Facilitated transport separation of propylene–propane: Experimental and modeling study

Supported liquid membrane, as one type of facilitated transport membranes, was used for the separation of propylene–propane mixtures. The effect of trans-membrane pressure and carrier concentration on membrane separation performance were evaluated in terms of mixed-gas selectivity, propylene and propane permeances and propylene and propane permeation fluxes. A general dimensionless model for the transport of components across the membrane was proposed and solved numerically by orthogonal collocation method. Experimental results showed that for a 70:30 (vol.%) propylene–propane mixture, at pressure 120 kPa and carrier concentration 20 wt.%, a propylene permeation flux of 1.46 × 10−4 mol/m2 s was obtained. Mathematical results are in well agreement with experimental results. The average deviation between experimental and modeling results was found to be 5.3% for propylene permeation flux and 0.03% for propane permeation flux.