NAMS 2002 Workshop - ICOM 2008

negative aspect. With the introduction of process intensification strategy also in
to the petrochemical industry, a large new areas will be open for gas separation
membrane systems. The possibility to realize integrated membrane operations in
the ethylene process, for example, has been studied and is under investigations
[3]. Some of the drawbacks of the membrane operations such as the necessity of
accurate pre- treatments, might be solved by combining, as already done in
water treatments, various membrane operations in the same industrial process.
The recent studies on carbon nanotubes with the unexpected very high
permeability and selectivities, the progresses in zeolite membranes and in hybrid
membranes where polymers and specific absorbers are combined, are offering
interesting new opportunities for making membrane operations dominant also in
gas separations and gas conversions.
References
[1] Drioli, E: Gas Separation Membranes: A Potential Dominant Technology. Special Issue.
Trends in Gas Separation Membranes. (Membrane) 31, (2), 000- 000 (2006)
[2] Baker RW, Wijmans JG, Kaschemekat JH: ’The Design of Membrane Vapor-Gas Separation
Systems’, Journal of Membrane Science, , 55-62 (1998)
[3] Bernardo P, Criscuoli A, Clarizia G, Barbieri G, Drioli E, Fleres G, Picciotti M : Applications of
membrane unit operations in Ethylene Process, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 6,
(2) 78 (2004)