Separation of Hydrocarbons by Selective Permeation through Polymeric Membranes

Abstract

Polymer membranes have the unique ability to allow molecules to diffuse through them. Various factors determine the ability of a molecule to permeate through the membrane — both physical and chemical properties. This dependence of permeation rate on the large number of system properties imparts a unique separating ability to polymer membranes compared with other separation methods which depend on differences in relatively few properties.