Propylene/Propane Separation in Fixed-Bed Adsorber and Membrane Permeation

The metal-organic framework Mg-2(dhtp) with the linker dihydroxyterephthalate is known as MOF-74 or CPO-27. Mg-2(dhtp) has been synthesized as powder to measure breakthrough curves in a fixed-bed adsorber and adsorption isotherms, and as a supported thin membrane layer for permeation studies. The measurement of the breakthrough curves of the binary propylene/propane mixture shows that separation with the fixed bed adsorber is possible. Propylene shows a higher affinity to Mg-2(dhtp). Although the single gas propane flux is slightly higher than the one of propylene, the binary propane/propylene mixture is not separated.