文摘
The oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is a direct path for converting methane into ethene (ethylene), which is one of the most important building blocks for the chemical industry. Carbon dioxide is generated as a byproduct in the reactor and must be separated in order to produce the pure olefin. This step is commonly achieved by amine scrubbing, in which a significant amount of energy is consumed for regenerating the amine. In this contribution, a hybrid system employing gas separation membranes and absorption is modeled and simulated in order to carry out preliminary engineering design and economic evaluations to assess the feasibility of applying this process on industrial scale. It is demonstrated that the hybrid process offers economic advantage when compared to the standalone absorption process when carbon dioxide is used as diluent in the OCM reactor.