Issue 21/2019 - Breakthrough in the separation and preparation method of high-purity ethylene

On October 11, the team of Professor Chen Kaijie of the School of Science of Northwestern Polytechnical University published a research paper in Science, saying that they used three metal-organic framework (MOFs) materials to co-adsorb for the first time in the world to achieve the next separation and preparation of high-purity ethylene
under the condition of 4-component mixed gas.

Four gases, ethylene, acetylene, ethane and carbon dioxide, often "go together"
in production.
To achieve one-step separation and preparation of ethylene, it is necessary to selectively capture the other 3 gases simultaneously with specific porous MOFs, and only ethylene is not adsorbed, so that it is separated separately
.
Chen Kaijie's team found that by connecting three MOFs materials in series in a single adsorption column, acetylene, ethane and carbon dioxide can be efficiently removed sequentially, and high-purity ethylene can be separated and collected
in one step at the end of the adsorption column.
The "porous material" they used is a porous crystalline material
formed by the three-dimensional orderly arrangement of atoms formed by the connection of metal ions and small organic molecules through coordination bonds.
This physical adsorption separation process can be carried out under normal temperature conditions, which can greatly reduce the energy consumption of ethylene separation process, and provides a new design idea
for the research and development of green and low-energy consumption process under complex industrial separation systems.