Frequency-dependent stability of CNT Joule heaters in ionizable media and desalination processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dudchenko, Alexander V.; Chen, Chuxiao; Cardenas, Alexis; Rolf, Julianne; Jassby, David

2017-07-01

Water shortages and brine waste management are increasing challenges for coastal and inland regions, with high-salinity brines presenting a particularly challenging problem. These high-salinity waters require the use of thermally driven treatment processes, such as membrane distillation, which suffer from high complexity and cost. Here, we demonstrate how controlling the frequency of an applied alternating current at high potentials (20 Vpp) to a porous thin-film carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer composite Joule heating element can prevent CNT degradation in ionizable environments such as high-salinity brines. By operating at sufficiently high frequencies, these porous thin-films can be directly immersed in highly ionizable environments and used as flow-through heating elements. We demonstrate that porous CNT/polymer composites can be used as self-heating membranes to directly heat high-salinity brines at the water/vapour interface of the membrane distillation element, achieving high single-pass recoveries that approach 100%, far exceeding standard membrane distillation recovery limits.

Experimental Evaluation of Hybrid Distillation-Vapor Permeation Process for Efficient Ethanol Recovery from Ethanol-Water Mixtures

EPA Science Inventory

The energy demand of distillation-based systems for ethanol recovery and dehydration can be significant, particularly for dilute solutions [1]. An alternative separation process integrating vapor stripping with a vapor compression step and a vapor permeation membrane separation ...

Separation of organic azeotropic mixtures by pervaporation. Final technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baker, R.W.

1991-12-01

Distillation is a commonly used separation technique in the petroleum refining and chemical processing industries. However, there are a number of potential separations involving azetropic and close-boiling organic mixtures that cannot be separated efficiently by distillation. Pervaporation is a membrane-based process that uses selective permeation through membranes to separate liquid mixtures. Because the separation process is not affected by the relative volatility of the mixture components being separated, pervaporation can be used to separate azetropes and close-boiling mixtures. Our results showed that pervaporation membranes can be used to separate azeotropic mixtures efficiently, a result that is not achievable with simplemore » distillation. The membranes were 5--10 times more permeable to one of the components of the mixture, concentrating it in the permeate stream. For example, the membrane was 10 times more permeable to ethanol than methyl ethyl ketone, producing 60% ethanol permeate from an azeotropic mixture of ethanol and methyl ethyl ketone containing 18% ethanol. For the ethyl acetate/water mixture, the membranes showed a very high selectivity to water (> 300) and the permeate was 50--100 times enriched in water relative to the feed. The membranes had permeate fluxes on the order of 0.1--1 kg/m{sup 2}{center_dot}h in the operating range of 55--70{degrees}C. Higher fluxes were obtained by increasing the operating temperature.« less

Separation of organic azeotropic mixtures by pervaporation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baker, R.W.

1991-12-01

Distillation is a commonly used separation technique in the petroleum refining and chemical processing industries. However, there are a number of potential separations involving azetropic and close-boiling organic mixtures that cannot be separated efficiently by distillation. Pervaporation is a membrane-based process that uses selective permeation through membranes to separate liquid mixtures. Because the separation process is not affected by the relative volatility of the mixture components being separated, pervaporation can be used to separate azetropes and close-boiling mixtures. Our results showed that pervaporation membranes can be used to separate azeotropic mixtures efficiently, a result that is not achievable with simplemore » distillation. The membranes were 5--10 times more permeable to one of the components of the mixture, concentrating it in the permeate stream. For example, the membrane was 10 times more permeable to ethanol than methyl ethyl ketone, producing 60% ethanol permeate from an azeotropic mixture of ethanol and methyl ethyl ketone containing 18% ethanol. For the ethyl acetate/water mixture, the membranes showed a very high selectivity to water (> 300) and the permeate was 50--100 times enriched in water relative to the feed. The membranes had permeate fluxes on the order of 0.1--1 kg/m{sup 2}{center dot}h in the operating range of 55--70{degrees}C. Higher fluxes were obtained by increasing the operating temperature.« less

Nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation for off-grid water purification.

PubMed

Dongare, Pratiksha D; Alabastri, Alessandro; Pedersen, Seth; Zodrow, Katherine R; Hogan, Nathaniel J; Neumann, Oara; Wu, Jinjian; Wang, Tianxiao; Deshmukh, Akshay; Elimelech, Menachem; Li, Qilin; Nordlander, Peter; Halas, Naomi J

2017-07-03

With more than a billion people lacking accessible drinking water, there is a critical need to convert nonpotable sources such as seawater to water suitable for human use. However, energy requirements of desalination plants account for half their operating costs, so alternative, lower energy approaches are equally critical. Membrane distillation (MD) has shown potential due to its low operating temperature and pressure requirements, but the requirement of heating the input water makes it energy intensive. Here, we demonstrate nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation (NESMD), where highly localized photothermal heating induced by solar illumination alone drives the distillation process, entirely eliminating the requirement of heating the input water. Unlike MD, NESMD can be scaled to larger systems and shows increased efficiencies with decreased input flow velocities. Along with its increased efficiency at higher ambient temperatures, these properties all point to NESMD as a promising solution for household- or community-scale desalination.

Nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation for off-grid water purification

PubMed Central

Dongare, Pratiksha D.; Alabastri, Alessandro; Pedersen, Seth; Zodrow, Katherine R.; Hogan, Nathaniel J.; Neumann, Oara; Wu, Jinjian; Wang, Tianxiao; Deshmukh, Akshay; Elimelech, Menachem; Li, Qilin; Nordlander, Peter; Halas, Naomi J.

2017-01-01

With more than a billion people lacking accessible drinking water, there is a critical need to convert nonpotable sources such as seawater to water suitable for human use. However, energy requirements of desalination plants account for half their operating costs, so alternative, lower energy approaches are equally critical. Membrane distillation (MD) has shown potential due to its low operating temperature and pressure requirements, but the requirement of heating the input water makes it energy intensive. Here, we demonstrate nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation (NESMD), where highly localized photothermal heating induced by solar illumination alone drives the distillation process, entirely eliminating the requirement of heating the input water. Unlike MD, NESMD can be scaled to larger systems and shows increased efficiencies with decreased input flow velocities. Along with its increased efficiency at higher ambient temperatures, these properties all point to NESMD as a promising solution for household- or community-scale desalination. PMID:28630307

Direct contact membrane distillation for textile wastewater treatment: a state of the art review.

PubMed

Ramlow, Heloisa; Machado, Ricardo Antonio Francisco; Marangoni, Cintia

2017-11-01

To meet surging water demands, water reuse is being sought as an alternative to traditional water resources. Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) has been increasingly studied in the past decade for its potential as an emerging cost effective wastewater treatment process and subsequent water reuse. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the current progress in the application of DCMD for textile wastewater treatment based on the available state of the art. There are already published review papers about the membrane distillation process, but the difference in the present work is that it focuses on the textile area, which consumes a lot of water and generates large amounts of wastewater, and still needs innovations in the sector. A review focused on the textile sector draws the attention of professionals to the problem and, consequently, to a solution. Current issues such as the influences of feed solution, membrane characteristics and membrane fouling and new insights are discussed. The main performance operating conditions and their effects on the separation process are given. Likewise, challenges associated with the influence of different dyes on the DCMD results are explained. This review also highlights the future research directions for DCMD to achieve successful implementation in the textile industry.

Purification of oily wastewater by hybrid UF/MD.

PubMed

Gryta, M; Karakulski, K; Morawski, A W

2001-10-01

Investigations on the treatment of oily wastewater by a combination of ultrafiltration (UF) and membrane distillation (MD) as a final purification method have been performed. A tubular UF module equipped with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes and a capillary MD module with polypropylene membranes were tested using a typical bilge water collected from a harbour without pretreatment. The permeate obtained from the UF process generally contains less than 5 ppm of oil. A further purification of the UF permeate by membrane distillation results in a complete removal of oil from wastewater and a very high reduction of the total organic carbon (99.5%) and total dissolved solids (99.9%).

Study on structure and hydrophobicity of PP/EVA co-blending membrane: Quenching rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Na; Li, Zhao; Hua, Xinxin

2017-03-01

Isotactic polypropylene (iPP)/ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) co-blending hydrophobic microporous membranes for vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) were prepared via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS). In the process of preparation, quenching rate has a great influence on the membrane morphology.

Water reclamation from shale gas drilling flow-back fluid using a novel forward osmosis-vacuum membrane distillation hybrid system.

PubMed

Li, Xue-Mei; Zhao, Baolong; Wang, Zhouwei; Xie, Ming; Song, Jianfeng; Nghiem, Long D; He, Tao; Yang, Chi; Li, Chunxia; Chen, Gang

2014-01-01

This study examined the performance of a novel hybrid system of forward osmosis (FO) combined with vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) for reclaiming water from shale gas drilling flow-back fluid (SGDF). In the hybrid FO-VMD system, water permeated through the FO membrane into a draw solution reservoir, and the VMD process was used for draw solute recovery and clean water production. Using a SGDF sample obtained from a drilling site in China, the hybrid system could achieve almost 90% water recovery. Quality of the reclaimed water was comparable to that of bottled water. In the hybrid FO-VMD system, FO functions as a pre-treatment step to remove most contaminants and constituents that may foul or scale the membrane distillation (MD) membrane, whereas MD produces high quality water. It is envisioned that the FO-VMD system can recover high quality water not only from SGDF but also other wastewaters with high salinity and complex compositions.

Electrospun superhydrophobic membranes with unique structures for membrane distillation.

PubMed

Liao, Yuan; Loh, Chun-Heng; Wang, Rong; Fane, Anthony G

2014-09-24

With modest temperature demand, low operating pressure, and high solute rejection, membrane distillation (MD) is an attractive option for desalination, waste treatment, and food and pharmaceutical processing. However, large-scale practical applications of MD are still hindered by the absence of effective membranes with high hydrophobicity, high porosity, and adequate mechanical strength, which are important properties for MD permeation fluxes, stable long-term performance, and effective packing in modules without damage. This study describes novel design strategies for highly robust superhydrophobic dual-layer membranes for MD via electrospinning. One of the newly developed membranes comprises a durable and ultrathin 3-dimensional (3D) superhydrophobic skin and porous nanofibrous support whereas another was fabricated by electrospinning 3D superhydrophobic layers on a nonwoven support. These membranes exhibit superhydrophobicity toward distilled water, salty water, oil-in-water emulsion, and beverages, which enables them to be used not only for desalination but also for other processes. The superhydrophobic dual-layer membrane #3S-N with nanofibrous support has a competitive permeation flux of 24.6 ± 1.2 kg m(-2) h(-1) in MD (feed and permeate temperate were set as 333 and 293 K, respectively) due to the higher porosity of the nanofibrous scaffold. Meanwhile, the membranes with the nonwoven support exhibit greater mechanical strength due to this support combined with better long-term performance because of the thicker 3D superhydrophobic layers. The morphology, pore size, porosity, mechanical properties, and liquid enter pressure of water of these superhydrophobic composite membranes with two different structures are reported and compared with commercial polyvinylidene fluoride membranes.

Integrated distillation-membrane process for bio-ethanol and bio-butanol recovery from actual fermentation broths: Separation energy efficiency and fate of secondary fermentation products

EPA Science Inventory

A hybrid process integrating vapor stripping with vapor compression and vapor permeation membrane separation, termed Membrane Assisted Vapor Stripping (MAVS), was evaluated for recovery and dehydration of ethanol and/or 1-butanol from aqueous solution as an alternative to convent...

Design of Microporosity in Membrane Distillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Tom; Patankar, Neelesh

2017-11-01

Membrane Distillation (MD) is a desalination method where only vapor can pass through pores in a hydrophobic membrane. Unlike reverse osmosis, MD is insensitive to feed salinity (osmotic pressure) and demonstrates near 100% salt rejection in processing wastewater with a high concentration of nonvolatile impurities. To maximize vapor flux and maintain salt rejection, we demonstrate using molecular dynamics the critical pore radius below which the liquid feed will not intrude or nucleate inside the pores for cylindrical, re-entrant and conical pore geometries. We note that re-entrant structures not only can process low surface-tension wastewater due to its inherent oleophobicity, but can also be optimized to achieve maximum vapor transport compared to all other pore geometries as a function of the material hydrophobicity.

Fouling-Resistant Membranes for Treating Concentrated Brines for Water Reuse in Advanced Energy Systems- Final Technical Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hendren, Zachary; Choi, Young Chul

The high total dissolved solids (TDS) levels in the wastewater quality generated from unconventional oil and gas development make the current state-of-the art approach to water treatment/disposal untenable. Our proposed membrane technology approach addresses the two major challenges associated with this water: 1) the membrane distillation process removes the high TDS content, which is often 8 times higher than that of seawater, and 2) our novel membrane coating prevents the formation of scale that would otherwise pose a significant operational hurdle. This is accomplished through next-generation electrically conductive membranes that mitigate fouling beyond what is currently possible, and allow formore » the flexibility to treat to the water to levels desirable for multiple reuse options, thus reducing fresh water withdrawal, all the way to direct disposal into the environment. The overall project objective was to demonstrate the efficacy of membrane distillation (MD) as a cost-savings technology to treat concentrated brines (such as, but not limited to, produced waters generated from fossil fuel extraction) that have high levels of TDS for beneficial water reuse in power production and other industrial operations as well as agricultural and municipal water uses. In addition, a novel fouling-resistant nanocomposite membrane was developed to reduce the need for chemicals to address membrane scaling due to the precipitation of divalent ions in high-TDS waters and improve overall MD performance via an electrically conductive membrane distillation process (ECMD). This anti-fouling membrane technology platform is based on incorporating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into the surface layer of existing, commercially available MD membranes. The CNTs impart electrical conductivity to the membrane surface to prevent membrane scaling and fouling when an electrical potential is applied.« less

Integrated forward osmosis-membrane distillation process for human urine treatment.

PubMed

Liu, Qianliang; Liu, Caihong; Zhao, Lei; Ma, Weichao; Liu, Huiling; Ma, Jun

2016-03-15

This study demonstrated a forward osmosis-membrane distillation (FO-MD) hybrid system for real human urine treatment. A series of NaCl solutions at different concentrations were adopted for draw solutions in FO process, which were also the feed solutions of MD process. To establish a stable and continuous integrated FO-MD system, individual FO process with different NaCl concentrations and individual direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process with different feed temperatures were firstly investigated separately. Four stable equilibrium conditions were obtained from matching the water transfer rates of individual FO and MD processes. It was found that the integrated system is stable and sustainable when the water transfer rate of FO subsystem is equal to that of MD subsystem. The rejections to main contaminants in human urine were also investigated. Although individual FO process had relatively high rejection to Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Total Nitrogen (TN) and Ammonium Nitrogen (NH4(+)-N) in human urine, these contaminants could also accumulate in draw solution after long term performance. The MD process provided an effective rejection to contaminants in draw solution after FO process and the integrated system revealed nearly complete rejection to TOC, TN and NH4(+)-N. This work provided a potential treatment process for human urine in some fields such as water regeneration in space station and water or nutrient recovery from source-separated urine. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contaminant Permeation in the Ionomer-Membrane Water Processor (IWP) System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelsey, Laura K.; Finger, Barry W.; Pasadilla, Patrick; Perry, Jay

2016-01-01

The Ionomer-membrane Water Processor (IWP) is a patented membrane-distillation based urine brine water recovery system. The unique properties of the IWP membrane pair limit contaminant permeation from the brine to the recovered water and purge gas. A paper study was conducted to predict volatile trace contaminant permeation in the IWP system. Testing of a large-scale IWP Engineering Development Unit (EDU) with urine brine pretreated with the International Space Station (ISS) pretreatment formulation was then conducted to collect air and water samples for quality analysis. Distillate water quality and purge air GC-MS results are presented and compared to predictions, along with implications for the IWP brine processing system.

Enhanced Flux and Electrochemical Cleaning of Silicate Scaling on Carbon Nanotube-Coated Membrane Distillation Membranes Treating Geothermal Brines.

PubMed

Tang, Li; Iddya, Arpita; Zhu, Xiaobo; Dudchenko, Alexander V; Duan, Wenyan; Turchi, Craig; Vanneste, Johann; Cath, Tzahi Y; Jassby, David

2017-11-08

The desalination of inland brackish groundwater offers the opportunity to provide potable drinking water to residents and industrial cooling water to industries located in arid regions. Geothermal brines are used to generate electricity, but often contain high concentrations of dissolved salt. Here, we demonstrate how the residual heat left in spent geothermal brines can be used to drive a membrane distillation (MD) process and recover desalinated water. Porous polypropylene membranes were coated with a carbon nanotube (CNT)/poly(vinyl alcohol) layer, resulting in composite membranes having a binary structure that combines the hydrophobic properties critical for MD with the hydrophilic and conductive properties of the CNTs. We demonstrate that the addition of the CNT layer increases membrane flux due to enhanced heat transport from the bulk feed to the membrane surface, a result of CNT's high thermal transport properties. Furthermore, we show how hydroxide ion generation, driven by water electrolysis on the electrically conducting membrane surface, can be used to efficiently dissolve silicate scaling that developed during the process of desalinating the geothermal brine, negating the need for chemical cleaning.

