Royal Society of Chemistry, RSC Advances, 6(7), p. 3265-3272
DOI: 10.1039/c6ra24699k
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Ethylene is typically produced by steam cracking of various hydrocarbon feedstocks. The gaseous products are then separated in a demethanizer followed by a deethanizer unit and finally sent to a C splitter for the final purification step. Cryogenic distillation of ethylene from ethane is the most energy-intensive unit operation process in the chemical industry. Therefore, the development of more energy-efficient processes for ethylene purification is highly desirable. Membrane-based separation has been proposed as an alternative option for replacement or debottlenecking of C splitters but current polymer membrane materials exhibit insufficient mixed-gas CH/CH selectivity (