Efficient separation of butane isomers via ZIF-8 slurry on laboratory- and pilot-scale

Mingke Yang, Huishan Wang, Julian Y. Zuo, Chun Deng, Bei Liu, Liya Chai, Kun Li, Han Xiao, Peng Xiao, Xiaohui Wang, Wan Chen, Xiaowan Peng, Yu Han, Zixuan Huang, Baocan Dong, Changyu Sun () and Guangjin Chen ()
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Mingke Yang: China University of Petroleum
Huishan Wang: China University of Petroleum
Julian Y. Zuo: FMG Inc.
Chun Deng: China University of Petroleum
Bei Liu: China University of Petroleum
Liya Chai: China University of Petroleum
Kun Li: China University of Petroleum
Han Xiao: China University of Petroleum
Peng Xiao: China University of Petroleum
Xiaohui Wang: China University of Petroleum
Wan Chen: China University of Petroleum
Xiaowan Peng: China University of Petroleum
Yu Han: China University of Petroleum
Zixuan Huang: China University of Petroleum
Baocan Dong: China University of Petroleum
Changyu Sun: China University of Petroleum
Guangjin Chen: China University of Petroleum

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract n-butane and isobutane are important petrochemical raw materials. Their separation is challenging because of their similar properties, including boiling point. Here, we report a zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8)/N,N-Dimethylpropyleneurea (DMPU)-water slurry as sorption material to separate butane mixtures. The isobutane/n-butane selectivity of ZIF-8/DMPU-water slurries is as high as 890 with high kinetic performance, which transcends the upper limit of various separation materials or membranes reported in the literature. More encouragingly, a continuous pilot separation device was established, and the test results show that the purity and recovery ratio of isobutane product are 99.46 mol% and 87%, respectively, which are superior to the corresponding performance (98.56 mol% and 54%) of the industrial distillation tower. To the best of our knowledge, the use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for gas separation in pilot scale remains underexplored, and thus this work provides a step forward to the commercial application of MOFs in gas separation.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32418-6

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