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6200476 
Journal Article 
Extraction of ethane from natural gas by adsorption on modified ETS-10 
Avila, AM; Kuznicki, SM; Lin, CCH; Magnowski, NBK; Shi, M 
2011 
Yes 
Chemical Engineering Science
ISSN: 0009-2509 
66 
8 
1697-1701 
WOS:000288015800015 
Ethane was extracted from a synthetic natural gas mixture at 298K and 101.3kPa using modified ETS-10 as a packed bed adsorbent. Ethane was completely separated from the mixture for a prolonged period until the initial stages of breakthrough. The adsorptive properties of several cation-exchanged forms of ETS-10, a large-pored titanosilicate molecular sieve, were compared. Na-, Ba- and Ba/H-ETS-10 were all found to be selective for ethane over methane. Na-ETS-10 showed the highest Henry's selectivity (α=52) for ethane over methane of the three ETS-10 materials tested. Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory (IAST) models indicate that significant selectivity should persist at high pressures. Ethane is commonly removed from raw natural gas by energy-intensive cryogenic methods and these results reflect the potential for an alternative and efficient separation process using cation-exchanged ETS-10 as an adsorbent. 
Adsorption; Gas separation; Ion exchange; Selectivity; Zeolites; Natural gas