(386c) Organic Solvent Reverse Osmosis Separations of Hydrocarbons Using “Polymer-Derived” Membranes

The rapid increase in global industrialization necessitates technology shifts in energy production, manufacturing, and carbon management techniques. Approximately 10-15% of global energy use can be attributed to separation processes, with the vast majority of separations being “thermal” in nature (e.g., distillation). Membranes are potentially disruptive technologies, but issues of perceived risk/reliability, scalability/cost, and performance must be addressed for membranes to move beyond water and gas separations and towards world-scale sectors such as hydrocarbon processing. The polymer processing platform for the creation of membrane devices is eminently scalable and has the potential to match the enormous volumes associated with chemical and petrochemical separations. “Polymer-derived” organic solvent reverse osmosis (OSRO) membranes with the capabilities of separating hydrocarbon compounds of similar size and shape have recently emerged and will be the focus of this talk. Exemplar “challenging” separations in the hydrocarbon processing space will be discussed, and potential membrane-enabled solutions will be provided. Finally, a comparative performance analysis between OSRO membranes based on pure polymers, organic-inorganic hybrids, and “polymer-derived” carbon membranes will be given.