi Hydrogen Farm® in Hokkaido, Japan.
The project, entrusted by the Ministry of the Environment in Japan, demonstrates an integrated hydrogen energy-based supply chain, leveraging local renewable energy sources for hydrogen generation, storage, transportation and use. As part of a consortium to develop the retail automotive hydrogen fueling infrastructure in Japan, Air Products supplied a series of PRISM PB Membrane separators to upgrade the biogas into a purified stream of methane that can be used for hydrogen synthesis and bio-fuel.
Improving Safety for Commercial and Military Flights
Aircraft operating in U.S. airspace have an on-board inert gas generating system (OBIGGS) that feeds inert gas into the ullage (or empty space) of the fuel tank to reduce the possibility of explosion. The OBIGGS system uses air from one of the engine compressors and feeds it through a hollow-fiber air separation unit, which filters out the oxygen molecules and produces a nitrogen-rich stream that replaces the fuel vapors in the on-board fuel tank. Air Products Membrane Solutions is a leading manufacturer of the Air Separation Membrane modules (ASMs) used in most OBIGGS systems employed today.
Based on decades of knowledge and experience in manufacturing hollow-fiber membrane separators, our engineers designed a hollow fiber structure required for the low pressure generated by jet turbines. The innovative ASMs developed by Air Products Membrane Solutions are lightweight and can withstand thousands of hours of vibration and extreme temperature swings. Today, our durable ASMs are keeping passengers and cargo safe in a majority of commercial and military aircraft operating in North America.
Helping Passengers Breathe Easier on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, a high-altitude passenger train, is considered one of modern China's greatest feats of engineering. Thanks to Air Products' PRISM® membrane technology, which produces oxygen-enriched breathing air in the passenger carriages, travelers can breathe easy while riding nearly 17,000 feet above sea level.
Keeping Produce Fresh with Controlled Atmospheres
In our global economy, produce can be grown in one part of the world and shipped to the other side of the planet. To keep food from spoiling before it reaches its destination, a controlled atmosphere must be generated during much of the journey to remove the harmful effects of carbon dioxide and oxygen.
Air Products has developed a technology to create controlled atmospheres for produce transportation and storage. The containerized systems use PRISM® membrane nitrogen generators to feed nitrogen into an airtight storage space, creating the oxygen reduced atmosphere needed to slow down the ripening process. The nitrogen for these systems is generated by our PRISM Membrane separators, which is one of the most effective and convenient methods of supplying nitrogen for this application.
Our PRISM Membrane technology gives shippers and distributors a time cushion for transporting delicate food products so consumers can enjoy fresh produce all year long!