Removal of oil from compressed gas with macroporous polymeric adsorbent

Claim 2

A process for separating a gas mixture into components by permeation through a membrane, the process comprising: (a) compressing the gas mixture in oil-lubricated compression means to form an oil-mist-containing compressed gas stream, the compressed gas stream having a relative humidity of any value up to 100%, wherein the compressed gas stream contains oil havinq a molecular weight of at least about 300; (b) passing the oil-mist-containing compressed gas stream through a macroporous polymeric adsorbent, without previously reducing the relative humidity of the compressed gas stream, to form a substantially oil-free compressed gas stream; and (c) passing the substantially oil-free compressed gas stream through a gas separation membrane system.

Claim 3

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent has a total porosity of from about 0.5 to about 1.5 cc/g.

Claim 4

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent has a surface area of from about 150 to about 2100 m 2 /g as measured by nitrogen adsorption.

Claim 5

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent has a surface area of from about 400 to about 1400 m 2 /g as measured by nitrogen adsorption.

Claim 6

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent has an average pore diameter of from about 10 Å to about 100 Å.

Claim 7

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent is a polymer of a member selected from the group consisting of monovinyl, divinyl and trivinyl aromatic compounds.

Claim 8

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent is a polymer of divinylbenzene.

Claim 9

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent is a polymer of a monovinyl aromatic monomer crosslinked with a polyvinylidene aromatic compound.

Claim 10

A process in accordance with claim 8 in which the monovinyl aromatic monomer comprises from about 95% to about 99.25% by weight of said polymer, and said polyvinylidene aromatic compound comprises from about 0.75% to about 5% by weight of said polymer.

Claim 11

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent is a polymer of a member selected from the group consisting of styrene, vinylbenzene, vinyltoluene, ethylstyrene, and t-butylstyrene; and is crosslinked with a member selected from the group consisting of divinylbenzene, trivinylbenzene, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate.

Claim 12

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent is a polymer of vinyl benzyl chloride.

Claim 13

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent is a copolymer of a monovinyl aromatic monomer and a nonaromatic monovinylidene monomer, the nonaromatic monovinylidene monomer comprising less than about 30% by weight of said copolymer.

Claim 14

A process in accordance with claim 12 in which the nonaromatic monovinylidene monomer is a member selected from the group consisting of methyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate and methyl ethyl acrylate.

Claim 15

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the macroporous polymeric adsorbent is a crosslinked monovinyl aromatic polymer has been post-crosslinked in the swollen state by reaction between haloalkyl moieties on chains of the polymer and aromatic rings on adjacent chains of the polymer, in the presence of a Friedel-Crafts catalyst, to form an alkylene bridge.

Claim 16

A process in accordance with claim 14 in which the alkylene bridge is a methylene bridge.

Claim 17

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the gas separation membrane system is comprised of a spiral rolled sheet of a member selected from the group consisting of asymmetric aromatic polysulfones, sulfonated polysulfones, bis A-polysulfones, polyether-sulfones, and fluorinated polyether-sulfones.

Claim 18

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which the gas mixture is air and the gas separation membrane system is comprised of a plurality of hollow fiber membranes of a bisphenol polycarbonate.

Claim 19

A process in accordance with claim 17 in which the bisphenol polycarbonate is a polymer containing n subunits of the formula ##STR2## in which: the R 1 groups are the same or different throughout the bisphenol polycarbonate and are independently selected from the group consisting of H, Cl, Br, and C 1 -C 4 alkyl; the R 2 groups are the same or different throughout the hisphenol polycarbonate and are independently selected from the group consisting of carbonyl, thio, sulfonyl, oxy, C 1 -C 6 divalent hydrocarbon radicals, C 1 -C 6 divalent halo-substituted hydrocarbon radicals, and inertly substituted C 1 -C 6 divalent hydrocarbon radicals; and n is an integer sufficiently large to provide the bisphenol polycarbonate with a molecular weight of at least about 50,000.

Claim 20

A process in accordance with claim 18 in which in at least 50% of the subunits all R 1 groups are selected from the group consisting of Br and Cl.

Claim 21

A process in accordance with claim 18 in which all R 1 groups in the polymer are selected from the group consisting of Br and Cl.

Claim 22

A process in accordance with claim 18 in which all R 1 groups in the polymer are Br.

Claim 23

A process in accordance with claim 18 in which all R 2 groups in the polymer are C 1 -C 6 divalent hydrocarbon radicals.

Claim 24

A process in accordance with claim 18 in which all R 2 groups in the polymer are C 1 -C 6 alkylidene radicals.

Claim 25

A process in accordance with claim 18 in which all R 2 groups in the polymer are isopropylidene.

Claim 26

A process in accordance with claim 18 in which all R 1 groups in the polymer are Br, all R 2 groups in the polymer are isopropylidene, and n has a number average ranging from about 100 to about 1000.

Claim 27

A process in accordance with claim 1 in which: the macroporous polymeric adsorbent is a polymer of a member selected from the group consisting of styrene, vinylbenzene, vinyltoluene, ethylstyrene, and t-butylstyrene; and is crosslinked with a member selected from the group consisting of divinylbenzene, trivinylbenzene, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate; the macroporous resin has a total porosity of from about 0.5 to about 1.5 cc/g, a surface area of from about 150 to about 2100 m 2 /g as measured by nitrogen adsorption, and an average pore diameter of from about 10 Å to about 100 Å; and the gas separation membrane system is comprised of a plurality of hollow fiber membranes of a bisphenol polycarbonate containing n subunits of the formula ##STR3## in which: the R 1 groups are the same or different throughout the bisphenol polycarbonate and are independently selected from the group consisting of H, Cl, Br, and C 1 -C 4 alkyl; the R 2 groups are the same or different throughout the bisphenol polycarbonate and are independently selected from the group consisting of carbonyl, thio, sulfonyl, oxy, C 1 -C 6 divalent hydrocarbon radicals, C 1 -C 6 divalent halo-substituted hydrocarbon radicals, and inertly substituted C 1 -C 6 divalent hydrocarbon radicals; and n is an integer sufficiently large to provide the bisphenol polycarbonate with a molecular weight of at least about 50,000.

Claim 28

A process in accordance with claim 1, further comprising passing the oil-mist-containing compressed gas stream prior to (b) through at least coalescing filter to lower the oil content of the stream to about 1 ppm or less.