Crude oil refining requires repeated heating, vaporising and condensing to separate useful parts of the oil. This takes a great deal of energy.
Chinese researchers have tested a simpler approach for light naphtha, one part of crude oil. Instead of repeatedly boiling the mixture, the new method sends it through two specially designed membranes.
The membranes work like extremely fine sieves. One sorts molecules by size; the other sorts them by their chemical properties. This directs the molecules towards three useful products: material for making ethylene, chemical ingredients for products such as plastics, and components for petrol.
In a laboratory test using a simulated mixture of 15 chemicals, the system recovered 85–90% of the target materials. The researchers estimated that it used about 91% less energy than conventional distillation.
Why it matters
Using membranes instead of repeated heating could lower refinery energy use, costs and emissions. It could also separate valuable chemicals more precisely.
There is an important limit: this was a laboratory experiment, not a working industrial refinery. The membranes still need to prove that they can operate reliably, resist clogging and handle real oil mixtures at large scale.
For Singapore, a major refining and petrochemical hub, a successful membrane process could lower energy costs, carbon-tax exposure and emissions while helping Jurong Island remain competitive.
Sources
South China Morning Post:
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3367332/chinese-scientists-develop-new-oil-refining-method-may-cut-energy-use-90
Original open-access research paper:
https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwag488
Malcolm Low | Practical AI, Computing & Quantum Research 
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