Organosiloxane membranes for heavy aromatic oil fractionation

Abstract

The industrial separation of hydrocarbons relies on distillation. Organic solvent nanofiltration can provide an energy-efficient alternative. We prepared high performance organosiloxane membranes for fractionation of heavy aromatics. They achieved a high permeance up to 0.13 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹, with a rejection rate of 88.7% for hydrocarbons with five aromatic rings.