2018 Spring Meeting and 14th Global Congress on Process Safety
(129d) Separation of Olefin-Paraffin Mixtures with OptipermTM Customized Amorphous Fluoropolymer Membranes
Authors
Compact Membrane Systems (CMS) has developed OptipermTM membrane, a customized amorphous fluoropolymer (CAF) containing silver ions that selectively transport olefin molecules from a mixture of olefin and paraffin. OptipermTM membrane has shown stable performance over 12 months with high propylene flux and propylene/propane selectivity in the laboratory. Similar results were also obtained with ethylene and ethane gas mixtures. A broad range of tests have been conducted to characterize the membrane resistance to common poisons (such as hydrogen, acetylene, carbon dioxide) in refinery gas streams.
These silver based OptipermTM membranes have been tested in the laboratory with actual refinery gas mixture from a distillation column. A pilot OptipermTM system has been installed recently at the Delaware City Refining Company (DCRC) site in Delaware City, DE. The testing of the pilot unit has been initiated to provide real-world evidence of membrane stability in realistic conditions validating our laboratory testing. Pilot unit test results as well as some of our economic modeling results showing very low payback times and positive IRRs for a variety of scenarios governing petrochemical processes will be discussed in this presentation.