Preparation of novel poly(vinylidene fluoride)/TiO2 photocatalysis membranes for use in direct contact membrane distillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yukun; Dong, Shuying; Zhu, Liang

2018-03-01

Immobilization of TiO2 is a potential approach to obtain photocatalytic membranes that could eliminate concentration polarization in sewage disposal for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process. A simple non-solvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) method was proposed to prepare poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane, and the double-coating technology was further used to prepare the self-cleaning membranes with different TiO2 content. The effects of TiO2 nano-particles on membrane crystal form, morphology, porosity, pore size, pore size distribution, hydrophobicity, permeation, and photocatalytic efficiency were investigated, respectively. The flux of the prepared membranes is higher than the membrane (MS) provided by Membrane Solutions, LLC, in DCMD process. The contact angle between water and membrane could be increased 22° by introducing photocatalytic layer containing TiO2. During the photocatalytic test, 65.78-96.31% degrading rate of 15 mg/L Rhodamine B (RhB) was achieved. The relative flux of the membrane T-3 can be recovered to 0.96 in photocatalysis-membrane reactor for 8 h UV radiation. The fabricated membrane has great potential in high-salty dyeing wastewater treatment due to its high hydrophobicity and photocatalytic capability. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

On the Recent Use of Membrane Technology for Olive Mill Wastewater Purification

PubMed Central

Ochando-Pulido, Javier Miguel; Martinez-Ferez, Antonio

2015-01-01

Many reclamation treatments as well as integrated processes for the purification of olive mill wastewaters (OMW) have already been proposed and developed but not led to completely satisfactory results, principally due to complexity or cost-ineffectiveness. The olive oil industry in its current status, composed of little and dispersed factories, cannot stand such high costs. Moreover, these treatments are not able to abate the high concentration of dissolved inorganic matter present in these highly polluted effluents. In the present work, a review on the actual state of the art concerning the treatment and disposal of OMW by membranes is addressed, comprising microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO), as well as membrane bioreactors (MBR) and non-conventional membrane processes such as vacuum distillation (VD), osmotic distillation (OD) and forward osmosis (FO). Membrane processes are becoming extensively used to replace many conventional processes in the purification of water and groundwater as well as in the reclamation of wastewater streams of very diverse sources, such as those generated by agro-industrial activities. Moreover, a brief insight into inhibition and control of fouling by properly-tailored pretreatment processes upstream the membrane operation and the use of the critical and threshold flux theories is provided. PMID:26426062

Electrospun Membranes for Environmental Protection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manea, L. R.; Bertea, A.; Popa, A.; Bertea, A. P.

2018-06-01

Electrospinning is a much-used process for making nano-sized fibres as a result of its simplicity and versatility and of unique mechanical and thermodynamic properties of the obtained nanofibres. Electrospun membranes, which have a porous structure characterized by high uniformity and porosity, find applications in many membrane processes, ranging from membrane distillation to reverse osmosis. The paper reviews electrospun membranes applications in environmental protection, focusing on water and wastewater treatment and air purification. Recent progress and prospects for future development are highlighted.

Final Report - Energy Reduction and Advanced Water Removal via Membrane Solvent Extraction Technology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reed, John; Fanselow, Dan; Abbas, Charles

2014-08-06

3M and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) collaborated with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and demonstrate a novel membrane solvent extraction (MSE) process that can substantially reduce energy and water consumption in ethanol production, and accelerate the fermentation process. A cross-flow membrane module was developed, using porous membrane manufactured by 3M. A pilot process was developed that integrates fermentation, MSE and vacuum distillation. Extended experiments of 48-72 hours each were conducted to develop the process, verify its performance and begin establishing commercial viability.

Enhanced Flux and Electrochemical Cleaning of Silicate Scaling on Carbon Nanotube-Coated Membrane Distillation Membranes Treating Geothermal Brines

DOE PAGES

Tang, Li; Iddya, Arpita; Zhu, Xiaobo; ...

2017-10-13

The desalination of inland brackish groundwater offers the opportunity to provide potable drinking water to residents and industrial cooling water to industries located in arid regions. Geothermal brines are used to generate electricity, but often contain high concentrations of dissolved salt. Here in this paper, we demonstrate how the residual heat left in spent geothermal brines can be used to drive a membrane distillation (MD) process and recover desalinated water. Porous polypropylene membranes were coated with a carbon nanotube (CNT)/poly(vinyl alcohol) layer, resulting in composite membranes having a binary structure that combines the hydrophobic properties critical for MD with themore » hydrophilic and conductive properties of the CNTs. We demonstrate that the addition of the CNT layer increases membrane flux due to enhanced heat transport from the bulk feed to the membrane surface, a result of CNT's high thermal transport properties. Furthermore, we show how hydroxide ion generation, driven by water electrolysis on the electrically conducting membrane surface, can be used to efficiently dissolve silicate scaling that developed during the process of desalinating the geothermal brine, negating the need for chemical cleaning.« less

Enhanced Flux and Electrochemical Cleaning of Silicate Scaling on Carbon Nanotube-Coated Membrane Distillation Membranes Treating Geothermal Brines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tang, Li; Iddya, Arpita; Zhu, Xiaobo

The desalination of inland brackish groundwater offers the opportunity to provide potable drinking water to residents and industrial cooling water to industries located in arid regions. Geothermal brines are used to generate electricity, but often contain high concentrations of dissolved salt. Here in this paper, we demonstrate how the residual heat left in spent geothermal brines can be used to drive a membrane distillation (MD) process and recover desalinated water. Porous polypropylene membranes were coated with a carbon nanotube (CNT)/poly(vinyl alcohol) layer, resulting in composite membranes having a binary structure that combines the hydrophobic properties critical for MD with themore » hydrophilic and conductive properties of the CNTs. We demonstrate that the addition of the CNT layer increases membrane flux due to enhanced heat transport from the bulk feed to the membrane surface, a result of CNT's high thermal transport properties. Furthermore, we show how hydroxide ion generation, driven by water electrolysis on the electrically conducting membrane surface, can be used to efficiently dissolve silicate scaling that developed during the process of desalinating the geothermal brine, negating the need for chemical cleaning.« less

Membrane Distillation of Meat Industry Effluent with Hydrophilic Polyurethane Coated Polytetrafluoroethylene Membranes

PubMed Central

Mostafa, M. G.; Zhu, Bo; Cran, Marlene; Dow, Noel; Milne, Nicholas; Desai, Dilip

2017-01-01

Meat rendering operations produce stick water waste which is rich in proteins, fats, and minerals. Membrane distillation (MD) may further recover water and valuable solids, but hydrophobic membranes are contaminated by the fats. Here, commercial hydrophobic polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) membranes with a hydrophilic polyurethane surface layer (PU-PTFE) are used for the first time for direct contact MD (DCMD) on real poultry, fish, and bovine stick waters. Metal membrane microfiltration (MMF) was also used to capture fats prior to MD. Although the standard hydrophobic PTFE membranes failed rapidly, PU-PTFE membranes effectively processed all stick water samples to colourless permeate with sodium rejections >99%. Initial clean solution fluxes 5–6 L/m2/h declined to less than half during short 40% water recovery tests for all stick water samples. Fish stick water uniquely showed reduced fouling and up to 78% water recovery. Lost flux was easily restored by rinsing the membrane with clean water. MMF prior to MD removed 92% of fats, facilitating superior MD performance. Differences in fouling between stick waters were attributed to temperature polarisation from higher melt temperature fats and relative proportions to proteins. Hydrophilic coated MD membranes are applicable to stick water processing but further studies should consider membrane cleaning and longer-term stability. PMID:28961203

Membrane Distillation Bioreactor (MDBR) - A lower Green-House-Gas (GHG) option for industrial wastewater reclamation.

PubMed

Goh, Shuwen; Zhang, Jinsong; Liu, Yu; Fane, Anthony G

2015-12-01

A high-retention membrane bioreactor system, the Membrane Distillation Bioreactor (MDBR) is a wastewater reclamation process which has the potential to tap on waste heat generated in industries to produce high quality product water. There are a few key factors which could make MDBR an attractive advanced treatment option, namely tightening legal requirements due to increasing concerns on the micropollutants in industrial wastewater effluents as well as concerns over the electrical requirement of pressurized advanced treatment processes and greenhouse gas emissions associated with wastewater reclamation. This paper aims to provide a consolidated review on the current state of research for the MDBR system and to evaluate the system as a possible lower Green House Gas (GHG) emission option for wastewater reclamation using the membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis (MBR-RO) system as a baseline for comparison. The areas for potential applications and possible configurations for MDBR applications are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance and Fouling Study of Asymmetric PVDF Membrane Applied in the Concentration of Organic Fertilizer by Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD)

PubMed Central

Liu, Yanfei; Bao, Chenghuan; Zhang, Jifei; Yang, Xing

2018-01-01

This study proposes using membrane distillation (MD) as an alternative to the conventional multi-stage flushing (MSF) process to concentrate a semi-product of organic fertilizer. By applying a unique asymmetric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane, which was specifically designed for MD applications using a nonsolvent thermally induced phase separation (NTIPS) method, the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) performance was investigated in terms of its sustainability in permeation flux, fouling resistance, and anti-wetting properties. It was found that the permeation flux increased with increasing flow rate, while the top-surface facing feed mode was the preferred orientation to achieve 25% higher flux than the bottom-surface facing feed mode. Compared to the commercial polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane, the asymmetric PVDF membrane exhibited excellent anti-fouling and sustainable flux, with less than 8% flux decline in a 15 h continuous operation, i.e., flux decreased slightly and was maintained as high as 74 kg·m−2·h−1 at 70 °C. Meanwhile, the lost flux was easily recovered by clean water rinsing. Overall 2.6 times concentration factor was achieved in 15 h MD operation, with 63.4% water being removed from the fertilizer sample. Further concentration could be achieved to reach the desired industrial standard of 5x concentration factor. PMID:29462942

Hybrid Vapor Stripping-Vapor Permeation Process for Recovery and Dehydration of 1-Butanol and Acetone/Butanol/Ethanol from Dilute Aqueous Solutions. Part 2. Experimental Validation with Simple Mixtures and Actual Fermentation Broth

EPA Science Inventory

BACKGROUND: In Part1 of this work, a process integrating vapor stripping, vapor compression, and a vapor permeation membrane separation step, Membrane Assisted Vapor Stripping (MAVS), was predicted to produce energy savings compared to traditional distillation systems for separat...

A conceptual demonstration of freeze desalination-membrane distillation (FD-MD) hybrid desalination process utilizing liquefied natural gas (LNG) cold energy.

PubMed

Wang, Peng; Chung, Tai-Shung

2012-09-01

The severe global water scarcity and record-high fossil oil price have greatly stimulated the research interests on new desalination technologies which can be driven by renewable energy or waste energy. In this study, a hybrid desalination process comprising freeze desalination and membrane distillation (FD-MD) processes was developed and explored in an attempt to utilize the waste cold energy released from re-gasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The concept of this technology was demonstrated using indirect-contact freeze desalination (ICFD) and direct-contact membrane distillation (DCMD) configurations. By optimizing the ICFD operation parameters, namely, the usage of nucleate seeds, operation duration and feed concentration, high quality drinkable water with a low salinity ∼0.144 g/L was produced in the ICFD process. At the same time, using the optimized hollow fiber module length and packing density in the DCMD process, ultra pure water with a low salinity of 0.062 g/L was attained at a condition of high energy efficiency (EE). Overall, by combining FD and MD processes and adopting the optimized operation parameters, the hybrid FD-MD system has been successfully demonstrated. A high total water recovery of 71.5% was achieved, and the water quality obtained met the standard for drinkable water. In addition, with results from specific energy calculation, it was proven that the hybrid process is an energy-saving process and utilization of LNG cold energy could greatly reduce the total energy consumption. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Osmotic Membrane Bioreactor-Membrane Distillation System for Simultaneous Wastewater Reuse and Seawater Desalination: Performance and Implications.

PubMed

Luo, Wenhai; Phan, Hop V; Li, Guoxue; Hai, Faisal I; Price, William E; Elimelech, Menachem; Nghiem, Long D

2017-12-19

In this study, we demonstrate the potential of an osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR)-membrane distillation (MD) hybrid system for simultaneous wastewater reuse and seawater desalination. A stable OMBR water flux of approximately 6 L m -2 h -1 was achieved when using MD to regenerate the seawater draw solution. Water production by the MD process was higher than that from OMBR to desalinate additional seawater and thus account for draw solute loss due to the reverse salt flux. Amplicon sequencing on the Miseq Illumina platform evidenced bacterial acclimatization to salinity build-up in the bioreactor, though there was a reduction in the bacterial community diversity. In particular, 18 halophilic and halotolerant bacterial genera were identified with notable abundance in the bioreactor. Thus, the effective biological treatment was maintained during OMBR-MD operation. By coupling biological treatment and two high rejection membrane processes, the OMBR-MD hybrid system could effectively remove (>90%) all 30 trace organic contaminants of significant concern investigated here and produce high quality water. Nevertheless, further study is necessary to address MD membrane fouling due to the accumulation of organic matter, particularly protein- and humic-like substances, in seawater draw solution.

Observer-based perturbation extremum seeking control with input constraints for direct-contact membrane distillation process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eleiwi, Fadi; Laleg-Kirati, Taous Meriem

2018-06-01

An observer-based perturbation extremum seeking control is proposed for a direct-contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process. The process is described with a dynamic model that is based on a 2D advection-diffusion equation model which has pump flow rates as process inputs. The objective of the controller is to optimise the trade-off between the permeate mass flux and the energy consumption by the pumps inside the process. Cases of single and multiple control inputs are considered through the use of only the feed pump flow rate or both the feed and the permeate pump flow rates. A nonlinear Lyapunov-based observer is designed to provide an estimation for the temperature distribution all over the designated domain of the DCMD process. Moreover, control inputs are constrained with an anti-windup technique to be within feasible and physical ranges. Performance of the proposed structure is analysed, and simulations based on real DCMD process parameters for each control input are provided.

Membrane distillation combined with an anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor for treating municipal wastewater.

PubMed

Kim, Hyun-Chul; Shin, Jaewon; Won, Seyeon; Lee, Jung-Yeol; Maeng, Sung Kyu; Song, Kyung Guen

2015-03-15

A fermentative strategy with an anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor (AMBBR) was used for the treatment of domestic wastewater. The feasibility of using a membrane separation technique for post-treatment of anaerobic bio-effluent was evaluated with emphasis on employing a membrane distillation (MD). Three different hydrophobic 0.2 μm membranes made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and polypropylene (PP) were examined in this study. The initial permeate flux of the membranes ranged from 2.5 to 6.3 L m(-2) h(-1) when treating AMBBR effluent at a temperature difference between the feed and permeate streams of 20 °C, with the permeate flux increasing in the order PP < PVDF < PTFE. The permeate flux of the PTFE membrane gradually decreased to 84% of the initial flux after the 45 h run for distillation, while a flux decline in MD with either the PVDF or PP membrane was not found under the identical distillation conditions. During long-term distillation with the PVDF membrane, total phosphorus was completely rejected and >98% rejection of dissolved organic carbon was also achieved. The characterization of wastewater effluent organic matter (EfOM) using an innovative suite of analytical tools verified that almost all of the EfOM was rejected via the PVDF MD treatment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nanofiber based triple layer hydro-philic/-phobic membrane - a solution for pore wetting in membrane distillation

PubMed Central

Prince, J. A.; Rana, D.; Matsuura, T.; Ayyanar, N.; Shanmugasundaram, T. S.; Singh, G.

2014-01-01

The innovative design and synthesis of nanofiber based hydro-philic/phobic membranes with a thin hydro-phobic nanofiber layer on the top and a thin hydrophilic nanofiber layer on the bottom of the conventional casted micro-porous layer which opens up a solution for membrane pore wetting and improves the pure water flux in membrane distillation. PMID:25377488

An anaerobic membrane bioreactor - membrane distillation hybrid system for energy recovery and water reuse: Removal performance of organic carbon, nutrients, and trace organic contaminants.

PubMed

Song, Xiaoye; Luo, Wenhai; McDonald, James; Khan, Stuart J; Hai, Faisal I; Price, William E; Nghiem, Long D

2018-07-01

In this study, a direct contact membrane distillation (MD) unit was integrated with an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) to simultaneously recover energy and produce high quality water for reuse from wastewater. Results show that AnMBR could produce 0.3-0.5L/g COD added biogas with a stable methane content of approximately 65%. By integrating MD with AnMBR, bulk organic matter and phosphate were almost completely removed. The removal of the 26 selected trace organic contaminants by AnMBR was compound specific, but the MD process could complement AnMBR removal, leading to an overall efficiency from 76% to complete removal by the integrated system. The results also show that, due to complete retention, organic matter (such as humic-like and protein-like substances) and inorganic salts accumulated in the MD feed solution and therefore resulted in significant fouling of the MD unit. As a result, the water flux of the MD process decreased continuously. Nevertheless, membrane pore wetting was not observed throughout the operation. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Feasibility Study of Ammonia Recovery from Coking Wastewater by Coupled Operation of a Membrane Contactor and Membrane Distillation

PubMed Central

Horng, Ren-Yang; Hsu, Shu-Fang; Chen, Shiao-Shing; Ho, Chia-Hua

2018-01-01

More than 80% of ammonia (NH3) in the steel manufacturing process wastewater is contributed from the coking wastewater, which is usually treated by biological processes. However, the NH3 in the coking wastewater is typically too high for biological treatment due to its inhibitory concentration. Therefore, a two-stage process including a hollow fiber membrane contactor (HFMC) and a modified membrane distillation (MD) system was developed and applied to reduce and recover NH3 from coking wastewater. The objectives of this paper are to evaluate different membrane materials, receiving solutions, and operation parameters for the system, remove NH3 from the coking wastewater to less than 300 mg N/L, which is amenable to the biological process, and recover ammonia solution for reuse. As a result, the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) HFMC using sulfuric acid as a receiving solution can achieve a maximum NH3-N transmembrane flux of 1.67 g N/m2·h at pH of 11.5 and reduce NH3 in the coking wastewater to less than 300 mg N/L. The NH3 in the converted ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) was then recovered by the modified MD using ice water as the receiving solution to produce ≥3% of ammonia solution for reuse. PMID:29510505

A new-generation asymmetric multi-bore hollow fiber membrane for sustainable water production via vacuum membrane distillation.

