- Research published in international peer-reviewed journal,
Science
Scientists from ExxonMobil, the Georgia Institute of Technology
and Imperial College of London have published joint research on
potential breakthroughs in a new membrane technology that could
reduce emissions and energy intensity associated with refining
crude oil. Laboratory tests indicate the patent-pending membrane
could be used to replace some heat-intensive distillation at
refineries in the years ahead.
Results of the research were published today in the
international peer-reviewed journal, Science.
“Through collaboration with strong academic institutions like
Georgia Tech and Imperial, we are constantly working to develop the
lower-emissions energy solutions of the future," said Vijay Swarup,
vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research
and Engineering Company.
“Inspired by reverse osmosis technology that has reduced energy
intensity tenfold for water purification, we decided to look into
ways to use new materials for liquids separation, which if brought
to industrial scale, could significantly reduce associated
greenhouse gas emissions,” said Swarup. “This is one of many new
materials ExxonMobil is researching to reduce energy intensity and
CO2 in our operations.”
The research successfully demonstrated that naphtha and
kerosene—the primary components of gasoline and jet fuel—can be
separated from light crude oil using pressure instead of heat,
reducing emissions and energy consumption significantly compared to
traditional, heat-based distillation methods.
Since 2014, the team of scientists has worked to identify
advanced membranes to separate light shale crude oil using
significantly less energy than used in typical refining processes.
In the gasoline and jet fuel range, the membranes developed by the
team are twice as effective as the most selective commercial
membranes in use today.
“This membrane technology was developed by a diverse team of
scientists and engineers using a ‘multi-scale’ approach that ranges
from the molecular-scale to realistic membrane devices,” said Ryan
Lively, the John H. Woody faculty fellow and associate professor in
Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical & Biomolecular
Engineering.
“It’s rare that chemists have the chance to participate in both
inventing new molecules and applying them to solve real-world
problems. In this case, it really took a whole village of differing
expertise to bring to fruition a new approach for separating the
components of crude oil using much less energy than before,” said
M.G. Finn, Chair of the School of Chemistry & Biochemistry at
Georgia Tech and a joint lead of the study along with Lively.
Additional research and development will be needed to progress
this technology to industrial scale.
“We have the foundational experience of bringing organic solvent
nanofiltration, a membrane technology becoming widely used in
pharmaceuticals and chemicals industries, to market,” said Andrew
Livingston, professor of chemical engineering at Imperial. “We
worked extensively with ExxonMobil and Georgia Tech to demonstrate
the potential scalability of this technology.”
Since 2000, ExxonMobil has invested approximately $10 billion in
projects to research, develop and deploy lower-emission energy
solutions. The company also continues to expand collaborative
efforts with more than 80 universities, five energy centers and
multiple private sector partners around the world to explore
next-generation energy technologies.
The researchers on the technology as written in Science include
Neel Rangnekar, J.R. Johnson, Scott Hoy and Benjamin McCool from
ExxonMobil; Kirstie Thompson, Ronita Mathias, Ryan Lively and M.G.
Finn from Georgia Institute of Technology; Daeok Kim, Jihoon Kim,
Irene Bechis, Andrew Tarzia and Kim Jelfs from Imperial College
London; and Andrew Livingston, concurrently with Imperial and Queen
Mary University of London.
About ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil (XOM), one of the largest publicly traded
international energy companies, uses technology and innovation to
help meet the world’s growing energy needs. ExxonMobil holds an
industry-leading inventory of resources, is one of the largest
refiners and marketers of petroleum products, and its chemical
company is one of the largest in the world. To learn more, visit
exxonmobil.com and the Energy Factor.
Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, located in Atlanta,
Georgia, is a leading research university committed to improving
the human condition through advanced science and technology. As a
leading technological university, Georgia Tech conducts
interdisciplinary research that contributes vital research and
innovation to government, industry, and business. Georgia Tech
provides a focused, technologically based education to more than
36,000 undergraduate and graduate students. For more information,
visit www.gatech.edu.
About Imperial College London
Imperial College London is one of the world's leading
universities. The College's 17,000 students and 8,000 staff are
expanding the frontiers of knowledge in science, medicine,
engineering and business, and translating their discoveries into
benefits for our society. Imperial is the UK's most international
university, according to Times Higher Education, with academic ties
to more than 150 countries. Reuters named the College as the UK's
most innovative university because of its exceptional
entrepreneurial culture and ties to industry.
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/
Cautionary Statement: Statements of
future events or conditions in this release are forward-looking
statements. Actual future results, including research plans,
project timing and the impact and results of new technologies, such
as efficiency gains and emission reductions, could vary depending
on the outcome of further research and testing; the development and
competitiveness of alternative technologies; the ability to scale
pilot projects on a cost-effective basis; political and regulatory
developments; and other factors discussed in this release and under
the heading “Factors Affecting Future Results” on the Investors
page of ExxonMobil’s website at exxonmobil.com.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200717005047/en/
ExxonMobil Media Relations 972-940-6007
Imperial College London Caroline Brogan
caroline.brogan@imperial.ac.uk +44(0)20 7594 3415
Georgia Tech John Toon jtoon@gatech.edu 404-894-6986
Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024