Science at UM [S01-ep24]: From gas purification to the cold laboratory
This week on A l’UM la science, Guillaume Maurin, a researcher atthe Charles Gerhardt Institute in Montpellier, is our guest. Together with his team, he has just developed a new membrane that improves the economic and ecological cost of gas purification. In the second part of the program, Bernard Mongellaz takes us on a tour of the cold laboratory at the University of Montpellier.
In France, natural gas consumption accounts for 19.2% of final energy consumption. Of all fossil fuels, natural gas can be considered one of the least polluting, as it emits 25% less CO2 than oil and half as much as coal. It also does not emit dust, smoke, heavy metals, or waste.
So, while natural gas is certainly not what you would call a green energy source, especially when it comes to shale gas, in the current energy and geopolitical context, it is highly likely that its share in the French energy mix will increase in the coming years.
Especially since, alongside natural gas, there is another promising source with significantly greater ecological potential: biogas. It currently accounts for only 1% of consumption in France, but better waste management through effective sorting policies could make this sector a truly ecological alternative.
One problem remains to be solved: biogases, like natural gas, cannot be used in their raw state and require purification. This industrial process is costly in terms of energy consumption and therefore economically and ecologically.
Guillaume Maurin is a researcher at the Charles Gerhardt Institute in Montpellier. As part of a collaboration with Chinese and Saudi teams, he has just developed a new membrane that could transform these natural gas and biogas purification processes and reduce their energy costs. Their findings have just been published in the journal Science, with more to come in Nature.
Read:
- MOF/polymer hybrid membranes for natural gas purification –CNRS press release
- Rational design of mixed-matrix metal-organic framework membranes for molecular separations in Science
In the second part of the program, we stay with gas as we take you to the cold laboratory where Bertrand Mongellaz tells you everything about the liquefaction of a gas that is essential to the practice of science: helium. His secret base is called the cold laboratory.
At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!
Production: Universityof Montpellier/Divergence FM
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: AlinePériault/Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Director: AdelineFloch’
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