Separation of a C3H6/C2H4 mixture using Pebax® 2533/PEG600 blend membranes

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2022.03.008

Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering ›› 2023, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (2): 192-198.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2022.03.008

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Separation of a C₃H₆/C₂H₄ mixture using Pebax^® 2533/PEG600 blend membranes

Xi Zhang¹, Xiaodong Wang¹, Wei Huang^1,2

1. State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China;
2. Taiyuan Coal Conversion Technology Engineering Co., Ltd, Taiyuan 030024, China

Received:2021-11-08 Revised:2022-03-13 Online:2023-05-11 Published:2023-02-28
Contact: Xiaodong Wang,E-mail:wangxiaodong@tyut.edu.cn;Wei Huang,E-mail:huangwei@tyut.edu.cn
Supported by:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFB0606405), the Basic Research Program of Shanxi Province (20210302123197), the Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21336006), the Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Scholars of Ministry of Education (2017-047), and the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of High-efficiency Utilization of Coal and Green Chemical Engineering (2017-K15).

Separation of a C₃H₆/C₂H₄ mixture using Pebax^® 2533/PEG600 blend membranes

Xi Zhang¹, Xiaodong Wang¹, Wei Huang^1,2

1. State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China;
2. Taiyuan Coal Conversion Technology Engineering Co., Ltd, Taiyuan 030024, China

通讯作者: Xiaodong Wang,E-mail:wangxiaodong@tyut.edu.cn;Wei Huang,E-mail:huangwei@tyut.edu.cn
基金资助:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFB0606405), the Basic Research Program of Shanxi Province (20210302123197), the Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21336006), the Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Scholars of Ministry of Education (2017-047), and the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of High-efficiency Utilization of Coal and Green Chemical Engineering (2017-K15).

Abstract

Abstract: In industry, ethylene (C₂H₄)/propylene (C₃H₆) separations are usually performed by a cryogenic process, which is energy intensive. Membrane separation technology is an alternative separation process that saves energy and is efficient. In this study, blend membranes were prepared by doping polyethylene glycol (PEG600) into a poly(ether-block-amide) (Pebax^® 2533) matrix and were used to separate the C₂H₄/C₃H₆ mixture. The PEG 600 and Pebax^® 2533 polymers have good compatibility because they share hydrogen bonds. The addition of PEG600 is conducive to the hydrophilicity and the free volume of blend membranes, and it is also conducive to the solubility of C₂H₄ and C₃H₆ in the membranes, which improves the ability of the membranes to separate this gas pair. The Pebax^® 2533/PEG600 blend membrane with 15% (mass) PEG600 showed the highest separation performance in our investigated membranes, with a C₃H₆/C₂H₄ selectivity of 8.9 and a C₃H₆ permeability of 196 barrer (1 barrer = 1.33×10¹⁴ m³(STP)·m·m^-2·s^-1·kPa^-1) at 238 K and 0.2 MPa, which is higher than that of the Pebax^® 2533/NaY-6% (mass) membrane (α_{C₃H₆=C₂H₄} =6.5, =211 barrer) reported in our previous work. It is confirmed that incorporating PEG600 into the Pebax^® 2533 matrix to fabricate blend membranes is an efficient strategy for separating light olefins.

Key words: Ethylene/propylene separation, Blend membranes, Pebax^® 2533, PEG600

摘要： In industry, ethylene (C₂H₄)/propylene (C₃H₆) separations are usually performed by a cryogenic process, which is energy intensive. Membrane separation technology is an alternative separation process that saves energy and is efficient. In this study, blend membranes were prepared by doping polyethylene glycol (PEG600) into a poly(ether-block-amide) (Pebax^® 2533) matrix and were used to separate the C₂H₄/C₃H₆ mixture. The PEG 600 and Pebax^® 2533 polymers have good compatibility because they share hydrogen bonds. The addition of PEG600 is conducive to the hydrophilicity and the free volume of blend membranes, and it is also conducive to the solubility of C₂H₄ and C₃H₆ in the membranes, which improves the ability of the membranes to separate this gas pair. The Pebax^® 2533/PEG600 blend membrane with 15% (mass) PEG600 showed the highest separation performance in our investigated membranes, with a C₃H₆/C₂H₄ selectivity of 8.9 and a C₃H₆ permeability of 196 barrer (1 barrer = 1.33×10¹⁴ m³(STP)·m·m^-2·s^-1·kPa^-1) at 238 K and 0.2 MPa, which is higher than that of the Pebax^® 2533/NaY-6% (mass) membrane (α_{C₃H₆=C₂H₄} =6.5, =211 barrer) reported in our previous work. It is confirmed that incorporating PEG600 into the Pebax^® 2533 matrix to fabricate blend membranes is an efficient strategy for separating light olefins.

关键词: Ethylene/propylene separation, Blend membranes, Pebax^® 2533, PEG600

Xi Zhang, Xiaodong Wang, Wei Huang. Separation of a C₃H₆/C₂H₄ mixture using Pebax^® 2533/PEG600 blend membranes[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 54(2): 192-198.

Xi Zhang, Xiaodong Wang, Wei Huang. Separation of a C₃H₆/C₂H₄ mixture using Pebax^® 2533/PEG600 blend membranes[J]. 中国化学工程学报, 2023, 54(2): 192-198.

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Separation of a C₃H₆/C₂H₄ mixture using Pebax^® 2533/PEG600 blend membranes

Separation of a C₃H₆/C₂H₄ mixture using Pebax^® 2533/PEG600 blend membranes

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