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Porous membrane materials as structured packing for distillation

a membrane material and structure technology, applied in the direction of membranes, separation processes, organic chemistry, etc., can solve the problems of enormous capital and operating costs associated with distillation, extremely low temperatures and high pressures, and even larger energy consumption used in the distillation process worldwid

Inactive Publication Date: 2006-09-28
LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL SECURITY
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  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
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AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about a device and process for using a special membrane to separate light hydrocarbon mixtures using distillation. The membrane is made from a non-selective material that can filter out certain molecules. This invention allows for more efficient and effective separation of hydrocarbon mixtures.

Problems solved by technology

The energy consumption used in the distillation process is even larger worldwide.
These olefins are mostly separated by cryogenic distillation that demands extremely low temperatures and high pressures.
In addition, there is enormous capital and operating costs associated distillation.
However, the difficulty of long term stability associated with these facilitated transport membranes is a major obstacle.
Although the high efficient Sulzer Chemtech® structured packing materials (AG Corporation), such as 250 Y / X, have conquered the chemical industry globally in the past twenty years, it has not been used in the C3 and C4 splitters since they require high liquid loads where structured packings typically deteriorate in performance.

Method used

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  • Porous membrane materials as structured packing for distillation

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Embodiment Construction

[0033] The present invention includes the use of non-selective mesoporous and / or microporous fibers as structured packing for separation of light hydrocarbons like olefinic mixtures and olefin and paraffin mixtures. Mesoporous is defined as a material with pore size of less than 0.01 micrometer. Microporous is defined as a material with pore size in the micrometer range (a few hundred micrometers to 0.01 micrometer). Testing results prove that the hollow fiber made of non-selective mesoporous and / or microporous fibers can be used as structured packing, thus, allowing for an alternative technology for conventional distillation.

[0034] Non-selective mesoporous and / or microporous materials that may be used in this application include, but are not limited to: plastics (e.g. polypropylene, polysulfone, polyethylene, polyvinylididene, mixed ester, and polyestersulfone), ceramics, and metals. Preferred embodiments of these materials exhibit pore sizes that ranges from about 0.02 to a few h...

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Abstract

The present invention includes an apparatus and method for use of distillation packing material made from a non-selective meso / microporous membrane that separates light hydrocarbon mixtures.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional application No. 60 / 664,800 filed on Mar. 23, 2005, titled “Porous Membrane Materials as Structured Packing for Distillation”.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERAL RIGHTS [0002] This invention was made with government support under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-36 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0003] The present invention relates generally to fluid separation and distillation processes and, more particularly, to the use of non-selective meso-micro porous materials (pore sizes ranging from 0.01 to a few hundreds micrometer) as structure packing to separate liquid mixtures, including olefins and paraffin. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0004] The petroleum industry uses 6.9 quadrillion BTU's of energy per year, 40% of this energy is used for distillation nation wide. The energy consumption used in the distillation process is even larger world...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): B01D3/14C07C7/144
CPCB01D3/14B01D61/364B01D63/02C07C7/04B01D2313/083B01D2313/90B01D2313/60
Inventor YANG, DALIDEVLIN, DAVIDBARBERO, ROBERT S.CARRERA, MARTIN E.COLLING, CRAIG W.
Owner LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL SECURITY
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