Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Light olefins production is a multi-billion-dollar commodity industry. The olefin/paraffin separation process is energy-intensive with high capital costs. Membrane technology exhibits a high potential for olefin/paraffin separation because of its ability to take advantage of thermodynamic and kinetic mechanisms, an absence of phase change and the flexible membrane structures. Imtex Membrane Corporation (Imtex) is a cleantech company that separates and purifies olefins from paraffin using their proprietary Permylene technology. Imtex requires less energy and produces less waste than traditional methods, lowering operational expenses by up to 50%. Imtex has approached the Environmental Technologies (ET) research group at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) to advance regeneration and pre-treatment procedures to 1) improve a compromised membrane; 2) evaluate the metal cation reactivity under various streams; 3) investigate the reaction rates and implications of specific components in pre-determined process conditions.