Patent ID: 8661830

Claim:
A method for separating a gas, comprising: introducing a feed stream comprising a first gas into a shell of a hybrid multichannel porous structure, the feed stream in direct contact with one or more structures disposed within the shell; permeating the first gas of the feed stream through the one or more structures and into a plurality of channels of the one or more structures; and introducing a sweep stream comprising a second gas into the plurality of channels of the one or more structures, whereby a combination of the first gas and the second gas exits the plurality of channels of the one or more structures as a permeate, and wherein a remainder of the first gas of the feed stream exits the shell as a retentate, and wherein each channel is coated with a membrane layer comprising a first, macro-porous layer disposed on a surface of each channel, a second, meso-porous intermediate layer disposed on the first, macro-porous layer, and a third, micro-porous layer disposed on the second, meso-porous intermediate layer, and wherein the membrane layer selectively separates a gas contained in the first composition of the feed stream, and wherein the separated gas permeates through the body of each structure and combines with the second composition of the sweep stream traveling through each channel of the body.