COMPACT MEMBRANE SYSTEMS, INC. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 06c
COMPACT MEMBRANE SYSTEMS, INC. — SBIR Phase I award from Department of Energy.
Phase I SBIR feasibility signal
- Phase I awards fund proof-of-concept work. For capture teams, they mark early interest from Department of Energy in a technical approach.
- Watch for Phase II follow-ons from the same firm/topic family — that conversion path is where budgets and transition pressure rise.
- Obligated amount $150,000. Cross-check similar awards in the same agency and technology tags for going-rate context.
- Topic code 06c links this award to a solicitation family — search the same topic stem for incumbents and recompete timing.
- Amount
- $150,000
- Agency
- Department of Energy
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- Topic
- 06c
- Solicitation
- DE-FOA-0001771
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- DE
- Period
- 2018-07-02 → 2019-04-01
Description
With development of shale gas fracking, large amounts of methane and ethane have now become available at low cost. With this low cost ethane it is desirable to convert low cost ethane to high value ethylene. Oxidative dehydration (ODH) for low cost conversion of ethane to ethylene is a potentially attractive route. ODH is an exothermic process for converting ethane to ethylene. By contrast processes today to make ethylene from petroleum are endothermic. Therefore by definition ODH is a heat process intensification process. A major limitation of ODH is the cost of concentrating the 25% ethylene from ODH to 99.9% ethylene (polymer grade ethylene) for chemical processing. CMS has recently developed custom amorphous fluoropolymers (CAF) membranes which show excellent ethylene-ethane flux, selectivity, and stability. This program will modify CAF and associated membranes for separating and concentrating ethylene to make polymer grade ethylene (99.9% ethylene) at costs 25% lower than distillation. CMS will develop enhanced CAF membranes for low cost concentrating of 25% ethylene (coming from the ODH reactor) to polymer grade ethylene (99.9% ethylene) for costs 25% lower than distillation. Phase I will show process feasibility.