Membranes for Reverse Organic-Air Separations

60395 Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from gasoline refueling facilities continue to be an energy, safety, and environmental issue. In such applications, it is desired to vent the air in the system and keep the VOC behind. This project will develop a reverse separation membrane (RSM) system that allows for rapid venting of air while retaining the gasoline in underground storage tanks (UST) at gasoline dispensing facilities, i.e. gas stations. The reverse separation membrane is ideally suited to keep VOC behind at atmospheric pressure, making retention of VOCs easier. Phase I field testing demonstrated membrane feasibility by lowering the HC emission level to less than 1% on the permeate side of the membrane. Phase II will build and test a single-stage RSM system that can dramatically reduce the VOC emissions from USTs and thereby dramatically reduce the loss of gasoline. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: In addition to the 182,000 gasoline-dispensing facilities (GDFs) with a savings of 180 million gallons of gasoline per year, several other potential VOC applications should value this technology, including chemical and pharmaceutical processes, tobacco reforming processes, fuel oil tank farm storage, and paint shop venting.