Scalable fabrication of COF membranes for aliphatic/aromatic separation of crude oil
Abstract
Distillation has been the cornerstone of crude oil refining for more than a century, relying on boiling point differences for fractionation. Although effective, it is highly energy-intensive and lacks the precision to separate specific hydrocarbon classes. We report crystalline covalent organic framework (COF) membranes with well-defined micropores and alkyl-functionalized frameworks that combine molecular sieving with preferential affinity to enrich aliphatics. An electric field–assisted roll-to-roll process enabled scalable fabrication of continuous membranes. These COF membranes enriched aliphatics to >95% and delivered permeance orders of magnitude higher than amorphous polymers in Arabian Light crude oil. A crude oil permeance of 0.34 liters m −2 hours −1 bar −1 with >90% aliphatics enrichment was achieved using industrial-standard 1812 membrane modules, demonstrating a lower energy demand than distillation.
Article Details
Journal Info
Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Authors (9)
Li Cao
Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies (CREST), Division of Physical Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Shuhao An
Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies (CREST), Division of Physical Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Bingbing Yuan
Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies (CREST), Division of Physical Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Zhen Li
Vasilios G. Samaras
Core Labs, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Ting Xu
Xixiang Zhang
Material Science and Engineering Program, Division of Physical Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Huabin Zhang
Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies (CREST), Division of Physical Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Zhiping Lai
Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies (CREST), Division of Physical Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.