Saha Dipendu, Kim Min-Bum, Robinson Alexander J, Babarao Ravichandar, Thallapally Praveen K
Chemical Engineering Department, Widener University, 1 University Place, Chester, PA 19013, USA.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
iScience. 2021 Aug 28;24(9):103042. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103042. eCollection 2021 Sep 24.
Light olefins are the precursors of all modern-day plastics. Olefin is always mixed with paraffins in the time of production, and therefore it needs to be separated from paraffins to produce polymer-grade olefin. The state-of-the-art separation technique, cryogenic distillation, is highly expensive and hazardous. Adsorption could be a novel, sustainable, and inexpensive separation strategy, provided a suitable adsorbent can be designed. There are different types of mechanisms that were harnessed for the separation of olefins by adsorption, and in this review, we have focused our discussion on those mechanisms. These mechanisms include, (a) Affinity-based separation, like pi complexation and hydrogen bonding, (b) Separation based on pore size and shape, like size-exclusion and gate-opening effect, and (c) Non-equilibrium separation, like kinetic separation. In this review, we have elaborated each of the separation strategies from the fundamental level and explained their roles in the separation processes of different types of paraffins and olefins.
轻质烯烃是所有现代塑料的前体。在生产过程中，烯烃总是与石蜡混合在一起，因此需要将其与石蜡分离以生产聚合物级烯烃。目前最先进的分离技术——低温蒸馏，成本高昂且具有危险性。如果能够设计出合适的吸附剂，吸附法可能成为一种新颖、可持续且廉价的分离策略。利用吸附法分离烯烃有不同类型的机制，在本综述中，我们将讨论重点集中在这些机制上。这些机制包括：(a)基于亲和力的分离，如π络合和氢键作用；(b)基于孔径和形状的分离，如尺寸排阻和开门效应；(c)非平衡分离，如动力学分离。在本综述中，我们从基础层面详细阐述了每种分离策略，并解释了它们在不同类型石蜡和烯烃分离过程中的作用。
