Ethane/ethylene separation on a copper benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate MOF

•Cu-BTC beads show a high potential for olefin/paraffin separation.•Cu-BTC beads show higher adsorption capacity for ethylene than for ethane.•The Dual Site Langmuir model fitted the equilibrium adsorption data well. The search for novel and more economical ways to separate olefins and paraffins by adsorptive processes has motivated the appearance of improved materials. Recently, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have excelled as a new class of microporous adsorbents for separations of this nature. This work focus on the potential application of copper based MOF beads – Cu-BTC – prepared at the Korean Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) for the separation of C2 hydrocarbons mixtures by adsorptive processes. To this purpose, single equilibrium adsorption data of ethane and ethylene on Cu-BTC beads were assessed at temperatures of 50, 75 and 100°C and pressures up to 7bar. The obtained experimental data set was regressed using the Dual Site Langmuir (DSL) model and multicomponent equilibrium results were calculated using the extended Dual Site Langmuir (ExDSL) equation as well as by the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST). Data from the literature at 22, 50, 75 and 100°C on Cu-BTC, in powder form, are also presented for comparison. Additionally, adsorption kinetics was assessed by measuring single and multicomponent breakthrough curves at 1.5bar and 100°C. A mathematical model implemented in gProms® environment (Process Systems Enterprise, London, UK) was validated by the simulation of the breakthrough curves.