Efficient Membrane Seperation
- Detailed Technology Description
- These membranes have been invented by the Inorganic Membranes Research group at KAUST led by Prof. Zhiping Lai. They represent a series of hybrid inorganicorganic membranes and pure inorganic membranes that are efficient in separating different hydrocarbon gas mixtures.
- *Abstract
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These membranes are made of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs), which are a novel type of crystalline microporous materials. ZIFs are structurally equivalent to zeolites and/or other crystalline materials, but with different building blocks. These types of materials typically have pore sizes of less than 2 nm. Their regular pore structure enables them to differentiate gas molecules based on their molecular size.
ZIFs in this technology are developed and functionalized to be effective and stable membranes for gas separations, either in powder form or in a continuous membrane form.
Preferably, the stream to be separated is fed to the present process in a substantially gaseous phase.
The process in this invention can separate C2- hydrocarbons (e.g. hydrogen, methane, ethane, and ethylene, etc.) from C3+ hydrocarbons (e.g. propane, propylene, butane, butylene, isobutene, etc.).
- Country/Region
- USA
