Abstract: Ethylene and propylene are important basic chemical raw materials. In production process, the alkanes with the same carbon number as ethylene and propylene usually need to be removed. Their physical and chemical properties are similar, and the separation is difficult. At present, the main method is cryogenic separation with high energy consumption. In contrast, the adsorptive separation method using zeolites, MOFs and other adsorbent materials has the characteristics of low cost and low energy consumption. It is expected to become an alternative separation technology with low energy consumption. In this paper, the research progress of adsorptive separation methods for low-carbon alkanes and olefins at domestic and overseas in recent years was reviewed from the three aspects of adsorption mechanism, adsorbent materials,and desorption technology.The limitations and challenges of novel zeolites, MOFs adsorbent materials and their desorption technologies in the future were put forward, and the optimization direction was prospected.

Key words: low-carbon olefins, loe-carbon alkanes, adsorptive separation, zeolite, MOF