Fluid separation processes using membranes based on fluorinated and perfluorinated polymers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9975084-B2
Application number	US-201715608399-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 30, 2017
Priority date	Feb 19, 2014
Publication date	May 22, 2018
Grant date	May 22, 2018

Abstract

A process for separating components or a fluid mixture using membranes comprising a selective layer made from copolymers of an amorphous per fluorinated dioxolane and a fluorovinyl monomer. The resulting membranes have superior selectivity performance for certain fluid components of interest while maintaining fast permeance compared to membranes prepared using conventional perfluoropolymers, such as Teflon® AF, Hyflon® AD, and Cytop®.

First claim

We claim:

1. A process for separating two components, A and B, of a fluid mixture having a ratio (Rf) of A:B, comprising:
(a) passing the fluid mixture across a separation membrane having a feed side and a permeate side, the separation membrane having a selective layer comprising a copolymer consisting of a perfluorinated dioxolane monomer and a fluorovinyl monomer selected from one of the following formulas:
F 2 C═CFR,

where R is H, Cl, a C1-C6 perfluoroalkyl, or OX, where X is a C1-C6 perfluoroalkyl or a C1-C12 perfluorooxyalkyl having one or more ether groups,
or
H 2 C═CR 1 R 2 ,

where R 1 is F, H, C1-C6 perfluoroalkyl, or OX, or where X is a C1-C6 perfluoroalkyl or a C1-C12 perfluorooxyalkyl having one or more ether groups, and R 2 is F, C1-C6 perfluoroalkyl, or OX or where X is a C1-C6 perfluoroalkyl or a C1-C12 perfluorooxyalkyl having one or more ether groups,

(b) providing a driving force for transmembrane permeation;
(c) withdrawing from the permeate side a permeate stream having a ratio (Rp) of A:B, where Rp>Rf; and
(d) withdrawing from the feed side a residue stream having a ratio (Rr) of A:B, where Rr<Rf.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the fluorovinyl monomer is selected from the group consisting of trifluoroethylene, chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE), perfluoro methyl vinyl ether (PFMVE), perfluoroethyl vinyl ether (PFEVE), perfluoropropyl vinyl ether (PFPVE), vinyl fluoride (VF), vinylidene fluoride (VDF), and perfluoromethoxy vinyl ether (PFMOVE).

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the perfluofinated dioxolane monomer is selected from the group consisting of:

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein component A is water and component B is an alcohol, ketone, ether, or ester.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein component A is an unsaturated hydrocarbon compound and component B is a saturated hydrocarbon compound.

6. The process of claim 5 , wherein component A is an olefin and component B is a paraffin.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein component A is an aromatic hydrocarbon compound and component B is an aliphatic hydrocarbon compound.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein component A is a first aromatic compound and component B is a second aromatic compound.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein component A is a linear hydrocarbon compound and component B is a branched hydrocarbon compound.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the separation membrane has a selective layer of thickness less than 10 μm.

Assignees

• Membrane Tech And Research Inc
• Univ New York

Inventors

• Merkel Timothy C
• Zhang Hao
• He Zhenjie
• Wijmans Johannes G
• Okamoto Yoshiyuki

Classifications

• B01D53/228 Primary

  characterised by specific membranes · CPC title

• C01B2210/0031

  Helium · CPC title

• B01D2257/502

  Carbon monoxide · CPC title

• B01D2257/7025

  Methane · CPC title

• B01D2257/102

  Nitrogen · CPC title