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A new membrane inspired by those used in reverse osmosis water filtration can split crude oil into heavy and lighter molecules.

If scaled up, the technology could reduce the energy footprint of crude oil fractionation, which currently consumes 2.5% of all U.S. energy and 1% of global energy annually. The distillation processes currently in use also contribute 6% of the world鈥檚 carbon dioxide emissions each year.

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鈻� Crude oil fractionation accounts for 2.5% of all energy use in the U.S. annually. An international group of researchers envision the refinery of the future incorporating membrane technology for crude oil separations, much as reverse osmosis is used for water filtration.

Membrane separation consumes far less energy, but most commercial membranes are made of polymers, which swell and plasticize in the presence of crude oil, explains Zachary Smith, a professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 鈥淵ou have challenges with stability that prevent you from using membranes for applications like hydrocarbon mixtures,鈥� Smith says.

Membranes made via cross-linking polyamides are currently used in reverse osmosis and are capable of very selective separation near the thermodynamic minimum, Smith says, but the bond chemistries aren鈥檛 suited to hydrocarbons because they cause the pores to shift and swell. To solve this problem, Smith and his team swapped out the flexible amide bonds for more...