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posted by janrinok on Saturday August 20 2016, @01:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the new-headware-for-very-small-FSM-followers dept.

A research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology and ExxonMobil has demonstrated a new carbon-based molecular sieve membrane that could dramatically reduce the energy required to separate a class of hydrocarbon molecules known as alkyl aromatics.

The new material is based on polymer hollow fibers treated to retain their structure -- and pore sizes -- as they are converted to carbon through pyrolysis. The carbon membranes are then used in a new "organic solvent reverse osmosis" (OSRO) process in which pressure is applied to effect the separation without requiring a phase change in the chemical mixture.

The hollow carbon fibers, bundled together into modules, can separate molecules whose sizes differ by a fraction of a nanometer while providing processing rates superior to those of existing molecular sieve zeolites. Because it uses a commercial polymer precursor, the researchers believe the new membrane has potential for commercialization and integration into industrial chemical separation processes. The research will be reported in the August 19 issue of the journal Science.

Separation is currently achieved through refining processes such as crystallization and adsorption with distillation, which are energy-intensive. Globally, the amount of energy used in conventional separation processes for alkyl aromatics is equal to that produced by about 20 average-sized power plants.

"We see this as a potentially disruptive technology in the way we separate xylenes and similar organic compounds," said Benjamin McCool, one of the paper's co-authors and an advanced research associate at ExxonMobil Corporate Strategic Research in Annandale, N.J. "If we can make this work on an industrial scale, it could dramatically reduce the energy required by these separation processes."

Fabrication of the new membrane material begins with hollow polymer fibers approximately 200 microns [0.2 mm] in diameter, slightly thicker than the average human hair. The fibers have pore sizes of less than one nanometer, and are treated via cross-linking before they are converted to carbon through a pyrolysis process. The pore sizes of the fibers can be adjusted during the fabrication process.

[...] Though the membrane has demonstrated promising results, it still faces a number of challenges. The membranes will have to be tested with more difficult separations before they can be considered for commercialization and scale-up. Industrial mixtures normally contain multiple different organic compounds, and they may include materials that can foul membrane systems. The researchers will also have to learn to make the material consistently and demonstrate that it can withstand long-term industrial use.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 20 2016, @08:21PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 20 2016, @08:21PM (#390694)

    I'd criticize ending your sentence with a preposition--if I could think of a non-clumsy way to phrase that.

    ...and I disagree completely anyway.
    We have 7 decades of high-level nuclear waste from hundreds of nuclear plants and haven't figured out something permanent[1] to do with that.

    ...plus all the irradiated mechanisms/structures.
    There is not a nuke plant yet that has been successfully "decommissioned".
    Kicking the can down the road is NOT a solution.

    ...and when things go pear-shaped, you get Chernobyl, which will need ANOTHER multi-billion dollar sarcophagus as the hurriedly-built one is decaying.

    [1] The Frenchies' vitrification thing is the best temporary notion and, again, it's still NOT a long-term solution when you consider the half-life of some of the stuff in "spent" nuke fuel.
    ...and just walking away from nuclear stuff [wikipedia.org] is NOT any kind of solution for stuff that stays dangerous for eons.

    Nuke plants|the Nukes for Peace notion are bad ideas that were oversold to the public to distract from the total devastation of Global Thermonuclear War and the unwinability of nuclear warfare.

    ...and, as for portable terrestrial nuclear power, the closest that has ever come to existing was mock-ups of Ford's rolling disaster. [google.com]
    (Just imagine that being in a crash.)

    nuclear power is unsafe without very heavy shielding

    Yup. Portable nukes are totally unworkable for numerous reasons.
    (The thought that they ever believed a nuke-powered airplane was viable is a real hoot.)

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 2) by Capt. Obvious on Saturday August 20 2016, @10:25PM

    by Capt. Obvious (6089) on Saturday August 20 2016, @10:25PM (#390751)

    Hey, Feynman patented the nuclear airplane. And he's a smart guy. Turned around and sold that patent for a cool dollar.

    (Note, he did not pay the patent fees)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 20 2016, @11:16PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 20 2016, @11:16PM (#390770)

      "Wiley" might be a better description in this case.
      I've never heard of one of those being built--much less flown.

      There are also patents on warp drive. [google.com]
      Haven't ever heard of one of those flying either.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]