MEMBRANES FOR SEPARATION OF HIGHER HYDROCARBONS FROM METHANE

In the search for a membrane material capable of separating higher hyd rocarbons from methane about 40 different polymers were tested. The mo st promising two, polyoctylmethylsiloxane (POMS) and polytrimethylsily lpropyne (PTMSP), are compared in this article to the standard materia l polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The transport properties were investiga ted dependent on the process parameters temperature, feed pressure and feed composition under mixed gas conditions. It was possible to impro ve the separation performance by means of the selectivity from 5 to > 12 at acceptable fluxes.