PubMed

Wang, Peng; Chung, Tai-Shung

2013-06-18

Due to the growing demand for potable water, the capacities for wastewater reclamation and saline water desalination have been increasing. More concerns are raised on the poor efficiency of removing certain contaminants by the current water purification technologies. Recent studies demonstrated superior separation performance of the vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) technology for the rejection of trace contaminants such as boron, dye, endocrine-disruptive chemical, and chloro-compound. However, the absence of suitable membranes with excellent wetting resistance and high permeation flux has severely hindered the VMD application as an effective water production process. This work presents a new generation multibore hollow fiber (MBF) membrane with excellent mechanical durability developed for VMD. Its micromorphology was uniquely designed with a tight surface and a fully porous matrix to maximize both high wetting resistance and permeation flux. Credit to the multibore configuration, a 65% improvement was obtained on the antiwetting property. Using a synthetic seawater feed, the new membrane with optimized fabrication condition exhibits a high flux and the salt rejection is consistently greater than 99.99%. In addition, a comparison of 7-bore and 6-bore MBF membranes was performed to investigate the optimum geometry design. The newly designed MBF membrane not only demonstrates its suitability for VMD but also makes VMD come true as an efficient process for water production.

Membrane-based processes for wastewater nutrient recovery: Technology, challenges, and future direction.

PubMed

Xie, Ming; Shon, Ho Kyong; Gray, Stephen R; Elimelech, Menachem

2016-02-01

Wastewater nutrient recovery holds promise for more sustainable water and agricultural industries. We critically review three emerging membrane processes - forward osmosis (FO), membrane distillation (MD) and electrodialysis (ED) - that can advance wastewater nutrient recovery. Challenges associated with wastewater nutrient recovery were identified. The advantages and challenges of applying FO, MD, and ED technologies to wastewater nutrient recovery are discussed, and directions for future research and development are identified. Emphasis is given to exploration of the unique mass transfer properties of these membrane processes in the context of wastewater nutrient recovery. We highlight that hybridising these membrane processes with existing nutrient precipitation process will lead to better management of and more diverse pathways for near complete nutrient recovery in wastewater treatment facilities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermodynamic modelling of a membrane distillation crystallisation process for the treatment of mining wastewater.

PubMed

Nathoo, Jeeten; Randall, Dyllon Garth

2016-01-01

Membrane distillation (MD) could be applicable in zero liquid discharge applications. This is due to the fact that MD is applicable at high salinity ranges which are generally outside the scope of reverse osmosis (RO) applications, although this requires proper management of precipitating salts to avoid membrane fouling. One way of managing these salts is with MD crystallisation (MDC). This paper focuses on the applicability of MDC for the treatment of mining wastewater by thermodynamically modelling the aqueous chemistry of the process at different temperatures. The paper is based on the typical brine generated from an RO process in the South African coal mining industry and investigates the effect water recovery and operating temperature have on the salts that are predicted to crystallise out, the sequence in which they will crystallise out and purities as a function of the water recovery. The study confirmed the efficacy of using thermodynamic modelling as a tool for investigating and predicting the crystallisation aspects of the MDC process. The key finding from this work was that, for an MDC process, a purer product can be obtained at higher operating temperatures and recoveries because of the inverse solubility of calcium sulphate.

ECUT: Energy Conversion and Utilization Technologies program biocatalysis research activity. Potential membrane applications to biocatalyzed processes: Assessment of concentration polarization and membrane fouling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ingham, J. D.

1983-01-01

Separation and purification of the products of biocatalyzed fermentation processes, such as ethanol or butanol, consumes most of the process energy required. Since membrane systems require substantially less energy for separation than most alternatives (e.g., distillation) they have been suggested for separation or concentration of fermentation products. This report is a review of the effects of concentration polarization and membrane fouling for the principal membrane processes: microfiltration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and electrodialysis including a discussion of potential problems relevant to separation of fermentation products. It was concluded that advanced membrane systems may result in significantly decreased energy consumption. However, because of the need to separate large amounts of water from much smaller amounts of product that may be more volatile than wate, it is not clear that membrane separations will necessarily be more efficient than alternative processes.

Separation process using pervaporation and dephlegmation

DOEpatents

Vane, Leland M.; Mairal, Anurag P.; Ng, Alvin; Alvarez, Franklin R.; Baker, Richard W.

2004-06-29

A process for treating liquids containing organic compounds and water. The process includes a pervaporation step in conjunction with a dephlegmation step to treat at least a portion of the permeate vapor from the pervaporation step. The process yields a membrane residue stream, a stream enriched in the more volatile component (usually the organic) as the overhead stream from the dephlegmator and a condensate stream enriched in the less volatile component (usually the water) as a bottoms stream from the dephlegmator. Any of these may be the principal product of the process. The membrane separation step may also be performed in the vapor phase, or by membrane distillation.

Simultaneous concentration and detoxification of lignocellulosic hydrolyzates by vacuum membrane distillation coupled with adsorption.

PubMed

Zhang, Yaqin; Li, Ming; Wang, Yafei; Ji, Xiaosheng; Zhang, Lin; Hou, Lian

2015-12-01

Low sugar concentration and the presence of various inhibitors are the major challenges associated with lignocellulosic hydrolyzates as a fermentation broth. Vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) process can be used to concentrate sugars and remove inhibitors (furans) efficiently, but it's not desirable for the removal of less volatile inhibitors such as acetic acid. In this study, a VMD-adsorption process was proposed to improve the removal of acetic acid, achieving simultaneous concentration and detoxification of lignocellulosic hydrolyzates by one step process. Results showed that sugars were concentrated with high rejections (>98%) and little sugar loss (<2%), with the significant reduction in nearly total furans (99.7%) and acetic acid (83.5%) under optimal operation conditions. Fermentation results showed the ethanol production of hydrolyzates concentrated and detoxified using the VMD-adsorption method were approximately 10-fold greater than from untreated hydrolyzates. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of dope solution temperature on the membrane structure and membrane distillation performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nawi, N. I. M.; Bilad, M. R.; Nordin, N. A. H. M.

2018-04-01

Membrane distillation (MD) is a non-isothermal process applicable to purify water using hydrophobic membrane. Membrane in MD is hydrophobic, permeable to water vapor but repels liquid water. MD membrane is expected to pose high flux, high fouling and scaling resistances and most importantly high wetting resistance. This study develops flat-sheet polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane by exploring both liquid-liquid and liquid-solid phase inversion technique largely to improve its wetting resistance and flux performance. We hypothesize that temperature of dope solution play roles in solid-liquid separation during membrane formation and an optimum balance between liquid-liquid and liquid-solid (crystallization) separation leads to highly performance PVDF membrane. Findings obtained from differential scanning calorimeter test show that increasing dope solution temperature reduces degree of PVDF crystallinity and suppresses formation of crystalline structure. The morphological images of the resulting membranes show that at elevated dope solution temperature (40, 60, 80 and 100°C), the spherulite-like structures are formed across the thickness of membranes ascribed from due to different type of crystals. The performance of direct-contact MD shows that the obtained flux of the optimum dope temperature (60°C) of 10.8 L/m2h is comparable to commercial PTFE-based MD membrane.

High flux and antifouling properties of negatively charged membrane for dyeing wastewater treatment by membrane distillation.

PubMed

An, Alicia Kyoungjin; Guo, Jiaxin; Jeong, Sanghyun; Lee, Eui-Jong; Tabatabai, S Assiyeh Alizadeh; Leiknes, TorOve

2016-10-15

This study investigated the applicability of membrane distillation (MD) to treat dyeing wastewater discharged by the textile industry. Four different dyes containing methylene blue (MB), crystal violet (CV), acid red 18 (AR18), and acid yellow 36 (AY36) were tested. Two types of hydrophobic membranes made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) were used. The membranes were characterized by testing against each dye (foulant-foulant) and the membrane-dye (membrane-foulant) interfacial interactions and their mechanisms were identified. The MD membranes possessed negative charges, which facilitated the treatment of acid and azo dyes of the same charge and showed higher fluxes. In addition, PTFE membrane reduced the wettability with higher hydrophobicity of the membrane surface. The PTFE membrane evidenced especially its resistant to dye absorption, as its strong negative charge and chemical structure caused a flake-like (loose) dye-dye structure to form on the membrane surface rather than in the membrane pores. This also enabled the recovery of flux and membrane properties by water flushing (WF), thereby direct-contact MD with PTFE membrane treating 100 mg/L of dye mixtures showed stable flux and superior color removal during five days operation. Thus, MD shows a potential for stable long-term operation in conjunction with a simple membrane cleaning process, and its suitability in dyeing wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fouling and long-term durability of an integrated forward osmosis and membrane distillation system.

PubMed

Husnain, T; Mi, B; Riffat, R

2015-01-01

An integrated forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation (MD) system has great potential for sustainable wastewater reuse. However, the fouling and long-term durability of the system remains largely unknown. This study investigates the fouling behaviour and efficiency of cleaning procedures of FO and MD membranes used for treating domestic wastewater. Results showed that a significant decline in flux of both FO and MD membranes were observed during treatment of wastewater with organic foulants. However, shear force generated by the increased cross-flow physically removed the loosely attached foulants from the FO membrane surface and resulted in 86-88% recovery of flux by cleaning with tap water. For the MD membrane, almost no flux recovery was achieved due to adsorption of organic foulants on the hydrophobic membrane surface, thus indicating significant irreversible fouling/wetting, which may not be effectively cleaned even with chemical reagents. Long-term (10 d) tests showed consistent performance of the FO membrane by rejecting the contaminants. However, organic foulants reduced the hydrophobicity of the MD membrane, caused wetting problems and allowed contaminants to pass through. The results demonstrate that combination of the FO and MD processes can effectively reduce irreversible membrane fouling and solve the wetting problem of the MD membrane.

Desalination by Membrane Distillation using Electrospun Polyamide Fiber Membranes with Surface Fluorination by Chemical Vapor Deposition.

PubMed

Guo, Fei; Servi, Amelia; Liu, Andong; Gleason, Karen K; Rutledge, Gregory C

2015-04-22

Fibrous membranes of poly(trimethyl hexamethylene terephthalamide) (PA6(3)T) were fabricated by electrospinning and rendered hydrophobic by applying a conformal coating of poly(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate) (PPFDA) using initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). A set of iCVD-treated electrospun PA6(3)T fiber membranes with fiber diameters ranging from 0.25 to 1.8 μm were tested for desalination using the air gap membrane distillation configuration. Permeate fluxes of 2-11 kg/m2/h were observed for temperature differentials of 20-45 °C between the feed stream and condenser plate, with rejections in excess of 99.98%. The liquid entry pressure was observed to increase dramatically, from 15 to 373 kPa with reduction in fiber diameter. Contrary to expectation, for a given feed temperature the permeate flux was observed to increase for membranes of decreasing fiber diameter. The results for permeate flux and salt rejection show that it is possible to construct membranes for membrane distillation even from intrinsically hydrophilic materials after surface modification by iCVD and that the fiber diameter is shown to play an important role on the membrane distillation performance in terms of permeate flux, salt rejection, and liquid entry pressure.

Space and Industrial Brine Drying Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Harry W.; Wisniewski, Richard S.; Flynn, Michael; Shaw, Hali

2014-01-01

This survey describes brine drying technologies that have been developed for use in space and industry. NASA has long considered developing a brine drying system for the International Space Station (ISS). Possible processes include conduction drying in many forms, spray drying, distillation, freezing and freeze drying, membrane filtration, and electrical processes. Commercial processes use similar technologies. Some proposed space systems combine several approaches. The current most promising candidates for use on the ISS use either conduction drying with membrane filtration or spray drying.

Investigation of polymer membranes modified by fullerenol for dehydration of organic mixtures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dmitrenko, Mariia E.; Penkova, Anastasia V.; Kuzminova, Anna I.; Ermakov, Sergey S.; Roizard, Denis

2017-07-01

This study focuses on the development of novel dense and supported mixed-matrix membranes based on chitosan and poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylenoxide) (PPO) with low-hydroxylated fullerenol C60(OH)12. These novel membranes containing nano-carbon particles were prepared to reach high membrane performances for further integration in a dehydration process like distillation coupled with pervaporation. SEM microscopy was used to visualize the internal morphology of the membrane. It was found that all membranes were well stable and highly water-selective in spite of the different nature of polymers.

A hybrid liquid-phase precipitation (LPP) process in conjunction with membrane distillation (MD) for the treatment of the INEEL sodium-bearing liquid waste.

PubMed

Bader, M S H

2005-05-20

A novel hybrid system combining liquid-phase precipitation (LPP) and membrane distillation (MD) is integrated for the treatment of the INEEL sodium-bearing liquid waste. The integrated system provides a "full separation" approach that consists of three main processing stages. The first stage is focused on the separation and recovery of nitric acid from the bulk of the waste stream using vacuum membrane distillation (VMD). In the second stage, polyvalent cations (mainly TRU elements and their fission products except cesium along with aluminum and other toxic metals) are separated from the bulk of monovalent anions and cations (dominantly sodium nitrate) by a front-end LPP. In the third stage, MD is used first to concentrate sodium nitrate to near saturation followed by a rear-end LPP to precipitate and separate sodium nitrate along with the remaining minor species from the bulk of the aqueous phase. The LPP-MD hybrid system uses a small amount of an additive and energy to carry out the treatment, addresses multiple critical species, extracts an economic value from some of waste species, generates minimal waste with suitable disposal paths, and offers rapid deployment. As such, the LPP-MD could be a valuable tool for multiple needs across the DOE complex where no effective or economic alternatives are available.

Optimization study of small-scale solar membrane distillation desalination systems (s-SMDDS).

PubMed

Chang, Hsuan; Chang, Cheng-Liang; Hung, Chen-Yu; Cheng, Tung-Wen; Ho, Chii-Dong

2014-11-24

Membrane distillation (MD), which can utilize low-grade thermal energy, has been extensively studied for desalination. By incorporating solar thermal energy, the solar membrane distillation desalination system (SMDDS) is a potential technology for resolving energy and water resource problems. Small-scale SMDDS (s-SMDDS) is an attractive and viable option for the production of fresh water for small communities in remote arid areas. The minimum cost design and operation of s-SMDDS are determined by a systematic method, which involves a pseudo-steady-state approach for equipment sizing and dynamic optimization using overall system mathematical models. Two s-SMDDS employing an air gap membrane distillation module with membrane areas of 11.5 m(2) and 23 m(2) are analyzed. The lowest water production costs are $5.92/m(3) and $5.16/m(3) for water production rates of 500 kg/day and 1000 kg/day, respectively. For these two optimal cases, the performance ratios are 0.85 and 0.91; the recovery ratios are 4.07% and 4.57%. The effect of membrane characteristics on the production cost is investigated. For the commercial membrane employed in this study, the increase of the membrane mass transfer coefficient up to two times is beneficial for cost reduction.

Optimization Study of Small-Scale Solar Membrane Distillation Desalination Systems (s-SMDDS)

PubMed Central

Chang, Hsuan; Chang, Cheng-Liang; Hung, Chen-Yu; Cheng, Tung-Wen; Ho, Chii-Dong

2014-01-01

Membrane distillation (MD), which can utilize low-grade thermal energy, has been extensively studied for desalination. By incorporating solar thermal energy, the solar membrane distillation desalination system (SMDDS) is a potential technology for resolving energy and water resource problems. Small-scale SMDDS (s-SMDDS) is an attractive and viable option for the production of fresh water for small communities in remote arid areas. The minimum cost design and operation of s-SMDDS are determined by a systematic method, which involves a pseudo-steady-state approach for equipment sizing and dynamic optimization using overall system mathematical models. Two s-SMDDS employing an air gap membrane distillation module with membrane areas of 11.5 m2 and 23 m2 are analyzed. The lowest water production costs are $5.92/m3 and $5.16/m3 for water production rates of 500 kg/day and 1000 kg/day, respectively. For these two optimal cases, the performance ratios are 0.85 and 0.91; the recovery ratios are 4.07% and 4.57%. The effect of membrane characteristics on the production cost is investigated. For the commercial membrane employed in this study, the increase of the membrane mass transfer coefficient up to two times is beneficial for cost reduction. PMID:25421065

A review on methods of regeneration of spent pickling solutions from steel processing.

