Scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated a new membrane-based approach to crude oil separation that could significantly reduce energy consumption in refining operations. The innovation uses a bare porous polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membrane, a chemically stable and inexpensive polymer commonly employed as a support material in industrial applications.
The key breakthrough involves passing crude oil directly through the membrane at room temperature, where heavy hydrocarbons selectively adhere to the pore walls. This accumulation gradually narrows the pores to create separation channels smaller than 2 nanometers. The bare PAN membrane achieved crude oil permeation rates approximately 23 times higher than previously reported state-of-the-art crude oil membranes while maintaining stable performance over 28 consecutive days, according to findings published in Nature this year.
Process simulations indicated that using the membrane as a pretreatment step before conventional distillation could reduce energy consumption by 31.6%, carbon dioxide emissions by 37.6%, cooling water usage by 20.7%, and operating costs by 36%. The technology does not require massive capital investments, as refineries could implement it through simple retrofits by adding modular filtration units. Rather than replacing traditional distillation entirely, the membrane functions as an early-stage separator, allowing crude oil fractionation without heating to 350 degrees Celsius from the outset.
Researchers indicated the membrane technology could extend beyond oil refining to applications in petrochemicals and waste plastics recycling industries. They aim to further develop the approach to serve additional sustainable chemical processes supporting carbon neutrality goals. This development follows other recent membrane innovations in crude oil processing, including approaches developed at other research institutions pursuing similar energy-reduction objectives.
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