Natural gas is largely composed of methane (CH4) and smaller quantities of other useful hydrocarbons, But it also contents some impurity like hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2). These impurities cause the emission of sooty particulates CO2 and polluting oxides of nitrogen and sulfur. Now removing these troublesome impurities of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from natural gas could become simpler and more effective using a metal-organic framework (MOF) developed at KAUST.
A research team at KAUST had developed a fluorine-containing MOF with pores that allow equally selective adsorption of H2S and CO2 from the natural gas stream. By using this MOF crystal natural gas producing industry could make greater and cleaner use of abundant natural gas supplies.
The technology could also promote increased use of natural gas and other industrial gases containing H2S and CO2 worldwide to reap potentially large environmental and economic benefits. As once these natural gases are stripped of-of impurity, It will burn much more cleanly. It means that it emits no sooty particulates as well as less CO2 and polluting oxides of nitrogen and sulfur.
MOFs contain metal ions or metal clusters held together by carbon-based organic chemical groups known as linkers. Rearranging different linker and inorganic molecular building blocks fine-tunes the size and chemical properties of the pore system in MOFs and enables them to perform many useful functions.
The research was performed by a group in the KAUST Advanced Membranes & Porous Materials Center, led by Professor Mohamed Eddaoudi. This centre has a long history of developing MOF adsorbents for many applications, including catalysis, gas storage, gas sensing and gas separation.