PubMed

Regel-Rosocka, Magdalena

2010-05-15

The review presents various techniques of regeneration of spent pickling solutions, including the methods with acid recovery, such as diffusion dialysis, electrodialysis, membrane electrolysis and membrane distillation, evaporation, precipitation and spray roasting as well as those with acid and metal recovery: ion exchange, retardation, crystallization solvent and membrane extraction. Advantages and disadvantages of the techniques are presented, discussed and confronted with the best available techniques requirements. Most of the methods presented meet the BAT requirements. The best available techniques are electrodialysis, diffusion dialysis and crystallization; however, in practice spray roasting and retardation/ion-exchange are applied most frequently for spent pickling solution regeneration. As "waiting for their chance" solvent extraction, non-dispersive solvent extraction and membrane distillation should be indicated because they are well investigated and developed. Environmental and economic benefits of the methods presented in the review depend on the cost of chemicals and wastewater treatment, legislative regulations and cost of modernization of existing technologies or implementation of new ones. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Membrane separation systems---A research and development needs assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baker, R.W.; Cussler, E.L.; Eykamp, W.

1990-04-01

Industrial separation processes consume a significant portion of the energy used in the United States. A 1986 survey by the Office of Industrial Programs estimated that about 4.2 quads of energy are expended annually on distillation, drying and evaporation operations. This survey also concluded that over 0.8 quads of energy could be saved in the chemical, petroleum and food industries alone if these industries adopted membrane separation systems more widely. Membrane separation systems offer significant advantages over existing separation processes. In addition to consuming less energy than conventional processes, membrane systems are compact and modular, enabling easy retrofit to existingmore » industrial processes. The present study was commissioned by the Department of Energy, Office of Program Analysis, to identify and prioritize membrane research needs in light of DOE's mission. Each report will be individually cataloged.« less

Water treatment capacity of forward osmosis systems utilizing power plant waste heat

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Xingshi; Gingerich, Daniel B.; Mauter, Meagan S.

Forward osmosis (FO) has the potential to improve the energy efficiency of membrane-based water treatment by leveraging waste heat from steam electric power generation as the primary driving force for separation. In this study, we develop a comprehensive FO process model, consisting of membrane separation, heat recovery, and draw solute regeneration (DSR) models. We quantitatively characterize three alternative processes for DSR: distillation, steam stripping, and air stripping. We then construct a mathematical model of the distillation process for DSR that incorporates hydrodynamics, mass and heat transport resistances, and reaction kinetics, and we integrate this into a model for the fullmore » FO process. Finally, we utilize this FO process model to derive a first-order approximation of the water production capacity given the rejected heat quantity and quality available at U.S. electric power facilities. We find that the upper bound of FO water treatment capacity using low-grade heat sources at electric power facilities exceeds process water treatment demand for boiler water make-up and flue gas desulfurization wastewater systems.« less

Water treatment capacity of forward osmosis systems utilizing power plant waste heat

DOE PAGES

Zhou, Xingshi; Gingerich, Daniel B.; Mauter, Meagan S.

2015-06-11

Forward osmosis (FO) has the potential to improve the energy efficiency of membrane-based water treatment by leveraging waste heat from steam electric power generation as the primary driving force for separation. In this study, we develop a comprehensive FO process model, consisting of membrane separation, heat recovery, and draw solute regeneration (DSR) models. We quantitatively characterize three alternative processes for DSR: distillation, steam stripping, and air stripping. We then construct a mathematical model of the distillation process for DSR that incorporates hydrodynamics, mass and heat transport resistances, and reaction kinetics, and we integrate this into a model for the fullmore » FO process. Finally, we utilize this FO process model to derive a first-order approximation of the water production capacity given the rejected heat quantity and quality available at U.S. electric power facilities. We find that the upper bound of FO water treatment capacity using low-grade heat sources at electric power facilities exceeds process water treatment demand for boiler water make-up and flue gas desulfurization wastewater systems.« less

A novel osmosis membrane bioreactor-membrane distillation hybrid system for wastewater treatment and reuse.

PubMed

Nguyen, Nguyen Cong; Nguyen, Hau Thi; Chen, Shiao-Shing; Ngo, Huu Hao; Guo, Wenshan; Chan, Wen Hao; Ray, Saikat Sinha; Li, Chi-Wang; Hsu, Hung-Te

2016-06-01

A novel approach was designed to simultaneously enhance nutrient removal and reduce membrane fouling for wastewater treatment using an attached growth biofilm (AGB) integrated with an osmosis membrane bioreactor (OsMBR) system for the first time. In this study, a highly charged organic compound (HEDTA(3-)) was employed as a novel draw solution in the AGB-OsMBR system to obtain a low reverse salt flux, maintain a healthy environment for the microorganisms. The AGB-OsMBR system achieved a stable water flux of 3.62L/m(2)h, high nutrient removal of 99% and less fouling during a 60-day operation. Furthermore, the high salinity of diluted draw solution could be effectively recovered by membrane distillation (MD) process with salt rejection of 99.7%. The diluted draw solution was re-concentrated to its initial status (56.1mS/cm) at recovery of 9.8% after 6h. The work demonstrated that novel multi-barrier systems could produce high quality potable water from impaired streams. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Boron removal from aqueous solution by direct contact membrane distillation.

PubMed

Hou, Deyin; Wang, Jun; Sun, Xiangcheng; Luan, Zhaokun; Zhao, Changwei; Ren, Xiaojing

2010-05-15

The removal of boron from aqueous solution by direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) was studied with self-prepared polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes in the present work. The effect of pH, boron concentration, temperature and salt concentration of the feed solution on the boron rejection was investigated. The experimental results indicated that boron rejection was less dependent on the feed pH and salt concentration. DCMD process had high boron removal efficiency (>99.8%) and the permeate boron was below the maximum permissible level even at feed concentration as high as 750 mg/L. Although the permeate flux was enhanced exponentially with the feed temperature increasing, the influence of feed temperature on the boron rejection could be neglected. Finally, the natural groundwater sample containing 12.7 mg/L of boron was treated by DCMD process. The permeate boron kept below 20 microg/L whether the feed was acidified or not, but pre-acidification was helpful to maintain the permeate flux stability. All the experimental results indicated that DCMD could be efficiently used for boron removal from aqueous solution. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

CARBOXYLIC ACID EFFECTS ON ETHANOL RECOVERY FROM AQUEOUS MIXTURES USING PERVAPORATION THROUGH MFI ZEOLITE-FILLED POLYDIMETHYLSILOXANE MEMBRANES

EPA Science Inventory

Most bioethanol is produced by fermenting sugars released from biomass and using distillation to recover the ethanol. Recovering ethanol from the fermentation broths using pervaporation through hydrophobic membranes is potentially economically competitive with distillation for s...

Omniphobic Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Membrane for Desalination of Shale Gas Produced Water by Membrane Distillation.

PubMed

Boo, Chanhee; Lee, Jongho; Elimelech, Menachem

2016-11-15

Microporous membranes fabricated from hydrophobic polymers such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) have been widely used for membrane distillation (MD). However, hydrophobic MD membranes are prone to wetting by low surface tension substances, thereby limiting their use in treating challenging industrial wastewaters, such as shale gas produced water. In this study, we present a facile and scalable approach for the fabrication of omniphobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes that repel both water and oil. Positive surface charge was imparted to an alkaline-treated PVDF membrane by aminosilane functionalization, which enabled irreversible binding of negatively charged silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) to the membrane through electrostatic attraction. The membrane with grafted SiNPs was then coated with fluoroalkylsilane (perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane) to lower the membrane surface energy. Results from contact angle measurements with mineral oil and surfactant solution demonstrated that overlaying SiNPs with ultralow surface energy significantly enhanced the wetting resistance of the membrane against low surface tension liquids. We also evaluated desalination performance of the modified membrane in direct contact membrane distillation with a synthetic wastewater containing surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate) and mineral oil, as well as with shale gas produced water. The omniphobic membrane exhibited a stable MD performance, demonstrating its potential application for desalination of challenging industrial wastewaters containing diverse low surface tension contaminants.

Optimization of permeate flux produced by solar energy driven membrane distillation process using central composite design approach.

PubMed

Bouguecha, Salah T; Boubakri, Ali; Aly, Samir E; Al-Beirutty, Mohammad H; Hamdi, Mohamed M

2016-01-01

Membrane distillation (MD) is considered as a relatively high-energy requirement. To overcome this drawback, it is recommended to couple the MD process with solar energy as the renewable energy source in order to provide heat energy required to optimize its performance to produce permeate flux. In the present work, an original solar energy driven direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) pilot plant was built and tested under actual weather conditions at Jeddah, KSA, in order to model and optimize permeate flux. The dependency of permeate flux on various operating parameters such as feed temperature (46.6-63.4°C), permeate temperature (6.6-23.4°C), feed flow rate (199-451L/h) and permeate flow rate (199-451L/h) was studied by response surface methodology based on central composite design approach. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirmed that all independent variables had significant influence on the model (where P-value <0.05). The high coefficient of determination (R(2) = 0.9644 and R(adj)(2) = 0.9261) obtained by ANOVA demonstrated good correlation between experimental and predicted values of the response. The optimized conditions, determined using desirability function, were T(f) = 63.4°C, Tp = 6.6°C, Q(f) = 451L/h and Q(p) = 451L/h. Under these conditions, the maximum permeate flux of 6.122 kg/m(2).h was achieved, which was close to the predicted value of 6.398 kg/m(2).h.

Prevention and management of silica scaling in membrane distillation using pH adjustment

DOE PAGES

Bush, John A.; Vanneste, Johan; Gustafson, Emily M.; ...

2018-02-27

Membrane scaling by silica is a major challenge in desalination, particularly for inland desalination of brackish groundwater or geothermal resources, which often contain high concentrations of silica and dissolved solids. Adjustment of feed pH may reduce silica scaling risk, which is important for inland facilities that operate at high water recoveries to reduce brine disposal costs. However, water recovery of reverse osmosis is also limited due to increased osmotic pressure with feed water concentration. Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven membrane desalination technique that is not limited by increased osmotic pressure of the feed. In this investigation, pH adjustmentmore » was tested as a strategy to reduce silica scaling risk in the MD process. With feed water pH less than 5 or higher than 10, scaling impacts were negligible at silica concentrations up to 600 mg/L. Scaling rates were highest at neutral pH between 6 and 8. Cleaning strategies were also explored to remove silica scale from membranes. Cleaning using NaOH solutions at pH higher than 11 to induce dissolution of silica scale was effective at temporarily restoring performance; however, some silica remained on membrane surfaces and scaling upon re-exposure to supersaturated silica concentrations occurred faster than with new membranes.« less

Prevention and management of silica scaling in membrane distillation using pH adjustment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bush, John A.; Vanneste, Johan; Gustafson, Emily M.

Membrane scaling by silica is a major challenge in desalination, particularly for inland desalination of brackish groundwater or geothermal resources, which often contain high concentrations of silica and dissolved solids. Adjustment of feed pH may reduce silica scaling risk, which is important for inland facilities that operate at high water recoveries to reduce brine disposal costs. However, water recovery of reverse osmosis is also limited due to increased osmotic pressure with feed water concentration. Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven membrane desalination technique that is not limited by increased osmotic pressure of the feed. In this investigation, pH adjustmentmore » was tested as a strategy to reduce silica scaling risk in the MD process. With feed water pH less than 5 or higher than 10, scaling impacts were negligible at silica concentrations up to 600 mg/L. Scaling rates were highest at neutral pH between 6 and 8. Cleaning strategies were also explored to remove silica scale from membranes. Cleaning using NaOH solutions at pH higher than 11 to induce dissolution of silica scale was effective at temporarily restoring performance; however, some silica remained on membrane surfaces and scaling upon re-exposure to supersaturated silica concentrations occurred faster than with new membranes.« less

Water droplets as template for next-generation self-assembled poly-(etheretherketone) with cardo membranes.

PubMed

Gugliuzza, Annarosa; Aceto, Marianna Carmela; Macedonio, Francesca; Drioli, Enrico

2008-08-28

Next generation PEEK-WC membranes have been fabricated by using an innovative self-assembly technique. Patterned architectures have been achieved via a solvent-reduced and water-assisted process, resulting in honeycomb packed geometry. The membranes exhibit monodisperse pores with size and shape comparable to those left by templating water droplets. Influencing factors for the formation of self-assembled poly-(etheretherketone) with Cardo [PEEK-WC] membranes have been evaluated, identifying the critical parameters for nucleation, growth, and propagation of the droplet-mobile arrays through the overall films. Structure-transport relationships have been discussed according to the results achieved from the implementation of membrane distillation processes, yielding indication about the suitability of self-assembled PEEK-WC films to work as interfaces in contactor operations.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Jia

Biorefineries convert biomass into many useful intermediates. For bio-based products to be used for fuel, energy, chemical, and many other applications, water needs to be removed from these aqueous products. Membrane separation technologies can significantly reduce separation energy consumption compared with conventional separation processes such as distillation. Nanoporous inorganic membranes have superior pervaporation performance with excellent organic fouling resistance. However, their commercial applications are limited due to high membrane costs and poor production reproducibility. A novel cost-effective inorganic membrane fabrication technology has been developed with low cost materials and using an advanced membrane fabrication technology. Low cost precursor material formulationmore » was successfully developed with desired material properties for membrane fabrication. An advanced membrane fabrication process was developed using the novel membrane materials to enable the fabrication of separation membranes of various geometries. The structural robustness and separation performance of the low cost inorganic membranes were evaluated. The novel inorganic membranes demonstrated high structural integrity and were effective in pervaporation removal of water.« less

Potential of membrane distillation for production of high quality fruit juice concentrate.

PubMed

Onsekizoglu Bagci, Pelin

2015-01-01

Fruit juices are generally concentrated in order to improve the stability during storage and to reduce handling, packaging, and transportation costs. Thermal evaporation is the most widely used technique in industrial fruit juice concentrate production. In addition to high energy consumption, a large part of the characteristics determining the quality of the fresh juice including aroma, color, vitamins, and antioxidants undergoes remarkable alterations through the use of high operation temperatures. Increasing consumer demand for minimally or naturally processed stable products able to retain as much possible the uniqueness of the fresh fruit has engendered a growing interest for development of nonthermal approaches for fruit juice concentration. Among them, membrane distillation (MD) and its variants have attracted much attention for allowing very high concentrations to be reached under atmospheric pressure and temperatures near ambient temperature. This review will provide an overview of the current status and recent developments in the use of MD for concentration of fruit juices. In addition to the most basic concepts of MD variants, crucial suggestions for membrane selection and operating parameters will be presented. Challenges and future trends for industrial adaptation taking into account the possibility of integrating MD with other existing processes will be discussed.

Treatment of high salinity brines by direct contact membrane distillation: Effect of membrane characteristics and salinity.

PubMed

Li, Jianfeng; Guan, Yunshan; Cheng, Fangqin; Liu, Yu

2015-12-01

Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) is one of the attractive technologies for high salinity brine treatment. In this study, four polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes were examined in treating highly concentrated salt solutions. Results showed that non-supported membranes generally have a higher overall mass transfer coefficient but porosity seems to be the most important parameter controlling membrane flux and thermal efficiency. Supported membranes with large thickness had relatively higher thermal efficiency than small thickness. This can be attributed to their reduced heat loss through heat condition. In addition, KCl, NaCl and MgCl2 solutions showed distinct trends over flux decline at high salt concentrations (⩾2.0M). The difference in flux was largely due to the discrepancy in water activities of these solutions (KCl>NaCl>MgCl2). However, the effect of viscosity on permeate flux could not be neglected for MgCl2 at high salt concentrations as the suddenly increased viscosity could lead to serious temperature polarization. This study indicates that membrane distillation is a promising technology for high salinity brine treatment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Omniphobic Membrane for Robust Membrane Distillation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, SH; Nejati, S; Boo, C

2014-11-01

In this work, we fabricate an omniphobic microporous membrane for membrane distillation (MD) by modifying a hydrophilic glass fiber membrane with silica nanoparticles followed by surface fluorination and polymer coating. The modified glass fiber membrane exhibits an anti-wetting property not only against water but also against low surface tension organic solvents that easily wet a hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane that is commonly used in MD applications. By comparing the performance of the PTFE and omniphobic membranes in direct contact MD experiments in the presence of a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS), we show that SDS wets the hydrophobic PTFE membranemore » but not the omniphobic membrane. Our results suggest that omniphobic membranes are critical for MD applications with feed waters containing surface active species, such as oil and gas produced water, to prevent membrane pore wetting.« less

Utilization of membranes for H2O recycle system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ohya, H.; Oguchi, M.

1986-01-01

Conceptual studies of closed ecological life support systems (CELSS) carried out at NAL in Japan for a water recycle system using membranes are reviewed. The system will treat water from shower room, urine, impure condensation from gas recycle system, and so on. The H2O recycle system is composed of prefilter, ultrafiltration membrane, reverse osmosis membrane, and distillator. Some results are shown for a bullet train of toilet-flushing water recycle equipment with an ultraviltration membrane module. The constant value of the permeation rate with a 4.7 square meters of module is about 70 1/h after 500th of operation. Thermovaporization with porous polytetrafluorocarbon membrane is also proposed to replce the distillator.

A single-step simultaneous protein staining procedure for polyacrylamide gels and nitrocellulose membranes by Alta during western blot analysis.

PubMed

Pal, Jayanta K; Berwal, Sunil K; Soni, Rupali N

2012-01-01

A simple method for staining of proteins simultaneously on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gels and nitrocellulose membranes by Alta during western blot analysis is described. A 5% solution of Alta, a commercially available cosmetic preparation, is added in the upper tank buffer during electrophoresis. On completion of electrophoresis, the gel is washed in distilled water and viewed on a white light plate and a transilluminator to photograph the protein profiles. The gel is processed for western blot transfer of proteins onto a nitrocellulose membrane, and upon completion, the protein profiles on the membrane are viewed and photographed as stated above. The membrane can then be processed for immunostaining as per the standard procedure. Thus, the staining procedure using Alta is simple, rapid (without any need of destaining), and cost-effective.

