HIGH-PERFORMANCE MEMBRANES FOR GAS, VAPOR, AND LIQUID SEPARATIONS

SEPARATION PROCESSES TO RECOVER AND PURIFY PRODUCTS ACCOUNT FOR MORE THAN 40% OF THE ENERGY DEMAND IN THE CHEMICAL PROCESS INDUSTRY (CPI), BUT MEMBRANE PROCESSES HAVE GAINED ONLY A SMALL SHARE OF THIS MAJOR MARKET. CONVENTIONAL MEMBRANES HAVE HAD LIMITATIONS THAT HAVE PRECLUDE THEIR WIDESPREAD ACCEPTANCE IN THE CPI AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL SETTINGS. SPECIFICALLY, MEMBRANES EITHER COULD NOT WITHSTAND EXPOSURE TO HARSH SOLVENTS AND HIGH TEMPERATURES INVOLVED IN INDUSTRIAL SEPARATIONS OR LACKED THE HIGH PERMEABILITY AND HIGH SELECTIVITY TO BE COMMERCIALLY PRACTICALLY. THE GOAL IN THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A NEW CLASS OF POLYMERS THAT ADDRESSES THESE LIMITATIONS. THE PLAN IS TO APPLY THESE HIGH-SELECTIVITY, HIGH-PERMEABILITY POLYMERS TO UNIQUE SOLVENT- AND TEMPERATURE-RESISTANT HOLLOW-FIBER SUPORTS TO FORM THIN-FILM-COMPOSITE MEMBRANES SUITABLE FOR USE IN THE CPI. THESE MEMBRANES WILL BE SUITABLE FOR APPLICATIONS INVOLVING THE SEPARATION OF AROMATICS FROM ALIPHATICS (E.G., BENZENE FROM GASOLINE) AND OLEFINS FROM PARAFFINS (E.G., PROPYLENE FROM PROPANE). PHASE I, SHOULD DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING MEMBRANES BASED ON THIS NEW CLASS OF POLYMERS FOR AROMATIC/ALIPHATIC AND/OR OLEFIN/PARAFFIN SEPARATIONS. A SERIES OF MEMBRANES WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO SMALL-SCALE (200-CM(2)) SOLVENT- AND TEMPERATURE-RESISTANT HOLLOW-FIBER MODULES, AND TESTED EXTENSIVELY. PHASE II WILL OPTIMIZE THE POLYMERS FOR SEPARATION TARGETS, MAKE LARGER (1M(2)) MODULES, AND PERFORM PILOT-SCALE TESTS. THE TESTS WILL GENERATE THE DATA NECESSARY TO SET SPECIFIC TECHNICAL AND MARKETING TARGETS FOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE TECHNOLOGY IN PHASE III.