New technology for separation of oxygenates from bio-LPG

LPG is a very important source of energy in Swedish industry. Most of it originates from natural gas, but LPG is also formed in oil refineries. When biomass is used as feedstock in the refinery, a larger amount of so-called oxygenates (including methanol) forms. These oxygenates must be removed from the LPG, which would be very costly with today's technology.

Since membrane technology is generally both inexpensive and energy-efficient, it would be beneficial to use membrane technology instead, but there are no commercially available membranes for this application.

In the project, a large zeolite membrane prototype will be manufactured and evaluated for separation of oxygenates from LPG.

The project is a collaboration between LTU, the leader in the field of zeolite membranes for gas separations, and Preem AB.

The new technology has the potential to drastically reduce the costs and energy consumption for the production of bio-LPG at oil refineries.