SBIR Phase I: Novel Zeolite Membranes for Olefin/Paraffin Separation

该小型企业创新研究I期项目提出开发用于烯烃/石蜡分离的高渗透性无机膜。沸石膜具有许多优于聚合物膜和其它无机膜的优点，包括更大的化学和机械稳定性、更高的选择性和渗透性以及更长的操作寿命。该项目旨在开发、展示和商业化一种稳健、经济、高渗透性和选择性、优异的水热和化学稳定的烯烃/石蜡膜分离技术。新型改性沸石膜的分子筛筛选和促进传递特性将更有效地用于分离来自蒸汽裂化器下游的烯烃/烷烃混合物。该技术是一种有吸引力的替代目前的高能耗的低温蒸馏过程。该项目的广泛影响/商业潜力将通过在石化工业中实现烯烃/烷烃分离的能源支出的大幅节省来实现，与当前的能源密集型分离工艺相比，具有显著的资本成本节省。在美国，乙烯的年产量分别超过2500万吨，丙烯超过1600万吨，乙烯和丙烯是最常生产的轻质烯烃。据估计，在美国，目前用于分离乙烯/乙烷和丙烯/丙烷混合物的蒸馏工艺每年消耗超过120万亿Btu的能量。即使这些分离的微小改进也可以显著节省能源和成本。另一方面，世界范围内对环境保护和能源安全的日益关注已经要求以有效和经济的方式生产商品化学品如乙烯和丙烯。膜分离技术被认为是实现这一目标必须发展的关键技术。因此，对于开发成本有效的烯烃/链烷烃分离技术作为当前实践的显著更节能的替代方案，存在强烈的商业市场需求。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes to develop a highly permeable inorganic membrane for olefin/paraffin separation. Zeolite membranes have a number of advantages over polymer membranes and other inorganic membranes, including greater chemical and mechanical stability, higher selectivity and permeance, and longer operation life. The project aims to develop, demonstrate and commercialize a robust, cost-effective, high permeability and selectivity, excellent hydrothermal and chemical stable olefin/paraffin membrane separation technology. The molecular sieving and facilitated transport properties of the novel modified zeolite membrane will be used more efficiently to separate olefin/paraffin mixtures from the down-streams of steam cracker. This technology is an attractive alternative to replace current high energy intensive cryo-distillation process. The broad impact/commercial potential of this project will be realized by enabling a substantial saving in energy expenditure in olefin/paraffin separations in the petrochemical industry with significant capital cost savings compared to current energy intensive separation processes. With yearly production in the US exceeding 25 million tons for ethylene and 16 million tons for propylene, respectively, ethylene and propylene are the most commonly produced light olefins. It is estimated that over 120 trillion Btu of energy per year is consumed by the current distillation processes for the separation of ethylene/ethane and propylene/propane mixtures in the United States. Even small improvements in these separations could results in significant energy and cost savings. On the other hand, increasing worldwide concerns about the environment protection, and energy security has been demanding the production of commodity chemicals such as ethylene and propylene in an efficient and economical way. Membrane separation technology has been considered as the critical technology that must be developed in order to realize this goal. Therefore, there is strong commercial market pull for developing a cost-effective olefin/paraffin separation technology as a significantly more energy efficient alternative to current practice.