Depletion of Liquefied Petroleum Gas from Natural Gas by Zeolite Membranes

Abstract

Depletion of Liquefied Petroleum Gas from Natural Gas by Zeolite MembranesThe depletion of higher alkanes from methane is a key aspect during the conditioning of natural gases or accompanying gases. Membrane technologies could be used as alternative to energy and cost intensive purifications. Against this background the influence of membrane geometry, composition of the gas mixture as well as temperature and pressure was investigated in separation experiments for methane/n-butane mixtures using MFI membranes.

Desorption-controlled separation of natural gas alkanes by zeolite membranes

“…24,25 Recently, we showed that by increasing the feed pressure, a higher n-butane adsorption/condensation probability at the membrane surface could be achieved, hindering methane to permeate and thus improving the separation selectivity. [25][26][27] While the impact of diffusion and adsorption on zeolite membranes became clear, it was still not effective enough to reach polymer membrane performances.…”

Operational Criteria for the Separation of Alkanes by Zeolite Membranes

“…With respect to the separation of alkane mixtures by zeolite membranes, it was recently demonstrated that condensation of n ‐butane on the MFI membrane surface and/or further condensation of n ‐butane in the permeate could be forced by operating below the dew point level by adjusting the temperature, pressure, or feed composition. As a result, tremendously enhanced separation performance for methane/ n ‐butane mixtures was detected , . Furthermore, the impact of adsorption and diffusion as well as the significance of desorption of permeating species according to the underlying five step transport model for sorption‐driven zeolite membrane separation proposed by Bakker et al was evidenced.…”