The present invention relates to a process for oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), comprising the steps of: (a) contacting, in a reactor, oxygen and methane with an OCM catalyst, resulting in a reactor effluent comprising ethylene, ethane, methane, carbon dioxide and water; (b) cooling the reactor effluent to obtain a liquid stream comprising water and a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide; (c) removing carbon dioxide from at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide resulting in a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane; (d) passing at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane as obtained in step (c) through a membrane, preferably a membrane comprising metal cations, more preferably a membrane comprising silver (I) ions (Ag.sup.+ ions) or copper (I) ions (Cu.sup.+ ions), to obtain a stream comprising ethane and a stream comprising ethylene.

The present invention relates to novel sulfur-doped carbonaceous porous materials. The present invention also relates to processes for the preparation of these materials and to the use of these materials in applications such as gas adsorption, mercury and gold capture, gas storage and as catalysts or catalyst supports.

A supported carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membrane is made by contacting a film of a carbon forming polymer on a polymer textile to form a laminate. The laminate is then heated to a temperature for a time under an atmosphere sufficient to carbonize the film and polymer textile to form the supported CMS membrane. The supported CMS membrane formed is a laminate having a carbon separating layer graphitically bonded to a carbon textile, wherein the carbon separating layer is a continuous film. The supported CMS membranes are particularly useful for separating gases such as olefins from their corresponding paraffins.

It has been discovered that mixed-alcohol production can utilize the waste tail gas stream from the pressure-swing adsorption section of an industrial hydrogen plant. Some variations provide a process for producing mixed alcohols, comprising: obtaining a tail-gas stream from a methane-to-syngas unit (e.g., a steam methane reforming reactor); compressing the tail-gas stream; separating the tail-gas stream into at least a syngas stream, a CO.sub.2-rich stream, and a CH.sub.4-rich stream; introducing the syngas stream into a mixed-alcohol reactor operated at effective alcohol synthesis conditions in the presence of an alcohol-synthesis catalyst, thereby generated mixed alcohols; and purifying the mixed alcohols to generate a mixed-alcohol product. Other variations provide a process for producing clean syngas, comprising: obtaining a tail-gas stream from a methane-to-syngas unit; compressing the tail-gas stream; separating the tail-gas stream into at least a syngas stream, a CO.sub.2-rich stream, and a CH.sub.4-rich stream; and recovering a clean syngas product.

A feed fluid mixture including at least one condensable component and at least one non-condensable component is separated into a gaseous permeate and an at least partially liquid retentate with a gas separation membrane through simultaneous condensation of at least one of said at least one condensable component on a retentate side of the membrane and permeation of at least one of said at least one non-condensable component through the membrane.

The invention relates to a method for separating a gas mixture flow, in which use is made of a temperature-change adsorption plant (100) which has a number of adsorption units (A1, A2, A3) which are respectively operated in a first operating mode and a second operating mode, wherein the first operating mode comprises guiding the gas mixture flow (G) at least in part through an adsorption chamber of the respective adsorption unit (A1, A2, A3) and subjecting this flow to an adsorptive exchange of material with at least one adsorbent in its adsorption chamber, and the second operating mode comprises guiding a first heat transfer fluid flow (W1) at a first temperature through a heat-exchange arrangement of the respective adsorption unit (A1, A2, A3) and transferring heat from the first heat transfer fluid flow (W1) indirectly to the at least one adsorbent in its adsorption chamber. It is provided that the first operating mode comprises guiding a second heat transfer fluid flow (W2) at a second temperature through the heat-exchange arrangement of the respective adsorption unit (A1, A2, A3) and transferring heat from the at least one adsorbent in its adsorption chamber indirectly to the second heat transfer fluid flow (W2), and the adsorption units (A1, A2, A3) are respectively operated in a third operating mode which comprises guiding a third heat transfer fluid flow (W3) at a third temperature through the heat-exchange arrangement of the respective adsorption unit (A1, A2, A3) and transferring heat from the at least one adsorbent in its adsorption chamber to the third heat transfer fluid flow (W3). The invention also relates to a corresponding temperature-change adsorption plant (100).

The invention relates to dense synthetic membranes made from polymerised phosphonium-based ionic liquids which were found to be particularly suitable for use in gas separation. The membranes are obtainable by copolymerization via UV-curing of a composition comprising a phosphonium-based ionic liquid monomer, a co-monomer, a cross-linker, a surfactant and a photo-initiator, the remainder of the polymerization mixture consisting of water.

The invention also relates to a process of manufacturing said membranes, resulting in solid, dense and mechanically stable membranes, and to the use of the membranes so produced in the separation of gas mixtures, particularly gas mixtures containing carbon dioxide.

A composition for gas storage including a mixture of particles of amorphous macroporous organic polymer (MOP) and particles of a metallic organic framework (MOF).

A pass or tube or a section thereof or U bend in a coil in a paraffin cracker having section having a pore size in the metal substrate from about 0.001 to 0.5 microns over coated with a dense metal membrane permits the permeation of one or more of H.sub.2, CH.sub.4, CO and CO.sub.2 from cracked gases moving the reaction equilibrium to the production of ethylene and reduces the load on the down-stream separation train of the steam cracker.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a pressure swing adsorption process of a hydrogen production system is provided. The hydrogen production system includes a desulfurization process for removing sulfur components from raw natural gas; a reforming reaction process for producing a reformed gas containing hydrogen generated by the reaction of natural gas through the desulfurization process and steam; and a pressure swing adsorption process of concentrating the hydrogen using a pressure swing adsorption from the reformed gas. In a desorption step of the pressure swing adsorption process, a cocurrent depressurization and a countercurrent depressurization are simultaneously performed.