SBIR Phase I: Low Sulfur Gasoline by a Novel Membrane Pervaporation Process

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目致力于开发一种独特的、可扩展的膜渗透蒸发工艺，该工艺可用于广泛的分离，对国家和经济都具有重要意义。这项研究将证明一种新型渗透蒸发系统的技术可行性，该系统通过将一种特殊的工作流体通过文丘里喷嘴产生真空。更具体地说，它将表明，含有高达2000ppm硫的中间石脑油流可以选择性地分离成(1)富含芳香的渗透馏分，它包含几乎所有的含硫分子；(2)几乎不含硫的富含饱和的保留馏分，它包含几乎所有的烯烃。一个小规模的实验室系统将用于生成模型饲料的渗透率和质量数据，该模型饲料使用的膜先前已被证明具有高芳香/脂肪族选择性。一个特别有趣的应用是减少汽油中的硫。美国国家石油委员会（National Petroleum Council）估计，以1998年的美元价格计算，要达到汽油中硫含量达到30ppm的二级标准，美国炼油企业将花费80亿美元，这主要是因为现有商用加氢装置的局限性。如果试验成功，该技术可以与世界各地现有的加氢处理装置串联使用，使炼油厂能够更经济有效地满足汽油的低硫要求。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the development of a unique, scalable membrane pervaporation process that can be used in a wide array of separations that are of national and economic importance. This research will demonstrate the technical viability of a novel pervaporation system, which generates its vacuum by passing a special working fluid through a Venturi nozzle. More specifically it will show that an intermediate cat naphtha stream having up to 2000 ppm sulfur can be selectively separated into (1) an aromatic-rich permeate fraction that contains almost all of the sulfur-bearing molecules and (2) a virtually sulfur-free saturate-rich retentate fraction that contains almost all of the olefins. A small scale laboratory system will be used to generate permeation rate and quality data on model feeds using membranes that have previously been shown to have high aromatic/aliphatic selectivities. One application of particular interest is the reduction of sulfur in gasoline. The National Petroleum Council has estimated that it will cost U.S. refiners $8 billion in 1998 dollars to meet the 30 ppm Tier 2 requirement for sulfur in gasoline, primarily because of the limitations of existing commercial hydrotreaters. If successfully demonstrated, this technology could be used in tandem with existing hydrotreaters worldwide to allow refiners to more cost effectively meet lowered sulfur specifications for gasoline.