Separation of a C_(3)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4) mixture using Pebax^(■) 2533/PEG600 blend membranes

In industry, ethylene(C_(2)H_(4))/propylene(C_(3)H_(6)) separations are usually performed by a cryogenic process,which is energy intensive. Membrane separation technology is an alternative separation process that saves energy and is efficient. In this study, blend membranes were prepared by doping polyethylene glycol(PEG600) into a poly(ether-block-amide)(Pebax^(■) 2533) matrix and were used to separate the C_(2)H_(4)/C_(3)H_(6) mixture. The PEG 600 and Pebax^(■) 2533 polymers have good compatibility because they share hydrogen bonds. The addition of PEG600 is conducive to the hydrophilicity and the free volume of blend membranes, and it is also conducive to the solubility of C_(2)H_(4) and C_(3)H_(6) in the membranes, which improves the ability of the membranes to separate this gas pair. The Pebax^(■) 2533/PEG600 blend membrane with 15%(mass) PEG600 showed the highest separation performance in our investigated membranes, with a C_(3)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4) selectivity of 8.9 and a C_(3)H_(6) permeability of 196 barrer(1 barrer = 1.33×10^(14)m^(3)(STP)·m·m^(-2)·s^(-1)·kPa^(-1)) at 238 K and 0.2 MPa, which is higher than that of the Pebax^(■) 2533/NaY-6%(mass) membrane(α_(C_(3)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4)) =6.5, P_(C_(3)H_(6))=211 barrer) reported in our previous work. It is confirmed that incorporating PEG600 into the Pebax^(■) 2533 matrix to fabricate blend membranes is an efficient strategy for separating light olefins.

Ultrafine tuning of the pore size in zeolite A for efficient propyne removal from propylene

The removal of trace propyne(C_(3)H_(4))from propyne/propylene(C_(3)H_(4)/C_(3)H_(6))mixtures is a technical and challenging task during the production of polymer-grade propylene in view of their very similar size and physical properties.While some progress has been made,it is still very challenging to use some highly stable and commercially available porous materials via an energy-efficient adsorptive separation process.Herein,we report the ultrafine tuning of the pore apertures in type-A zeolites for the highly efficient removal of trace amounts of C_(3)H_(4)from C_(3)H_(4)/C_(3)H_(6)mixtures.The resulting ion-exchanged zeolite 5 A exhibits a large C_(3)H_(4)adsorption capacity(2.3 mmol g^(-1)under 10^(-4)MPa)and high C_(3)H_(4)/C_(3)H_(6)selectivity at room temperature,which were mainly attributed to the ultrafine-tuned pore size that selectively blocks C_(3)H_(6)molecules,while maintaining the stro ng adsorption of C_(3)H_(4)at low pressure region.High purity of C_(3)H_(6)(>99.9999%)can be directly obtained on this material under ambient conditions,as demonstrated by the experimental breakthrough curves obtained for both 1/99 and 0.1/99.9(V V)C_(3)H_(4)/C_(3)H_(6) mixtures.

Robust microporous metal-organic framework with high moisture tolerance for efficient separation of propylene from propane

Adsorptive separation of propylene(C_(3)H_(6))from propylene/propane(C_(3)H_(8))is desired to replace energy-intensive cryogenic distillation for its energy efficiency,economical viability,and environment friendship.In this work,we report a cupper-based robust microporous metal-organic framework,Cu-Hmpba,constructed by the hard soft acid-base principle using the bifunctional pyridylcarboxylate ligand featuring methyl group,for high-efficient separation of the propylene/propane mixture.Under the synergistic effect of the protective group and hard soft acid base principle,Cu-Hmpba possesses good solvents stability,especially water stability.Cu-Hmpba exhibits the adsorption capacity of C_(3)H_(6)with 2.10 mmol g^(-1)and good equimolar C_(3)H_(6)/C_(3)H_(8)selectivity with 2.24 at ambient conditions.The gas adsorption experiments,IAST selectivity calculations and theoretical calculations comprehensively support the selective adsorption toward C_(3)H_(6)among C_(3)H_(6)/C_(3)H_(8)mixture.Furthermore,it could maintain stable under moisture environment,suggesting its potential for the industrial separation of C_(3)H_(6)/C_(3)H_(8)mixture.The results of experiments and simulations demonstrate that the Cu-Hmpba would be a candidate adsorbent for the separation and purification of light hydrocarbons,and this work provides the insight of syn-thesizing stable MOF materials for separating high-value chemicals.