SBIR Phase I: Plasticization-Resistant Hybrid Membranes for Olefin-Paraffin Separations

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将专注于使用有机-无机杂化膜分离烯烃/石蜡蒸汽混合物。这些膜由薄的选择性层组成，所述选择性层包含分散在聚合物基质中的纳米级无机颗粒的互连网络。无机网络增加膜耐久性并抑制聚合物选择性层的溶胀。这允许膜在具有挑战性的工业条件下保持高烯烃/链烷烃选择性。通过无机相与基质聚合物的适当组合，将有可能开发出能够有效分离多种蒸气/蒸气混合物的膜。该项目更广泛的影响（商业潜力）将是开发一种新型的蒸汽/蒸汽选择性膜。如果这项技术开发成功，膜可以被定制来执行各种重要的商业分离。基于这种膜的系统将对石化和炼油工业的主力分离技术蒸馏产生严重的竞争。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will focus on the separation of olefin/paraffin vapor mixtures using organic-inorganic hybrid membranes. These membranes consist of thin selective layers that contain an interconnected network of nano-sized inorganic particles dispersed in a polymer matrix. The inorganic network increases membrane durability and inhibits swelling of the polymer selective layer. This allows the membranes to retain high olefin/paraffin selectivities at challenging industrial conditions. By the appropriate combination of the inorganic phase with the matrix polymer, it will be possible to develop membranes capable of efficiently separating a wide variety of vapor/vapor mixtures. The broader impacts (commercial potential) of this project will be the development of a new type of vapor/vapor selective membrane. If the technology is successfully developed, membranes could be tailored to perform a variety of important commercial separations. Systems based on such membranes would provide serious competition to distillation, the workhorse separation technology of the petrochemical and refining industries.