Effect of non-solvent additives on the morphology, pore structure, and direct contact membrane distillation performance of PVDF-CTFE hydrophobic membranes.

PubMed

Zheng, Libing; Wu, Zhenjun; Zhang, Yong; Wei, Yuansong; Wang, Jun

2016-07-01

Four common types of additives for polymer membrane preparation including organic macromolecule and micromolecule additives, inorganic salts and acids, and the strong non-solvent H2O were used to prepare poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (PVDF-CTFE) hydrophobic flat-sheet membranes. Membrane properties including morphology, porosity, hydrophobicity, pore size and pore distribution were investigated, and the permeability was evaluated via direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) of 3.5g/L NaCl solution in a DCMD configuration. Both inorganic and organic micromolecule additives were found to slightly influence membrane hydrophobicity. Polyethylene glycol (PEG), organic acids, LiCl, MgCl2, and LiCl/H2O mixtures were proved to be effective additives to PVDF-CTFE membranes due to their pore-controlling effects and the capacity to improve the properties and performance of the resultant membranes. The occurrence of a pre-gelation process showed that when organic and inorganic micromolecules were added to PVDF-CTFE solution, the resultant membranes presented a high interconnectivity structure. The membrane prepared with dibutyl phthalate (DBP) showed a nonporous surface and symmetrical cross-section. When H2O and LiCl/H2O mixtures were also used as additives, they were beneficial for solid-liquid demixing, especially when LiCl/H2O mixed additives were used. The membrane prepared with 5% LiCl+2% H2O achieved a flux of 24.53kg/(m(2)·hr) with 99.98% salt rejection. This study is expected to offer a reference not only for PVDF-CTFE membrane preparation but also for other polymer membranes. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Engineering Surface Energy and Nanostructure of Microporous Films for Expanded Membrane Distillation Applications.

PubMed

Boo, Chanhee; Lee, Jongho; Elimelech, Menachem

2016-08-02

We investigated the factors that determine surface omniphobicity of microporous membranes and evaluated the potential application of these membranes in desalination of low surface tension wastewaters by membrane distillation (MD). Specifically, the effects of surface morphology and surface energy on membrane surface omniphobicity were systematically investigated by evaluating wetting resistance to low surface tension liquids. Single and multilevel re-entrant structures were achieved by using cylindrical glass fibers as a membrane substrate and grafting silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) on the fibers. Surface energy of the membrane was tuned by functionalizing the fiber substrate with fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) having two different lengths of fluoroalkyl chains. Results show that surface omniphobicity of the modified fibrous membrane increased with higher level of re-entrant structure and with lower surface energy. The secondary re-entrant structure achieved by SiNP coating on the cylindrical fibers was found to play a critical role in enhancing the surface omniphobicity. Membranes coated with SiNPs and chemically modified by the FAS with a longer fluoroalkyl chain (or lower surface energy) exhibited excellent surface omniphobicity and showed wetting resistance to low surface tension liquids such as ethanol (22.1 mN m(-1)). We further evaluated performance of the membranes in desalination of saline feed solutions with varying surface tensions by membrane distillation (MD). The engineered membranes exhibited stable MD performance with low surface tension feed waters, demonstrating the potential application omniphobic membranes in desalinating complex, high salinity industrial wastewaters.

Electrospun Superhydrophobic Organic/Inorganic Composite Nanofibrous Membranes for Membrane Distillation.

PubMed

Li, Xiong; Yu, Xufeng; Cheng, Cheng; Deng, Li; Wang, Min; Wang, Xuefen

2015-10-07

Electrospun superhydrophobic organic/inorganic composite nanofibrous membranes exhibiting excellent direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) performance were fabricated by a facile route combining the hydrophobization of silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) and colloid electrospinning of the hydrophobic silica/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) matrix. Benefiting from the utilization of SiO2 NPs with three different particle sizes, the electrospun nanofibrous membranes (ENMs) were endowed with three different delicate nanofiber morphologies and fiber diameter distribution, high porosity, and superhydrophobic property, which resulted in excellent waterproofing and breathability. Significantly, structural attributes analyses have indicated the major contributing role of fiber diameter distribution on determining the augment of permeate vapor flux through regulating mean flow pore size (MFP). Meanwhile, the extremely high liquid entry pressure of water (LEPw, 2.40 ± 0.10 bar), robust nanofiber morphology of PVDF immobilized SiO2 NPs, remarkable mechanical properties, thermal stability, and corrosion resistance endowed the as-prepared membranes with prominent desalination capability and stability for long-term MD process. The resultant choreographed PVDF/silica ENMs with optimized MFP presented an outstanding permeate vapor flux of 41.1 kg/(m(2)·h) and stable low permeate conductivity (∼2.45 μs/cm) (3.5 wt % NaCl salt feed; ΔT = 40 °C) over a DCMD test period of 24 h without membrane pores wetting detected. This result was better than those of typical commercial PVDF membranes and PVDF and modified PVDF ENMs reported so far, suggesting them as promising alternatives for MD applications.

Complete nutrient recovery from source-separated urine by nitrification and distillation.

PubMed

Udert, K M; Wächter, M

2012-02-01

In this study we present a method to recover all nutrients from source-separated urine in a dry solid by combining biological nitrification with distillation. In a first process step, a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor was operated stably for more than 12 months, producing a nutrient solution with a pH between 6.2 and 7.0 (depending on the pH set-point), and an ammonium to nitrate ratio between 0.87 and 1.15 gN gN(-1). The maximum nitrification rate was 1.8 ± 0.3 gN m(-2) d(-1). Process stability was achieved by controlling the pH via the influent. In the second process step, real nitrified urine and synthetic solutions were concentrated in lab-scale distillation reactors. All nutrients were recovered in a dry powder except for some ammonia (less than 3% of total nitrogen). We estimate that the primary energy demand for a simple nitrification/distillation process is four to five times higher than removing nitrogen and phosphorus in a conventional wastewater treatment plant and producing the equivalent amount of phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers. However, the primary energy demand can be reduced to values very close to conventional treatment, if 80% of the water is removed with reverse osmosis and distillation is operated with vapor compression. The ammonium nitrate content of the solid residue is below the limit at which stringent EU safety regulations for fertilizers come into effect; nevertheless, we propose some additional process steps that will increase the thermal stability of the solid product. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Desalination of brackish groundwater by direct contact membrane distillation.

PubMed

Hou, D Y; Wang, J; Qu, D; Luan, Z K; Zhao, C W; Ren, X J

2010-01-01

The direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) applied for desalination of brackish groundwater with self-made polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes was presented in the paper. The PVDF membrane exhibited high rejection of non-volatile inorganic salt solutes and a maximum permeate flux 24.5 kg m(-2) h(-1) was obtained with feed temperature at 70 degrees C. The DCMD experimental results indicated that the feed concentration had no significant influence on the permeate flux and the rejection of solute. When natural groundwater was used directly as the feed, the precipitation of CaCO(3) would be formed and clog the hollow fibre inlets with gradual concentration of the feed, which resulted in a rapid decline of the module efficiency. The negative influence of scaling could be eliminated by acidification of the feed. Finally, a 250 h DCMD continuous desalination experiment of acidified groundwater with the concentration factor at constant 4.0 was carried out. The permeate flux kept stable and the permeate conductivity was less than 7.0 microS cm(-1) during this process. Furthermore, there was no deposit observed on the membrane surface. All of these demonstrated that DCMD could be efficiently used for production of high-quality potable water from brackish groundwater with water recovery as high as 75%.

Hg removal and the effects of coexisting metals in forward osmosis and membrane distillation.

PubMed

Wu, Chia-Yu; Chen, Shiao-Shing; Zhang, Dai-Zhou; Kobayashi, Jun

2017-06-01

In this study, we investigate the rejection of Hg, Cd, and Pb and the effect of coexisting metals on Hg removal through forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation (MD) in order to establish a more effective water treatment process. The results of our laboratory experiment indicate that more than 97% of the rejection for each metal is achieved through the FO system, and this rejection is the highest among previous studies using membrane filtrations. Moreover, we examine the matrix effect of the coexisting Cd and Pb on the rejection of Hg in the FO system. Hg 2+ rejection increases with increase in the concentration of the coexisting metals. Furthermore, we study the effect of the Hg concentration and the water temperature on rejection of Hg 2+ . Indeed, the rejection of Hg 2+ is achieved above 95% under any condition. However, approximately 1-10 ppb Hg from the feed solution remains in the draw solution due to permeation. Therefore, we use a FO-MD hybrid system. Approximately 100% rejection of Hg 2+ and a stable water flux are achieved. Thus, the FO-MD hybrid system is considered an important alternative to previous studies using membrane filtration for heavy metals removal.

Integration of Membrane Distillation with solar photo-Fenton for purification of water contaminated with Bacillus sp. and Clostridium sp. spores.

PubMed

Ruiz-Aguirre, A; Polo-López, M I; Fernández-Ibáñez, P; Zaragoza, G

2017-10-01

Although Membrane Distillation (MD) has been extensively studied for desalination, it has other applications like removing all kinds of solutes from water and concentrating non-volatile substances. MD offers the possibility of producing a clean stream while concentrating valuable compounds from waste streams towards their recovery, or emerging contaminants and pathogens present in wastewater in order to facilitate their chemical elimination. This paper analyses the elimination of bacterial spores from contaminated water with MD and the role of MD in the subsequent treatment of the concentrate with photo-Fenton process. The experiments were performed at Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) using a plate and frame bench module with a Permeate Gap Membrane Distillation (PGMD) configuration. Tests were done for two different kinds of spores in two different water matrixes: distilled water with 3.5wt% of sea salts contaminated with spores of Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) and wastewater after a secondary treatment and still contaminated with Clostridium sp. spores. An analysis of the permeate was performed in all cases to determine its purity, as well as the concentrated stream and its further treatment in order to assess the benefits of using MD. Results showed a permeate free of spores in all the cases, demonstrating the viability of MD to treat biological contaminated wastewater for further use in agriculture. Moreover, the results obtained after treating the concentrate with photo-Fenton showed a shorter treatment time for the reduction of the spore concentration in the water than that when only photo-Fenton was used. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Membrane Specifications for Multi-Configuration Membrane Distillation Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Villa, Daniel; Vanneste, Johan; Cath, Tzahi

The data includes the membrane properties and specifications used for multi-configuration membrane distillation desalination. In this study, membranes from CLARCOR, 3M, and Aquastill are tested in counter-current, co-current and air-gap configurations at Colorado School of Mines (CSM), Advanced Water technology Center ( Aqwatech) laboratories. In the data sheets: The "theoretical" worksheet, contains steady-state values of the experimental runs and also provides several calculated values. The "Specifications" worksheet contains the inputs to the experiment. The "Data" spreadsheet contains the entire set of data and the rest of the sheets "20-40", "20-45", ...etc., contain individual portions of the data with variation ofmore » feed temperatures.« less

A novel multi-stage direct contact membrane distillation module: Design, experimental and theoretical approaches.

PubMed

Lee, Jung-Gil; Kim, Woo-Seung; Choi, June-Seok; Ghaffour, Noreddine; Kim, Young-Deuk

2016-12-15

An economic desalination system with a small scale and footprint for remote areas, which have a limited and inadequate water supply, insufficient water treatment and low infrastructure, is strongly demanded in the desalination markets. Here, a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process has the simplest configuration and potentially the highest permeate flux among all of the possible MD processes. This process can also be easily instituted in a multi-stage manner for enhanced compactness, productivity, versatility and cost-effectiveness. In this study, an innovative, multi-stage, DCMD module under countercurrent-flow configuration is first designed and then investigate both theoretically and experimentally to identify its feasibility and operability for desalination application. Model predictions and measured data for mean permeate flux are compared and shown to be in good agreement. The effect of the number of module stages on the mean permeate flux, performance ratio and daily water production of the MDCMD system has been theoretically identified at inlet feed and permeate flow rates of 1.5 l/min and inlet feed and permeate temperatures of 70 °C and 25 °C, respectively. The daily water production of a three-stage DCMD module with a membrane area of 0.01 m 2  at each stage is found to be 21.5 kg. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Water recycling system using thermopervaporation method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nitta, K.; Ashida, A.; Mitani, K.; Ebara, K.; Yamada, A.

1986-01-01

A water recycling system concept for the crew of the space station is presented. A thermopervaporation method is a new key technology used for the distillation process, utilizing a hydrophobic membrane. An experimental study of thermopervaporation revealed that the permeation depends on the gap between the membrane and the cooling surface in the condensation room: the steam diffusion occurs with gaps less than 5 mm while natural convection becomes dominant with gaps more than 5 mm. A brief discussion of the system operation is also described.

Renewable Water: Direct Contact Membrane Distillation Coupled With Solar Ponds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suarez, F. I.; Tyler, S. W.; Childress, A. E.

2010-12-01

The exponential population growth and the accelerated increase in the standard of living have increased significantly the global consumption of two precious resources: water and energy. These resources are intrinsically linked and are required to allow a high quality of human life. With sufficient energy, water may be harvested from aquifers, treated for potable reuse, or desalinated from brackish and seawater supplies. Even though the costs of desalination have declined significantly, traditional desalination systems still require large quantities of energy, typically from fossil fuels that will not allow these systems to produce water in a sustainable way. Recent advances in direct contact membrane distillation can take advantage of low-quality or renewable heat to desalinate brackish water, seawater or wastewater. Direct contact membrane distillation operates at low pressures and can use small temperature differences between the feed and permeate water to achieve a significant freshwater production. Therefore, a much broader selection of energy sources can be considered to drive thermal desalination. A promising method for providing renewable source of heat for direct contact membrane distillation is a solar pond, which is an artificially stratified water body that captures solar radiation and stores it as thermal energy at the bottom of the pond. In this work, a direct contact membrane distillation/solar pond coupled system is modeled and tested using a laboratory-scale system. Freshwater production rates on the order of 2 L day-1 per m2 of solar pond (1 L hr-1 per m2 of membrane area) can easily be achieved with minimal operating costs and under low pressures. While these rates are modest, they are six times larger than those produced by other solar pond-powered desalination systems - and they are likely to be increased if heat losses in the laboratory-scale system are reduced. Even more, this system operates at much lower costs than traditional desalination systems, thus, it can be used to meet the future needs of energy and water use in a sustainable way.

Hybrid and Mixed Matrix Membranes for Separations from Fermentations

PubMed Central

Davey, Christopher John; Leak, David; Patterson, Darrell Alec

2016-01-01

Fermentations provide an alternative to fossil fuels for accessing a number of biofuel and chemical products from a variety of renewable and waste substrates. The recovery of these dilute fermentation products from the broth, however, can be incredibly energy intensive as a distillation process is generally involved and creates a barrier to commercialization. Membrane processes can provide a low energy aid/alternative for recovering these dilute fermentation products and reduce production costs. For these types of separations many current polymeric and inorganic membranes suffer from poor selectivity and high cost respectively. This paper reviews work in the production of novel mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) for fermentative separations and those applicable to these separations. These membranes combine a trade-off of low-cost and processability of polymer membranes with the high selectivity of inorganic membranes. Work within the fields of nanofiltration, reverse osmosis and pervaporation has been discussed. The review shows that MMMs are currently providing some of the most high-performing membranes for these separations, with three areas for improvement identified: Further characterization and optimization of inorganic phase(s), Greater understanding of the compatibility between the polymer and inorganic phase(s), Improved methods for homogeneously dispersing the inorganic phase. PMID:26938567

Membrane applications and research in food processing: An assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mohr, C.M.; Leeper, S.A.; Engelau, D.E.

This assessment is intended to aid in planning separations research and development projects aimed at reducing energy consumption in the food industry. The food processing industry uses approximately 1.5 quadrillion Btu per year, 2% of the US national annual energy consumption. Food processing involves a variety of liquid feed, product, and waste streams and makes extensive use of thermal operations such as drying, evaporation, pasteurization, and distillation. As such, it is a candidate for energy conservation through the use of membrane separations. The assessment is organized according to Standard Industry Classification (SIC) Code for the food industry. Individual subindustries consideredmore » are: (a) Meat Processing, Dairy Products, Preserved Fruit and Vegetables, Grain Milling, Bakery Products, Sugar and Confectionery products, Edible Fats and Oils, and Beverages. Topics covered include: (a) background information on food processing and membrane separations, (b) a review of current and developing membrane separations for the food industry, (c) energy consumption and processes used in individual subindustries, (d) separations in the subindustries that could be augmented or replaced by membrane processes, (e) industry practices and market conditions that could affect adoption of new technologies, and (f) prioritized recommendations for DOE-OIP supported research to further use of membrane separations in the food industry. 435 refs.« less

Current status of ceramic-based membranes for oxygen separation from air.

