ExxonMobil and Georgia Tech have been working in collaboration designing technology that could dramatically improve the environment. The technology is based on reverse osmosis and carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by as much as 45 million tons per year if this revolutionary technology becomes available at industrial scale. As well as saving the environment, it could also reduce global energy costs by as much as $2 billion per year.
The new technology uses a carbon-based molecular sieve membrane to reduce the energy needed to separate the alkyl aromatics. The process involves taking the new material and converting it to carbon through pyrolysis. Then the carbon membranes can be used in the organic solvent reverse osmosis (OSRO) process. This involves applying pressure to the carbon membranes to affect the separation without the need for a phase change.
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This type of reverse osmosis membranes is already used readily across the board including in producing drinking water from salt water and using carbon fiber membranes in gas separations. But, the scientists at GeorgiaTech believe this new OSRO process is the first of its kind to use carbon membranes to separate the alkyl aromatics.
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In manufacturing the new membrane material, it begins at a diameter slightly thicker than a human hair, with pores less than one nanometer in size. These are treated via cross-linking and the pyrolysis process is then used to convert them into carbon. During fabrication, the pore sizes of the fibers can be adjusted accordingly, if need be and molecules are separated by size, through hollow carbon fibers. The scientists are hopeful that the new membrane can be used for both industrial and commercial purposes shortly to allow us all to have cheaper, cleaner energy.
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