(341a) Addressing the Dual Challenge through Advanced Separations: From Materials to Process Scale-up

The dual challenge of supplying energy to a growing middle class while reducing emissions is shaping the future of energy globally. Large-scale hydrocarbon separation technologies account for roughly 45% of energy consumption in gas processing, refining and petrochemicals manufacturing. In response to these challenges, ExxonMobil has been developing advanced separation concepts focused on some of the highest impact streams such as olefin/paraffin and xylene isomer separations natural gas processing and carbon capture. Development of novel materials, fundamental and data driven process models and lab-bench-pilot scale evaluation are often simultaneously required to take these applications from a concept to technical demonstration. The talk discusses three diverse examples that have the potential to dramatically reduce the energy/carbon and physical footprint of critical operations not feasible via conventional processing.

Flexible pure silica zeolite such as ITQ-55 can kinetically separate ethylene/ethane with an unprecedented selectivity of ~100, owing to their distinctive pore topology with large heart-shaped cages and framework flexibility. Carbon Molecular Sieve (CMS) materials in a hollow fiber membrane format can be used in an organic solvent reverse osmosis (OSRO) process to separate xylene isomer molecules that differ in size by one-tenth of a nanometer at room temperature and without requiring a phase change. Finally pilot testing and scale-up approach for an adsorption-based natural gas dehydration and CO₂ removal technology is discussed that has the potential to reduce the overall gas treating physical footprint by ~50%.