PubMed

Hashim, Salwa Meredith; Mohamed, Abdul Rahman; Bhatia, Subhash

2010-10-15

There has been tremendous progress in membrane technology for gas separation, in particular oxygen separation from air in the last 20 years. It provides an alternative route to the existing conventional separation processes such as cryogenic distillation and pressure swing adsorption as well as cheaper production of oxygen with high purity. This review presents the recent advances of ceramic membranes for the separation of oxygen from air at high temperature. It covers the issues and problems with respect to the selectivity and separation performance. The paper also presents different approaches applied to overcome these challenges. The future directions of ceramic-based membranes for oxygen separation from air are also presented. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simulation and experimental study of an AGMD membrane distillation pilot for the desalination of seawater or brackish water with zero liquid discharged

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boukhriss, Mokhless; Khemili, Sofiene; Ben Hamida, Mohamed Bechir; Ben Bacha, Habib

2018-05-01

Our work consists in presenting the results of an invention for a membrane distillation system coupled to an efficient and robust water solar collector. This system produces potable water with high quality and a small percentage of brackish discharge independent of salinity of the water source. To optimize and characterize experimentally the installation unit of the air gap membrane distillation (AGMD). During the tests, brackish water was used, ranging from 4.2 to 12.5 g/l of salt. The results show that the permeate flux increases as the temperature and feed rate an increase, and the thickness of the air gap decreases (from 5.12 to 1.5 mm). Our AGMD system was modelled using Matlab programming on heat and mass transfer aspects. The 1D model is based on the transfer equations and correlations of the literature present in the membrane distillation pilot. The maximum permeate flux obtained was 7.4 kg /m2 h with the temperature of the hot fluid of 80 °C, a gap of 1.5 mm and water flow rates of 4.8 l/min for the hot chamber and cold. For all measurements, the maximum relative difference between the experimental results and the simulated results is observed at 10% errors. The results of low temperature hot fluids can be interested in the solar energy coupling project.

Enhanced vapor transport in membrane distillation via functionalized carbon nanotubes anchored into electrospun nanofibres

PubMed Central

Kyoungjin An, Alicia; Lee, Eui-Jong; Guo, Jiaxin; Jeong, Sanghyun; Lee, Jung-Gil; Ghaffour, Noreddine

2017-01-01

To ascertain membrane distillation (MD) as an emerging desalination technology to meet the global water challenge, development of membranes with ideal material properties is crucial. Functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were anchored to nanofibres of electrospun membranes. Covalent modification and fluorination of CNTs improved their dispersibility and interfacial interaction with the polymer membrane, resulting in well-aligned CNTs inside crystalline fibres with superhydrophobicity. Consideration for the chemical/physical properties of the CNT composite membranes and calculation of their theoretical fluxes revealed the mechanism of MD: CNTs facilitated the repulsive force for Knudsen and molecular diffusions, reduced the boundary-layer effect in viscous flow, and assisted surface diffusion, allowing for fast vapor transport with anti-wetting. This study shows that the role of CNTs and an optimal composite ratio can be used to reduce the gap between theoretical and experimental approaches to desalination. PMID:28134288

Enhanced vapor transport in membrane distillation via functionalized carbon nanotubes anchored into electrospun nanofibres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kyoungjin An, Alicia; Lee, Eui-Jong; Guo, Jiaxin; Jeong, Sanghyun; Lee, Jung-Gil; Ghaffour, Noreddine

2017-01-01

To ascertain membrane distillation (MD) as an emerging desalination technology to meet the global water challenge, development of membranes with ideal material properties is crucial. Functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were anchored to nanofibres of electrospun membranes. Covalent modification and fluorination of CNTs improved their dispersibility and interfacial interaction with the polymer membrane, resulting in well-aligned CNTs inside crystalline fibres with superhydrophobicity. Consideration for the chemical/physical properties of the CNT composite membranes and calculation of their theoretical fluxes revealed the mechanism of MD: CNTs facilitated the repulsive force for Knudsen and molecular diffusions, reduced the boundary-layer effect in viscous flow, and assisted surface diffusion, allowing for fast vapor transport with anti-wetting. This study shows that the role of CNTs and an optimal composite ratio can be used to reduce the gap between theoretical and experimental approaches to desalination.

Composite Membrane with Underwater-Oleophobic Surface for Anti-Oil-Fouling Membrane Distillation.

PubMed

Wang, Zhangxin; Hou, Deyin; Lin, Shihong

2016-04-05

In this study, we fabricated a composite membrane for membrane distillation (MD) by modifying a commercial hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane with a nanocomposite coating comprising silica nanoparticles, chitosan hydrogel and fluoro-polymer. The composite membrane exhibits asymmetric wettability, with the modified surface being in-air hydrophilic and underwater oleophobic, and the unmodified surface remaining hydrophobic. By comparing the performance of the composite membrane and the pristine PVDF membrane in direct contact MD experiments using a saline emulsion with 1000 ppm crude oil (in water), we showed that the fabricated composite membrane was significantly more resistant to oil fouling compared to the pristine hydrophobic PVDF membrane. Force spectroscopy was conducted for the interaction between an oil droplet and the membrane surface using a force tensiometer. The difference between the composite membrane and the pristine PVDF membrane in their interaction with an oil droplet served to explain the difference in the fouling propensities between these two membranes observed in MD experiments. The results from this study suggest that underwater oleophobic coating can effectively mitigate oil fouling in MD operations, and that the fabricated composite membrane with asymmetric wettability can enable MD to desalinate hypersaline wastewater with high concentrations of hydrophobic contaminants.

Molecular Grafting of Fluorinated and Nonfluorinated Alkylsiloxanes on Various Ceramic Membrane Surfaces for the Removal of Volatile Organic Compounds Applying Vacuum Membrane Distillation.

PubMed

Kujawa, Joanna; Al-Gharabli, Samer; Kujawski, Wojciech; Knozowska, Katarzyna

2017-02-22

Four main tasks were presented: (i) ceramic membrane functionalization (TiO 2 5 kDa and 300 kDa), (ii) extended material characterization (physicochemistry and tribology) of pristine and modified ceramic samples, (iii) evaluation of chemical and mechanical stability, and finally (iv) assessment of membrane efficiency in vacuum membrane distillation applied for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) removal from water. Highly efficient molecular grafting with four types of perfluoroalkylsilanes and one nonfluorinated agent was developed. Materials with controllable tribological and physicochemical properties were achieved. The most meaningful finding is associated with the applicability of fluorinated and nonfluorinated grafting agents. The results of contact angle, hysteresis of contact angle, sliding angle, and critical surface tension as well as Young's modulus, nanohardness, and adhesion force for grafting by these two modifiers are comparable. This provides insight into the potential applicability of environmental friendly hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces. The achieved hydrophobic membranes were very effective in the removal of VOCs (butanol, methyl-tert-butyl ether, and ethyl acetate) from binary aqueous solutions in vacuum membrane distillation. The correlation between membrane effectiveness and separated solvent polarity was compared in terms of material properties and resistance to the wetting (kinetics of wetting and in-depth liquid penetration). Material properties were interpreted considering Zisman theory and using Kao diagram. The significant influence of surface chemistry on the membrane performance was noticed (5 kDa, influence of hydrophobic nanolayer and separation controlled by solution-diffusion model; 300 kDa, no impact of surface chemistry and separation controlled by liquid-vapor equilibrium).

Filtration performance of microporous ceramic supports.

PubMed

Belouatek, Aissa; Ouagued, Abdellah; Belhakem, Mustapha; Addou, Ahmed

2008-04-24

The use of inorganic membranes in pollution treatment is actually limited by the cost of such membranes. Advantages of inorganic membranes are their chemical, thermal and pH properties. The purpose of this work was the development of microporous ceramic materials based on clay for liquid waste processing. The supports or ceramic filters having various compositions were prepared and thermally treated at 1100 degrees C. The results show that, at the temperature studied, porosity varied according to the support composition from 12% for the double-layered (ceramic) support to 47% for the activated carbon- filled support with a mean pore diameter between 0.8 and 1.3 microm, respectively. Volumes of 5 l of distilled water were filtered tangentially for 3 h under an applied pressure of 3.5 and 5.5 bar. The retention of tubular supports prepared was tested with molecules of varying size (Evans blue, NaCl and Sacharose). The study of the liquid filtration and flow through these supports showed that the retention rate depends on support composition and pore diameter, and solute molecular weight. The S1 support (mixture of barbotine and 1% (w/w) activated carbon) gave a flux for distilled water of 68 L/m2 h while the double-layered support resulted in a flux of 8 L/m2 h for the same solution at the pressure of 3.5 bar. At a pressure of 5.5 bar an increase in the distilled water flux through the various supports was observed. It was significant for the S1 support (230 L/m h).

Influence of the boundary conditions on heat and mass transfer in spacer-filled channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciofalo, M.; La Cerva, M. F.; Di Liberto, M.; Tamburini, A.

2017-11-01

The purpose of this study is to discuss some problems which arise in heat or mass transfer in complex channels, with special reference to the spacer-filled channels adopted in membrane processes. Among the issues addressed are the consistent definition of local and mean heat or mass transfer coefficients; the influence of the wall boundary conditions; the influence of one-side versus two-side heat/mass transfer. Most of the results discussed were obtained by finite volume CFD simulations concerning heat transfer in Membrane Distillation or mass transfer in Electrodialysis and Reverse Electrodialysis, but many of the conclusions apply also to different processes involving geometrically complex channels

Novel thermal efficiency-based model for determination of thermal conductivity of membrane distillation membranes

DOE PAGES

Vanneste, Johan; Bush, John A.; Hickenbottom, Kerri L.; ...

2017-11-21

Development and selection of membranes for membrane distillation (MD) could be accelerated if all performance-determining characteristics of the membrane could be obtained during MD operation without the need to recur to specialized or cumbersome porosity or thermal conductivity measurement techniques. By redefining the thermal efficiency, the Schofield method could be adapted to describe the flux without prior knowledge of membrane porosity, thickness, or thermal conductivity. A total of 17 commercially available membranes were analyzed in terms of flux and thermal efficiency to assess their suitability for application in MD. The thermal-efficiency based model described the flux with an average %RMSEmore » of 4.5%, which was in the same range as the standard deviation on the measured flux. The redefinition of the thermal efficiency also enabled MD to be used as a novel thermal conductivity measurement device for thin porous hydrophobic films that cannot be measured with the conventional laser flash diffusivity technique.« less

Novel thermal efficiency-based model for determination of thermal conductivity of membrane distillation membranes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vanneste, Johan; Bush, John A.; Hickenbottom, Kerri L.

Development and selection of membranes for membrane distillation (MD) could be accelerated if all performance-determining characteristics of the membrane could be obtained during MD operation without the need to recur to specialized or cumbersome porosity or thermal conductivity measurement techniques. By redefining the thermal efficiency, the Schofield method could be adapted to describe the flux without prior knowledge of membrane porosity, thickness, or thermal conductivity. A total of 17 commercially available membranes were analyzed in terms of flux and thermal efficiency to assess their suitability for application in MD. The thermal-efficiency based model described the flux with an average %RMSEmore » of 4.5%, which was in the same range as the standard deviation on the measured flux. The redefinition of the thermal efficiency also enabled MD to be used as a novel thermal conductivity measurement device for thin porous hydrophobic films that cannot be measured with the conventional laser flash diffusivity technique.« less

Carbon nanotube embedded PVDF membranes: Effect of solvent composition on the structural morphology for membrane distillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mapunda, Edgar C.; Mamba, Bhekie B.; Msagati, Titus A. M.

2017-08-01

Rapid population increase, growth in industrial and agricultural sectors and global climate change have added significant pressure on conventional freshwater resources. Tapping freshwater from non-conventional water sources such as desalination and wastewater recycling is considered as sustainable alternative to the fundamental challenges of water scarcity. However, affordable and sustainable technologies need to be applied for the communities to benefit from the treatment of non-conventional water source. Membrane distillation is a potential desalination technology which can be used sustainably for this purpose. In this work multi-walled carbon nanotube embedded polyvinylidene fluoride membranes for application in membrane distillation desalination were prepared via non-solvent induced phase separation method. The casting solution was prepared using mixed solvents (N, N-dimethylacetamide and triethyl phosphate) at varying ratios to study the effect of solvent composition on membrane morphological structures. Membrane morphological features were studied using a number of techniques including scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope, SAXSpace tensile strength analysis, membrane thickness, porosity and contact angle measurements. It was revealed that membrane hydrophobicity, thickness, tensile strength and surface roughness were increasing as the composition of N, N-dimethylacetamide in the solvent was increasing with maximum values obtained between 40 and 60% N, N-dimethylacetamide. Internal morphological structures were changing from cellular structures to short finger-like and sponge-like pores and finally to large macro void type of pores when the amount of N, N-dimethylacetamide in the solvent was changed from low to high respectively. Multi-walled carbon nanotube embedded polyvinylidene fluoride membranes of desired morphological structures and physical properties can be synthesized by regulating the composition of solvents used to prepare the casting solution.

Arsenic removal by solar-driven membrane distillation: modeling and experimental investigation with a new flash vaporization module.

PubMed

Pa, Parimal; Manna, Ajay Kumar; Linnanen, Lassi

2013-01-01

A modeling and simulation study was carried out on a new flux-enhancing and solar-driven membrane distillation module for removal of arsenic from contaminated groundwater. The developed new model was validated with rigorous experimental investigations using arsenic-contaminated groundwater. By incorporating flash vaporization dynamics, the model turned out to be substantially different from the existing direct contact membrane distillation models and could successfully predict (with relative error of only 0.042 and a Willmott d-index of 0.997) the performance of such an arsenic removal unit where the existing models exhibited wide variation with experimental findings in the new design. The module with greater than 99% arsenic removal efficiency and greater than 50 L/m2 x h flux could be implemented in arsenic-affected villages in Southeast Asian countries with abundant solar energy, and thus could give relief to millions of affected people. These encouraging results will raise scale-up confidence.

A Novel Multi-Charged Draw Solute That Removes Organic Arsenicals from Water in a Hybrid Membrane Process.

PubMed

Ge, Qingchun; Lau, Cher Hon; Liu, Minghua

2018-03-20

The potential of forward osmosis for water treatment can only be maximized with suitable draw solutes. Here a three-dimensional, multicharge draw solute of decasodium phytate (Na 10 -phytate) is designed and synthesized for removing organic arsenicals from water using a hybrid forward osmosis (FO) - membrane distillation (MD) process. Efficient water recovery is achieved using Na 10 -phytate as a draw solute with a water flux of 20.0 LMH and negligible reverse solute diffusion when 1000 ppm organic arsenicals as the feed and operated under ambient conditions with FO mode. At 50 °C, the novel draw solute increases water flux by more than 30% with water fluxes higher than 26.0 LMH on the FO side, drastically enhancing water recovery efficiency. By combining the FO and MD processes into a single hybrid process, a 100% recovery of Na 10 -phytate draw solute was achieved. Crucially, organic arsenicals or Na 10 -phytate draw solutes are both rejected 100% and not detected in the permeate of the hybrid process. The complete rejection of both organic arsenicals and draw solutes using hybrid membrane processes is unprecedented; creating a new application for membrane separations.

Detection of trace fluoride in serum and urine by online membrane-based distillation coupled with ion chromatography.

PubMed

Lou, Chaoyan; Guo, Dandan; Wang, Nani; Wu, Shuchao; Zhang, Peimin; Zhu, Yan

2017-06-02

An online membrane-based distillation (MBD) coupled with ion chromatography (IC) method was proposed for automatic detection of trace fluoride (F - ) in serum and urine samples. The system consisted of a sample vessel, a lab-made membrane module and an ion chromatograph. Hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) hollow fiber membrane was used in MBD which was directly performed in serum and urine samples to eliminate the matrix interferences and enrich fluoride, while enabling automation. The determination of fluoride in biological samples was carried out by IC with suppressed conductometric detection. The proposed method feasibly determined trace fluoride in serum and urine matrices with the optimized parameters, such as acid concentration, distillation temperature, and distillation time, etc. Fluoride exhibited satisfactory linearity in the range of 0.01-5.0mg/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992. The limit of detection (LOD, S/N=3) and limit of quantification (LOQ, S/N=10) were 0.78μg/L and 2.61μg/L, respectively. The relative standard deviations of peak area and peak height were all less than 5.15%. The developed method was validated for the determination of fluoride in serum and urine with good spiked recoveries ranging between 97.1-101.9%. This method also can be proposed as a suitable alternative for the analysis of fluoride in other complex biological samples. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Preparation of Water-Selective Polybutadiene Membranes and Their Use in Drying Alcohols by Pervaporation and Vapor Permeation Technologies

EPA Science Inventory

Separating azeotrope-forming solvent-water mixtures by conventional distillation poses technical, economic, and environmental challenges. Membrane technology using water-permselective membranes provides an efficient alternative for water removal from solvents. We present here a n...

Poisoning of mixed matrix membranes by fermentation components in pervaporation of ethanol

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Pervaporation is an alternative to distillation for recovering ethanol produced by fermentation of grains and biomass. Ethanol-selective mixed matrix membranes of the hydrophobic zeolite ZSM-5 in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) have superior performance compared to pure PDMS membranes in pervaporation o...

Waste water processing technology for Space Station Freedom - Comparative test data analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miernik, Janie H.; Shah, Burt H.; Mcgriff, Cindy F.

1991-01-01

Comparative tests were conducted to choose the optimum technology for waste water processing on SSF. A thermoelectric integrated membrane evaporation (TIMES) subsystem and a vapor compression distillation subsystem (VCD) were built and tested to compare urine processing capability. Water quality, performance, and specific energy were compared for conceptual designs intended to function as part of the water recovery and management system of SSF. The VCD is considered the most mature and efficient technology and was selected to replace the TIMES as the baseline urine processor for SSF.

