Generally, the energy and capital intensive cryogenic distillation process is applied to separate light olefins. To lower the cost of light olefin production, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) incorporating nano-zeolite (NaY or NaA) into a rubbery poly (ether block amide) (PEBA 2533) were fabricated to separate a propylene/ethylene mixture. The effect of additive content and kind, MMM thickness, and operating temperature and pressure on the separation performance of the synthesized membranes for a propylene/ethylene mixture were investigated. As an additive, NaY was found to be more effective than NaA. Interestingly, the result of pure gas adsorption was consistent with the permeation performance of the membranes. Membranes with 6 wt% NaY showed the highest C₃H₆/C₂H₄ selectivity in all synthesized membranes (3 wt%–10 wt%), on which, the C₃H₆/C₂H₄ selectivity was increased from 2.3 to 13.1, the permeability of propylene increased from 194 barrer to 262 barrer and the permeability of ethylene decreased from 85 barrer to 19.8 barrer when the propylene concentration in feed mixture increased from 10 mol% to 80 mol% at −35 °C and 0.2 MPa. This membrane has the potential to separate propylene and ethylene in industry, and this work will push forward the membrane separation process for olefin production.

通常，将能量和资本密集的低温蒸馏方法应用于分离轻质烯烃。为了降低轻质烯烃的生产成本，制造了将纳米沸石（NaY或NaA）掺入橡胶状聚（醚嵌段酰胺）（PEBA 2533）的混合基质膜（MMM），以分离丙烯/乙烯混合物。研究了添加剂含量和种类，MMM厚度以及操作温度和压力对合成膜对丙烯/乙烯混合物分离性能的影响。作为添加剂，发现NaY比NaA更有效。有趣的是，纯气体吸附的结果与膜的渗透性能一致。NaY含量为6 wt％的膜显示最高的C ₃ H ₆ / C ₂ħ ₄中的所有合成的膜的选择性（3重量％-10重量％），在其上，将C ₃ ħ ₆ / C ₂ H ^ ₄选择性由2.3增加至13.1，丙烯的渗透性从194阻隔当量增加到262阻隔当量和当进料混合物中的丙烯浓度在-35°C和0.2 MPa下从10 mol％增加到80 mol％时，乙烯的渗透率从85 barrer降低到19.8 barrer。该膜在工业上具有分离丙烯和乙烯的潜力，这项工作将推动用于烯烃生产的膜分离工艺的发展。