Modelling of ethane/ethylene separation using microporous carbon

Abstract

Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations of the adsorption of a mixture of ethane and ethylene on microporous slit graphite pores are reported. A two-centre Lennard-Jones with point quadrupole potential and a Steele potential with embedded quadrupoles for the carbon were used to model the fluids and solids, respectively. Under conditions of moderate temperature (260-400 K) and pressure (0.1-1.0 MPa), ethane was preferentially adsorbed over ethylene for the pore widths studied. For micropores less than 2 nm wide, the selectivity towards ethane varied markedly with small changes in the pore structure, whilst for the mesopores with widths greater than 2 nm the selectivity was remarkably insensitive towards the pore size. The results provide qualitative guidelines for the synthesis and design of carbons for lower olefin/paraffin separations. © 2006 Ingenta.