Hybrid Membrane System for Industrial Water Reuse

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2016-08-01

This factsheet describes a project that developed and demonstrated a new hybrid system for industrial wastewater treatment that synergistically combines a forward osmosis system with a membrane distillation technology and is powered by waste heat.

Recovery of salts from ion-exchange regeneration streams by a coupled nanofiltration-membrane distillation process.

PubMed

Jiříček, Tomáš; De Schepper, Wim; Lederer, Tomáš; Cauwenberg, Peter; Genné, Inge

2015-01-01

Ion-exchange tap water demineralization for process water preparation results in a saline regeneration wastewater (20-100 mS cm(-1)) that is increasingly problematic in view of discharge. A coupled nanofiltration-membrane distillation (NF-MD) process is evaluated for the recovery of water and sodium chloride from this wastewater. NF-MD treatment of mixed regeneration wastewater is compared to NF-MD treatment of separate anion- and cation-regenerate fractions. NF on mixed regeneration wastewater results in a higher flux (30 L m(-2) h(-1) at 7 bar) compared to NF on the separate fractions (6-9 L m(-2) h(-1) at 30 bar). NF permeate recovery is strongly limited by scaling (50% for separate and 60% for mixed, respectively). Physical signs of scaling were found during MD treatment of the NF permeates but did not result in flux decline for mixed regeneration wastewater. Final salt composition is expected to qualify as a road de-icing salt. NF-MD is an economically viable alternative compared to external disposal of wastewater for larger-scale installations (1.4 versus 2.5 euro m(-3) produced demineralized water for a 10 m3 regenerate per day plant). The cost benefits of water re-use and salt recuperation are small when compared to total treatment costs for mixed regenerate wastewater.

Engineering the Re-Entrant Hierarchy and Surface Energy of PDMS-PVDF Membrane for Membrane Distillation Using a Facile and Benign Microsphere Coating.

PubMed

Lee, Eui-Jong; Deka, Bhaskar Jyoti; Guo, Jiaxin; Woo, Yun Chul; Shon, Ho Kyong; An, Alicia Kyoungjin

2017-09-05

To consolidate the position of membrane distillation (MD) as an emerging membrane technology that meets global water challenges, it is crucial to develop membranes with ideal material properties. This study reports a facile approach for a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane surface modification that is achieved through the coating of the surface with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) polymeric microspheres to lower the membrane surface energy. The hierarchical surface of the microspheres was built without any assistance of a nano/microcomposite by combining the rapid evaporation of tetrahydrofuran (THF) and the phase separation from condensed water vapor. The fabricated membrane exhibited superhydrophobicity-a high contact angle of 156.9° and a low contact-angle hysteresis of 11.3°-and a high wetting resistance to seawater containing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Compared with the control PVDF-hexafluoropropylene (HFP) single-layer nanofiber membrane, the proposed fabricated membrane with the polymeric microsphere layer showed a smaller pore size and higher liquid entry pressure (LEP). When it was tested for the direct-contact MD (DCMD) in terms of the desalination of seawater (3.5% of NaCl) containing SDS of a progressively increased concentration, the fabricated membrane showed stable desalination and partial wetting for the 0.1 and 0.2 mM SDS, respectively.

Ion-selective detection by plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) membrane in glass nanopipette with alternating voltage modulation.

PubMed

Deng, Xiao Long; Takami, Tomohide; Son, Jong Wan; Kang, Eun Ji; Kawai, Tomoji; Park, Bae Ho

2013-08-01

An alternating current (AC) voltage modulation was applied to ion-selective observations with plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) membranes in glass nanopipettes. The liquid confronting the membranes in the nanopipettes, the conditioning process, and AC voltage modulation play important roles in the ion-selective detection. In the AC detection system developed by us, where distilled water was used as the liquid within the nanopipettes, potassium ions were selectively detected in the sample solution of sodium and potassium ions because sodium ions were captured at the membrane containing bis(12-crown-4) ionophores, before the saturation of the ionophores. The membrane lost the selectivity after the saturation. On using sodium chloride as the liquid within the nanopipette, the membrane selectively detected potassium and sodium ions before and after the saturation of ionophores, respectively. The ion-selective detection of our system can be explained by the ion extraction-diffusion-dissolution mechanism through the bis(12-crown-4) ionophores with AC voltage modulation.

Kr/Xe Separation over a Chabazite Zeolite Membrane

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feng, Xuhui; Zong, Zhaowang; Elsaidi, Sameh K.

2016-08-10

Cryogenic distillation, the current conventional technology to separate Krypton and Xenon from air, and from nuclear reprocessing technologies, is an energy-intensive and expensive process. Membrane technology could potentially make this challenging industrial separation less energy intensive and economically viable. We demonstrate that chabazite zeolite SAPO-34 membranes effectively separated Kr/Xe gas mixtures at industrially relevant compositions. Control over membrane thickness and average crystal size led to industrial range permeances and high separation selectivities. Specifically, SAPO-34 membranes can separate Kr/Xe mixtures with Kr permeances as high as 361.4 GPU and separation selectivities of 34.8 for molar compositions close to typical concentrations ofmore » these two gases in air. In addition, SAPO-34 membranes separated Kr/Xe mixtures with Kr permeances as high as 525.7 GPU and separation selectivities up to 45.1 for molar compositions as might be encountered in nuclear reprocessing technologies. Molecular sieving and differences in diffusivities were identified as the dominant separation mechanisms.« less

Novel, one-step synthesis of zwitterionic polymer nanoparticles via distillation-precipitation polymerization and its application for dye removal membrane.

PubMed

Ibrahim, G P Syed; Isloor, Arun M; Inamuddin; Asiri, Abdullah M; Ismail, Norafiqah; Ismail, Ahmed Fauzi; Ashraf, Ghulam Md

2017-11-21

In this work, poly(MBAAm-co-SBMA) zwitterionic polymer nanoparticles were synthesized in one-step via distillation-precipitation polymerization (DPP) and were characterized. [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide (SBMA) as monomer and N, N'-methylene bis(acrylamide) (MBAAm) as cross-linker are used for the synthesis of nanoparticles. As  far as our knowledge, this is the first such report on the synthesis of poly(MBAAm-co-SBMA) nanoparticles via DPP. The newly synthesized nanoparticles were further employed for the surface modification of polysulfone (PSF) hollow fiber membranes for dye removal. The modified hollow fiber membrane exhibited the improved permeability (56 L/ m 2 h bar) and dye removal (>98% of Reactive Black 5 and >80.7% of Reactive orange 16) with the high permeation of salts. Therefore, the as-prepared membrane can have potential application in textile and industrial wastewater treatment.

Removal of inhibitors from lignocellulosic hydrolyzates by vacuum membrane distillation.

PubMed

Chen, Jingwen; Zhang, Yaqin; Wang, Yafei; Ji, Xiaosheng; Zhang, Lin; Mi, Xigeng; Huang, He

2013-09-01

In this study, vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) was used to remove two prototypical fermentation inhibitors (acetic acid and furfural) from lignocellulose hydrolyzates. The effect of operating parameters, such as feed temperature and feed velocity, on the removal efficiencies of inhibitors was investigated. Under optimal conditions, more than 98% of furfural could be removed by VMD. However, the removal efficiency of acetic acid was considerably lower. After furfural and acetic acid were selectively removed from hydrolyzates by VMD, ethanol production efficiency increased by 17.8% compared to original hydrolyzates. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Saline solutions: the quest for fresh water.

PubMed Central

Reuther, C G

2000-01-01

Despite steady advances in the technology, desalination remains one of the most expensive ways to produce potable water. But as water scarcity forces communities to find new sources of drinking water, scientists are developing innovations that may soon make desalination a reasonable option for many more communities. The newest approach to desalination is membrane systems, which include reverse osmosis and electrodialysis systems. Current research seeks to make these systems more effective and less likely to produce environmentally hazardous by-products. Many facilities use traditional distillation to desalinate water, and efforts are being made to combine membranes and distillation for more efficient systems. PMID:10656867

[Study on essential oil separation from Forsythia suspensa oil-bearing water body based on vapor permeation membrane separation technology].

PubMed

Zhang, Qian; Zhu, Hua-Xu; Tang, Zhi-Shu; Pan, Yong-Lan; Li, Bo; Fu, Ting-Ming; Yao, Wei-Wei; Liu, Hong-Bo; Pan, Lin-Mei

2018-04-01

To investigate the feasibility of vapor permeation membrane technology in separating essential oil from oil-water extract by taking the Forsythia suspensa as an example. The polydimethylsiloxane/polyvinylidene fluoride (PDMS/PVDF) composite flat membrane and a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) flat membrane was collected as the membrane material respectively. Two kinds of membrane osmotic liquids were collected by self-made vapor permeation device. The yield of essential oil separated and enriched from two kinds of membrane materials was calculated, and the microscopic changes of membrane materials were analyzed and compared. Meanwhile, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to compare and analyze the differences in chemical compositions of essential oil between traditional steam distillation, PVDF membrane enriched method and PDMS/PVDF membrane enriched method. The results showed that the yield of essential oil enriched by PVDF membrane was significantly higher than that of PDMS/PVDF membrane, and the GC-MS spectrum showed that the content of main compositions was higher than that of PDMS/PVDF membrane; The GC-MS spectra showed that the components of essential oil enriched by PVDF membrane were basically the same as those obtained by traditional steam distillation. The above results showed that vapor permeation membrane separation technology shall be feasible for the separation of Forsythia essential oil-bearing water body, and PVDF membrane was more suitable for separation and enrichment of Forsythia essential oil than PDMS/PVDF membrane. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Application of membrane distillation for the treatment of anaerobic membrane bioreactor effluent: An especial attention to the operating conditions.

PubMed

Liu, Chang; Chen, Lin; Zhu, Liang

2018-06-04

This study was carried out by applying the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) into the treatment of effluent from anaerobic membrane bioreactor. The treatment efficiency of DCMD was highly emphasized, which was expected to be improved through the optimization of operating conditions. Three operating conditions, including temperature difference, cross-flow velocity and membrane pore size, were considered. The relative flux (the ratio of actual flux to initial flux) increased from 0.50 to 0.98 as the operating conditions changed and that was enhanced by the increment of temperature difference and cross-flow velocity. Regarding the wastewater treatment efficiency, except for ammonia nitrogen, the interception ratio was greater than 90.0%, which even reached 99.0% for COD Cr , protein and polysaccharide by optimizing operating conditions. In addition, the interception ratio of PO 4 3- -P almost reached 100.0% under any operating condition. Further study about membrane fouling was carried out, and the crystallization fouling was found to be the main fouling type. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solar-driven membrane distillation demonstration in Leupp, Arizona.

PubMed

Ravisankar, Vishnu Arvind; Seaman, Robert; Mirchandani, Sera; Arnold, Robert G; Ela, Wendell P

2016-03-01

The Navajo Nation is the largest and one of the driest Native American reservations in the US. The population in the Navajo Nation is sporadically distributed over a very large area making it extremely ineffective to connect homes to a centralized water supply system. Owing to this population distribution and the multi decadal drought prevailing in the region, over 40% of the 300,000 people living on Navajo Tribal Lands lack access to running potable water. For many people the only alternative is hauling water from filling stations, resulting in economic hardship and limited supply. A solution to this problem is a de-centralized off-grid water source. The University of Arizona and US Bureau of Reclamation's Solar Membrane Distillation (SMD), stand-alone, pilot desalination system on the Navajo Reservation will provide an off-grid source of potable water; the pilot will serve as a proximal water source, ease the financial hardships caused by the drought, and provide a model for low-cost water treatment systems in arid tribal lands. Bench-scale experiments and an earlier field prototype plant showed viable operation of a solar heated, membrane distillation (MD) system, but further optimization is required. The objectives of the Navajo pilot study are to i) demonstrate integration of solar collectors and membrane distillation, ii) optimize operational parameters, iii) demonstrate and monitor technology performance during extended duration operation, and iv) facilitate independent system operation by the Navajo Water Resources Department, including hand-over of a comprehensive operations manual for implementation of subsequent SMD systems. The Navajo SMD system is designed as a perennial installation that includes remote communication of research data and full automation for remote, unmanned operation.

The effect of silica toward polymer membrane for water separation process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jamalludin, Mohd Riduan; Rosli, M. U.; Ishak, Muhammad Ikman; Khor, C. Y.; Shahrin, Suhaimi; Ismail, Ras Izzati; Lailina N., M.; Leng Y., L.; Jahidi, H.

2017-09-01

The aim of this present work was to investigate the effect of different percentage rice husk silica (RHS) particles composition towards polymer mixed matrix membrane microstructure and performance in water separation process. The polymer membranes were prepared by a phase inversion method using polysulfone (PSf), N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as solvent, distilled water as non-solvent and fixed RHS at 400°C as an additive. The microstructures of PSf/PEG/RHS sample were characterized by performing scanning electron microscope (SEM). The performance was measured by using pure water flux and humic acid for the rejection test. The analyzed result of SEM analysis revealed that the addition of RHS obviously improved the microstructure of the membrane especially at the top and sub layer at the range of 1 until 3 wt. %. This was proven by the pure water flux (PWF) value measured from 114.47 LMH to 154.04 LMH and rejection from value 83% to 96% at this specified range substantially higher than the mixed matrix membrane with synthetic silica. In fact, the presence of RHS particles not only improved the properties and performance of membrane but also possess biodegradable properties which can minimize the pollution and provide a membrane green technology system.

Formation and Characterization of Langmuir Silk Films

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-07-01

studied for phase transitions as immo- fibroin and sericin . Fibroin is the protein that forms the bilization matrices have been in the form of cast mem...properties. Sericins are a group membrane materials. However, the casting process has of gummy proteins which bind the fibroin filaments, limitations...approximately 5 mm X 5 mm pieces. The cocoon material was boiled in distilled water for 2 h with changes 7- of water to solubilize and remove the sericin

Chapter Two – Separations Versus Sustainability: There is No ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Separation operations in chemical processes are generally “uphill” tasks—defying natural tendencies. Historically, such separations have been accomplished by applying generous portions of fossil energy and materials, leaving behind a large environmental footprint. In this chapter, progress in reducing this footprint will be discussed with examples in biofuel production, desalination, and carbon dioxide capture. Industrial separation processes have a significant energy and environmental footprint. Sizeable reductions in energy usage could be achieved by replacing energy-intensive processes like distillation with low-energy separation systems such as membranes, extraction, sorption, or synergistic hybrid systems of low- and high-energy systems.

Membrane separation systems---A research and development needs assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baker, R.W.; Cussler, E.L.; Eykamp, W.

1990-03-01

Membrane based separation technology, a relative newcomer on the separations scene, has demonstrated the potential of saving enormous amounts of energy in the processing industries if substituted for conventional separation systems. Over 1 quad annually, out of 2.6, can possibly be saved in liquid-to-gas separations, alone, if membrane separation systems gain wider acceptance, according to a recent DOE/OIP (DOE/NBM-80027730 (1986)) study. In recent years great strides have been made in the field and offer even greater energy savings in the future when substituted for other conventional separation techniques such as distillation, evaporation, filtration, sedimentation, and absorption. An assessment was conductedmore » by a group of six internationally known membrane separations experts who examined the worldwide status of research in the seven major membrane areas. This encompassed four mature technology areas: reverse osmosis, micorfiltration, ultrafiltration, and electrodialysis; two developing areas: gas separation and and pervaporation; and one emerging technology: facilitated transport. Particular attention was paid to identifying the innovative processes currently emerging, and even further improvements which could gain wider acceptance for the more mature membrane technology. The topics that were pointed out as having the greatest research emphasis are pervaporation for organic-organic separations; gas separation; micorfiltration; an oxidant-resistant reverse osmosis membrane; and a fouling-resistant ultrafiltration membrane. 35 refs., 6 figs., 22 tabs.« less

Enhanced Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Ethane with Facilitated Transport Membranes for Low Cost Production of Ethylene

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nemser, Stuart; Shangguan, Ning; Pennisi, Kenneth

This SBIR program has been extremely successful. We have met or exceeded all of the key objectives. We have successfully demonstrated the product and process feasibility. Compact Membrane Systems proposed a membrane separation technology which can efficiently separate ethylene from ethane in the presence of H 2O and CO 2. The CMS ethylene/ethane separation will significantly improve the economics of the Oxidative Dehydrogenation (ODH) process. We have developed membranes with high ethylene flux and high ethylene/ethane selectivity. These membranes have also shown good resistance to high concentration CO 2 and CO. Economic analysis shows at least **% cost savings comparedmore » with conventional distillation used for ethylene/ethane separation. Given our success to date, we have been able to establish key direct partnerships with other collaborators. The primary objective of the Phase I program was to develop a stable membrane that is capable of providing very efficient and cost effective production of ethylene from ethane. The CMS fluorinated membrane developed during this program was found to be able to provide very good C 2H 4/C 2H 6 selectivity and outstanding C 2H 4 permeance. With the development of the fast and highly selective ethylene CMS membrane, we have achieved all our Phase I program objectives. This is especially true of the estimated cost of ethylene production that is projected to be over **% less than the conventional method (distillation) at scale applications (** Nm3/h). The final result is better than the Phase I goal of 30% less. In summary, during the Phase I, we developed a CMS membrane with a high C 2H 4 permeance good C 2H 4/C 2H 6 selectivity. The stability and anti-fouling ability of the CMS membrane was demonstrated by exposing the membrane to a C 2H 4/C 2H 6 mixture gas for 7 weeks. A membrane based ODH production and separation system was designed and the economic and engineering evaluation using the VMGSim models predicted a cost of $***. As previously stated this is at least a 35% cost reduction from the conventional methods and higher than the Phase I goal (25% cost reduction). The successful Phase I research attracted the interest from several major industrial players who are willing to provide partnership and support of further research. Successful development of the fluoropolymer membranes for C 2H 4/C 2H 6 separation in the process of ODH will provide significant benefits to the public: 1. Development of a highly economically profitable use of shale gas resource; 2. More economic growth and job creations based on the rich shale gas resource in US; 3. Huge energy savings compared with the conventional production of ethylene.« less

Membrane Desalination: Where Are We, and What Can We Learn from Fundamentals?

