(85c) A Demonstration of Membranes for the Separation of Light Olefins and Paraffins

The separation of light olefins and paraffins is one of the most energy-intensive separations in petrochemical and oil and gas operations. The current state of the art technology is distillation, a decades-old capital and energy-intensive process. Compact Membrane Systems (CMS) has developed a membrane to preferentially permeate light olefins over light paraffins to allow for efficient and modular separation of these compounds. This membrane is a facilitated transport membrane where silver has been incorporated into a fluoropolymer combining the selective interaction of the silver with the olefin and the chemical resistance of the fluoropolymer for membrane longevity.

Previous testing in collaboration with Dow Chemical in their laboratory facility has demonstrated successful separation of light olefins and paraffins. This talk will discuss the latest updates on the field installation of this technology at the Freeport, Texas Dow Chemical facility. This installation will upgrade a feed stream of ~60% propylene to 90% or greater propylene. In addition to updates on the field installation, we will discuss the efforts to scale up membrane production to greater than 20ft2. These larger modules are being tested on a recycle rig at CMS and results from that testing will be shown. Thus far, 8 days of continuous run at operating conditions of ~160 psig and 45C have been demonstrated.