Light olefins/paraffins separation with 13X zeolite binderless beads

In this work 13X zeolite binderless beads were tested as a new promising material for polymer-grade olefin production from olefin/paraffin mixtures by VPSA technology. In order to characterize the adsorbent and its potential for the target separations, the equilibrium isotherms of propane, propylene, ethane and ethylene were measured gravimetrically on a 13X zeolite binderless sample, in a temperature range from 50 °C to 150 °C and pressure up to 5 bar. Dynamic studies were performed at 100 °C and 1.5 bar in a fixed-bed single-column unit. The adsorbent under evaluation presented high olefin selectivity, with values between 7 and 9 for the C2 pair and about 8 for the C3 pair. A mathematical model was proposed and validated by the breakthrough experiments. With this model, pilot scale 5-step VPSA cycles were successfully designed and tested experimentally to produce polymer-grade olefins. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Programa Operacional Temático Factores de Competitividade: EXCL/QEQ-PRS/0308/2012, PEst-C/EQB/LA0020/2013 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-0000006, ON2 Fundação para a Ciência e a TecnologiaThe authors acknowledge financial support provided by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programme COMPETE through the Project EXCL/QEQ-PRS/0308/2012. This work was co-financed by FCT and FEDER under Programme COMPETE (Project PEst-C/EQB/LA0020/2013). This work was also co-financed by QREN, ON2 and FEDER (Project NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-0000006)