Patent ID: 7658788

Claim:
An ion transport membrane system comprising (a) a pressure vessel having an interior, an inlet adapted to introduce gas into the interior of the vessel, an outlet adapted to withdraw gas from the interior of the vessel, and an axis; (b) a plurality of planar ion transport membrane modules disposed in the interior of the pressure vessel and arranged in series, each membrane module comprising mixed metal oxide ceramic material and having an interior region and an exterior region; (c) one or more gas flow control partitions disposed in the interior of the pressure vessel and adapted to change a direction of gas flow within the vessel; and (d) a flow containment duct disposed in the interior of the pressure vessel, wherein the flow containment duct has an interior region, surrounds the plurality of planar ion transport membrane modules, and is in flow communication with the inlet and outlet of the pressure vessel, and wherein the one or more gas flow control partitions are disposed in the interior region of the flow containment duct.