Hydrocarbon separations traditional distillation process

Separation of hydrocarbons by traditional distillation processes, which are energy intensive, can constitute as much as 70% of the product cost Membranes can be used in combination with distillation in the form of membrane-distillation hybrid processes in order to lower operating costs and to produce higher throughput(l) In addition, membranes can separate azeotropic and close-boiling mixtures which would be difficult to separate by distillation alone.(2)... 

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