November 2018 | AIChE

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November 2018

Microwave Catalysis for Process Intensified Modular Production of Value-Added Chemicals from Natural Gas

The rise in US natural gas supplied, tied to challenges/costs associated with natural gas logistics, point to the value of converting natural gas to liquid products. Indirect routes are generally energy inefficient and capital intensive. In contrast, direct non-oxidative natural gas conversion eliminates the syngas production step and required oxygen generation. However, these technologies have not been commercialized because of technical challenges such as low selectivity, coking, heat management, catalyst deactivation and catalyst regeneration.
Natural Gas Upgrading
West Virginia University
University of Pittsburgh
Shell
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)
5

Energy Efficient Separations of Olefins and Paraffins through a membrane

Throughout the petrochemical and refining industry, the separation of olefins and paraffins is generally performed via distillation, a costly and capital intensive method, particularly for light olefins. This project uses a silver-incorporated custom amorphous fluoropolymer membrane to separate olefins and paraffins. Compared to previous attempts using facilitated transport membranes, this membrane has been shown to have very good longevity in laboratory settings and has been tested with reasonably-expected process poisons.
Chemical Commodity Processes
Compact Membrane Systems
American Chemical Society (ACS)
4

Modular Conversion of Stranded Ethane to Liquid Fuels

Ethane can represent up to 20 vol.% of shale-gas, exceeding the 10 vol. % allowed in “pipeline-quality” natural gas. Each year, over 210 million barrels (liquid equivalent) of ethane are rejected in the lower 48 states. Upgrading low- to negative-value ethane to easily transportable liquid fuels is a promising solution to this supply glut. The key to this process is development of modular systems that can operate economically at stranded sites. Conventional gas-to-liquids (GTL) technologies face significant challenges such as high capital cost and limited efficiency.
Chemical Commodity Processes
North Carolina State University
EcoCatalytic Technologies
4

November 2018 Meeting

Thursday, November 15, 2018, 5:30pm CST
Baton Rouge's own "Bad News Beers" brewing team represented our Section at the AIChE National Meeting in Pittsburgh last week. Section Chair Donna Bryant and her team will be at the meeting to introduce their award winning American IPA "Citra-Delic!" We will also hold elections for our 2019 Section...Read more

Advanced Nanocomposite Membrane for Natural Gas Purification

Processing natural gas is the largest industrial application of gas separation membranes. Membranes occupy 10% of the ~$5 billion worldwide annual market for new natural gas separation equipment, with amine absorption accounting for most of the rest. While widely used, amine systems suffer from corrosion, complex process design, and equipment often unsuitable for offshore gas processing platforms. Amine systems are also less efficient than membranes at high CO2 concentrations.
Natural Gas Upgrading
University of Texas at Austin
4

Efficient Chemicals Production via Chemical Looping

This project will develop chemical looping technology (CLT) into a general process intensification (PI) strategy for modular upgrading of natural gas to commodity chemicals. Nonoxidative upgrading of methane, ethane and propane to alkenes and aromatics is often limited by equilbrium. CLT is an effective PI strategy to circumvent such limitations by either reactive separation or selective oxidation of a subset of products from the reaction mixture to restore the thermodynamic driving force.
Natural Gas Upgrading
University of Delaware
Dow
3

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