PubMed

Imbrogno, Joseph; Belfort, Georges

2016-06-07

Although thermal desalination technology provides potable water in arid regions (e.g., Israel and the Gulf), its relatively high cost has limited application to less arid regions with large populations (e.g., California). Energy-intensive distillation is currently being replaced with less costly pressure- and electrically driven membrane-based processes. Reverse osmosis (RO) is a preferred membrane technology owing to process and pre- and posttreatment improvements that have significantly reduced energy requirements and cost. Further technical advances will require a deeper understanding of the fundamental science underlying RO. This includes determining the mechanism for water selectivity; elucidating the behavior of molecular water near polar and apolar surfaces, as well as the advantages and limitations of hydrophobic versus hydrophilic pores; learning the rules of selective water transport from nature; and designing synthetic analogs for selective water transport. Molecular dynamics simulations supporting experiments will play an important role in advancing these efforts. Finally, future improvements in RO are limited by inherent technical mass transfer limitations.

Development of Omniphobic Desalination Membranes Using a Charged Electrospun Nanofiber Scaffold.

PubMed

Lee, Jongho; Boo, Chanhee; Ryu, Won-Hee; Taylor, André D; Elimelech, Menachem

2016-05-04

In this study, we present a facile and scalable approach to fabricate omniphobic nanofiber membranes by constructing multilevel re-entrant structures with low surface energy. We first prepared positively charged nanofiber mats by electrospinning a blend polymer-surfactant solution of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) and cationic surfactant (benzyltriethylammonium). Negatively charged silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) were grafted on the positively charged electrospun nanofibers via dip-coating to achieve multilevel re-entrant structures. Grafted SiNPs were then coated with fluoroalkylsilane to lower the surface energy of the membrane. The fabricated membrane showed excellent omniphobicity, as demonstrated by its wetting resistance to various low surface tension liquids, including ethanol with a surface tension of 22.1 mN/m. As a promising application, the prepared omniphobic membrane was tested in direct contact membrane distillation to extract water from highly saline feed solutions containing low surface tension substances, mimicking emerging industrial wastewaters (e.g., from shale gas production). While a control hydrophobic PVDF-HFP nanofiber membrane failed in the desalination/separation process due to low wetting resistance, our fabricated omniphobic membrane exhibited a stable desalination performance for 8 h of operation, successfully demonstrating clean water production from the low surface tension feedwater.

How To Functionalize Ceramics by Perfluoroalkylsilanes for Membrane Separation Process? Properties and Application of Hydrophobized Ceramic Membranes.

PubMed

Kujawa, Joanna; Cerneaux, Sophie; Kujawski, Wojciech; Bryjak, Marek; Kujawski, Jan

2016-03-23

The combination of microscopic (atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy) and goniometric (static and dynamic measurements) techniques, and surface characterization (surface free energy determination, critical surface tension, liquid entry pressure, hydraulic permeability) was implemented to discuss the influence of perfluoroalkylsilanes structure and grafting time on the physicochemistry of the created hydrophobic surfaces on the titania ceramic membranes of 5 kD and 300 kD. The impact of molecular structure of perfluoroalkylsilanes modifiers (possessing from 6 to 12 carbon atoms in the fluorinated part of the alkyl chain) and the time of the functionalization process in the range of 5 to 35 h was studied. Based on the scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, it was found that the localization of grafting molecules depends on the membrane pore size (5 kD or 300 kD). In the case of 5 kD titania membranes, modifiers are attached mainly on the surface and only partially inside the membrane pores, whereas, for 300 kD membranes, the perfluoroalkylsilanes molecules are present within the whole porous structure of the membranes. The application of 4 various types of PFAS molecules enabled for interesting observations and remarks. It was explained how to obtain ceramic membrane surfaces with controlled material (contact angle, roughness, contact angle hysteresis) and separation properties. Highly hydrophobic surfaces with low values of contact angle hysteresis and low roughness were obtained. These surfaces possessed also low values of critical surface tension, which means that surfaces are highly resistant to wetting. This finding is crucial in membrane applicability in separation processes. The obtained and characterized hydrophobic membranes were subsequently applied in air-gap membrane distillation processes. All membranes were very efficient in MD processes, showing good transport and selective properties (∼99% of NaCl salt rejection). Depending on the membrane pore size and used modifiers, the permeate flux was in the range of 0.5-4.5 kg·m(-2)·h(-1) and 0.3-4.2 kg·m(-2)·h(-1) for 5 kD and 300 kD membranes, respectively.

Advanced, Energy-Efficient Hybrid Membrane System for Industrial Water Reuse

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Toy, Lora; Choi, Young Chul; Hendren, Zachary

In the U.S. manufacturing sector, current industrial water use practices are energy-intensive and utilize and discharge high volumes of waters, rendering them not sustainable especially in light of the growing scarcity of suitable water supplies. To help address this problem, the goal of this project was to develop an advanced, cost-effective, hybrid membrane-based water treatment system that can improve the energy efficiency of industrial wastewater treatment while allowing at least 50% water reuse efficiency. This hybrid process would combine emerging Forward Osmosis (FO) and Membrane Distillation (MD) technology components into an integrated FO-MD system that can beneficially utilize low-grade wastemore » heat (i.e., T < 450 °F) in industrial facilities to produce distilled-quality product water for reuse. In this project, laboratory-, bench-, and pilot-scale experiments on the hybrid FO-MD system were conducted for industrial wastewater treatment. It was demonstrated at laboratory, bench, and pilot scales that FO-MD membrane technology can concentrate brine to very high total dissolved solids (TDS) levels (>200,000 ppm) that are at least 2.5 times higher than the TDS level to which RO can achieve. In laboratory testing, currently available FO and MD membranes were tested to select for high-performing membranes with high salt rejection and high water flux. Multiple FO membrane/draw-salt solution combinations that gave high water flux with higher than 98% salt rejection were also identified. Reverse draw-salt fluxes were observed to be much lower for divalent salts than for monovalent salts. MD membranes were identified that had 99.9+% salt rejection and water flux as high as 50-90 L/(m 2·h) for flat-sheet membranes and >20 L/(m 2·h) for hollow fibers. In bench-scale testing, a single unit of commercially available FO and MD membrane modules were evaluated for continuous, integrated operation. Using the laboratory- and bench-scale test data, numerical modeling was performed on the FO and MD processes to estimate engineering parameters for a larger-scale pilot unit. Based on the experimental studies and modeling results, a pilot-scale, integrated FO-MD prototype unit was designed and built for trailer-mounted operation. This prototype system was fed real industrial wastewater, which could not be further treated by conventional technologies, from an oil production facility and was successfully operated for over 15 weeks without major stoppage. About 90% water recovery was possible, while concentrating the TDS from 12,000 ppm up to 190,500 ppm. The FO-MD prototype rejected most wastewater contaminants while producing water with <300 ppm TDS, even when the feed TDS was higher than 150,000 ppm. No chemical cleaning was necessary during the pilot testing period. Flushing the system with dechlorinated tap water was sufficient to reset the membranes for the next set of test conditions. Pilot performance and membrane autopsy showed that, even though the feed was concentrated more than 10 times, membrane fouling was unnoticeable and no defects were detected on the FO and MD membrane surfaces. This project demonstrated the technical feasibility of the hybrid FO-MD process by taking water already treated to the limit with the highest level of current technologies and further concentrating it 10-fold by using mostly low-cost materials. Because no membranes suitable for full-scale plant applications are available at present, economical feasibility of the hybrid technology is still uncertain, but it is expected that broader industry participation can further reduce FO-MD process costs.« less

Sustainable water recovery from oily wastewater via forward osmosis-membrane distillation (FO-MD).

PubMed

Zhang, Sui; Wang, Peng; Fu, Xiuzhu; Chung, Tai-Shung

2014-04-01

This study proposed and investigated a hybrid forward osmosis - membrane distillation (FO-MD) system for sustainable water recovery from oily wastewater by employing lab-fabricated FO and MD hollow fiber membranes. Stable oil-in-water emulsions of different concentrations with small droplet sizes (<1 μm) were firstly prepared and applied as the feed solution in the FO process. Fouling was immediately observed in the FO mode and was low on the cellulose triacetate (CTA) - based thin film composite (TFC) membranes. Moreover, slight increment of fouling was observed in the first few hours and the water flux was then stabilized over 24 h. The characterizations of water flux and solute rejection in separate FO and MD processes revealed that a high water flux, good NaCl rejection, impressively high retention of oil droplets and partial permeation of acetic acid could be achieved. Finally, an integrated FO-MD system was developed to treat the oily wastewater containing petroleum, surfactant, NaCl and acetic acid at 60 °C in the batch mode. The water flux in FO undergoes three-stage decline due to fouling and reduction in osmotic driving force, but is quite stable in MD regardless of salt concentration. Oily wastewater with relatively high salinity could be effectively recovered by the FO-MD hybrid system while maintaining large water flux, at least 90% feed water recovery could be readily attained with only trace amounts of oil and salts, and the draw solution was re-generated for the next rounds of FO-MD run. Interestingly, significant amount of acetic acid was also retained in the permeate for further reuse as a chemical additive during the production of crude oil. The work has demonstrated that not only water but also organic additives in the wastewater could be effectively recovered by FO-MD systems for reuse or other utilizations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A novel method for furfural recovery via gas stripping assisted vapor permeation by a polydimethylsiloxane membrane

PubMed Central

Hu, Song; Guan, Yu; Cai, Di; Li, Shufeng; Qin, Peiyong; Karim, M. Nazmul; Tan, Tianwei

2015-01-01

Furfural is an important platform chemical with a wide range of applications. However, due to the low concentration of furfural in the hydrolysate, the conventional methods for furfural recovery are energy-intensive and environmentally unfriendly. Considering the disadvantages of pervaporation (PV) and distillation in furfural separation, a novel energy-efficient ‘green technique’, gas stripping assisted vapor permeation (GSVP), was introduced in this work. In this process, the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane was prepared by employing water as solvent. Coking in pipe and membrane fouling was virtually non-existent in this new process. In addition, GSVP was found to achieve the highest pervaporation separation index of 216200 (permeate concentration of 71.1 wt% and furfural flux of 4.09 kgm−2h−1) so far, which was approximately 2.5 times higher than that found in pervaporation at 95°C for recovering 6.0 wt% furfural from water. Moreover, the evaporation energy required for GSVP decreased by 35% to 44% relative to that of PV process. Finally, GSVP also displayed more promising potential in industrial application than PV, especially when coupled with the hydrolysis process or fermentation in biorefinery industry. PMID:25819091

A novel method for furfural recovery via gas stripping assisted vapor permeation by a polydimethylsiloxane membrane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Song; Guan, Yu; Cai, Di; Li, Shufeng; Qin, Peiyong; Karim, M. Nazmul; Tan, Tianwei

2015-03-01

Furfural is an important platform chemical with a wide range of applications. However, due to the low concentration of furfural in the hydrolysate, the conventional methods for furfural recovery are energy-intensive and environmentally unfriendly. Considering the disadvantages of pervaporation (PV) and distillation in furfural separation, a novel energy-efficient `green technique', gas stripping assisted vapor permeation (GSVP), was introduced in this work. In this process, the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane was prepared by employing water as solvent. Coking in pipe and membrane fouling was virtually non-existent in this new process. In addition, GSVP was found to achieve the highest pervaporation separation index of 216200 (permeate concentration of 71.1 wt% and furfural flux of 4.09 kgm-2h-1) so far, which was approximately 2.5 times higher than that found in pervaporation at 95°C for recovering 6.0 wt% furfural from water. Moreover, the evaporation energy required for GSVP decreased by 35% to 44% relative to that of PV process. Finally, GSVP also displayed more promising potential in industrial application than PV, especially when coupled with the hydrolysis process or fermentation in biorefinery industry.

Membrane fouling and wetting in membrane distillation and their mitigation by novel membranes with special wettability.

PubMed

Wang, Zhangxin; Lin, Shihong

2017-04-01

Membrane distillation (MD) has been identified as a promising technology to desalinate the hypersaline wastewaters from fracking and other industries. However, conventional hydrophobic MD membranes are highly susceptible to fouling and/or wetting by the hydrophobic and/or amphiphilic constituents in these wastewaters of complex compositions. This study systematically investigates the impact of the surface wetting properties on the membrane wetting and/or fouling behaviors in MD. Specifically, we compare the wetting and fouling resistance of three types of membranes of different wetting properties, including hydrophobic and omniphobic membranes as well as composite membranes with a hydrophobic substrate and a superhydrophilic top surface. We challenged the MD membranes with hypersaline feed solutions that contained a relatively high concentration of crude oil with and without added synthetic surfactants, Triton X-100. We found that the composite membranes with superhydrophilic top surface were robustly resistant to oil fouling in the absence of Triton X-100, but were subject to pore wetting in the presence of Triton X-100. On the other hand, the omniphobic membranes were easily fouled by oil-in-water emulsion without Triton X-100, but successfully sustained stable MD performance with Triton X-100 stabilized oil-in-water emulsion as the feed solution. In contrast, the conventional hydrophobic membranes failed readily regardless whether Triton X-100 was present, although via different mechanisms. These findings are corroborated by contact angle measures as well as oil-probe force spectroscopy. This study provides a holistic picture regarding how a hydrophobic membrane fails in MD and how we can leverage membranes with special wettability to prevent membrane failure in MD operations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Separation of Biologically Active Compounds by Membrane Operations.

PubMed

Zhu, Xiaoying; Bai, Renbi

2017-01-01

Bioactive compounds from various natural sources have been attracting more and more attention, owing to their broad diversity of functionalities and availabilities. However, many of the bioactive compounds often exist at an extremely low concentration in a mixture so that massive harvesting is needed to obtain sufficient amounts for their practical usage. Thus, effective fractionation or separation technologies are essential for the screening and production of the bioactive compound products. The applicatons of conventional processes such as extraction, distillation and lyophilisation, etc. may be tedious, have high energy consumption or cause denature or degradation of the bioactive compounds. Membrane separation processes operate at ambient temperature, without the need for heating and therefore with less energy consumption. The "cold" separation technology also prevents the possible degradation of the bioactive compounds. The separation process is mainly physical and both fractions (permeate and retentate) of the membrane processes may be recovered. Thus, using membrane separation technology is a promising approach to concentrate and separate bioactive compounds. A comprehensive survey of membrane operations used for the separation of bioactive compounds is conducted. The available and established membrane separation processes are introduced and reviewed. The most frequently used membrane processes are the pressure driven ones, including microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF). They are applied either individually as a single sieve or in combination as an integrated membrane array to meet the different requirements in the separation of bioactive compounds. Other new membrane processes with multiple functions have also been developed and employed for the separation or fractionation of bioactive compounds. The hybrid electrodialysis (ED)-UF membrane process, for example has been used to provide a solution for the separation of biomolecules with similar molecular weights but different surface electrical properties. In contrast, the affinity membrane technology is shown to have the advantages of increasing the separation efficiency at low operational pressures through selectively adsorbing bioactive compounds during the filtration process. Individual membranes or membrane arrays are effectively used to separate bioactive compounds or achieve multiple fractionation of them with different molecule weights or sizes. Pressure driven membrane processes are highly efficient and widely used. Membrane fouling, especially irreversible organic and biological fouling, is the inevitable problem. Multifunctional membranes and affinity membranes provide the possibility of effectively separating bioactive compounds that are similar in sizes but different in other physical and chemical properties. Surface modification methods are of great potential to increase membrane separation efficiency as well as reduce the problem of membrane fouling. Developing membranes and optimizing the operational parameters specifically for the applications of separation of various bioactive compounds should be taken as an important part of ongoing or future membrane research in this field. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Method for controlling boiling point distribution of coal liquefaction oil product

DOEpatents

Anderson, R.P.; Schmalzer, D.K.; Wright, C.H.

1982-12-21

The relative ratio of heavy distillate to light distillate produced in a coal liquefaction process is continuously controlled by automatically and continuously controlling the ratio of heavy distillate to light distillate in a liquid solvent used to form the feed slurry to the coal liquefaction zone, and varying the weight ratio of heavy distillate to light distillate in the liquid solvent inversely with respect to the desired weight ratio of heavy distillate to light distillate in the distillate fuel oil product. The concentration of light distillate and heavy distillate in the liquid solvent is controlled by recycling predetermined amounts of light distillate and heavy distillate for admixture with feed coal to the process in accordance with the foregoing relationships. 3 figs.

Method for controlling boiling point distribution of coal liquefaction oil product

DOEpatents

Anderson, Raymond P.; Schmalzer, David K.; Wright, Charles H.

1982-12-21

The relative ratio of heavy distillate to light distillate produced in a coal liquefaction process is continuously controlled by automatically and continuously controlling the ratio of heavy distillate to light distillate in a liquid solvent used to form the feed slurry to the coal liquefaction zone, and varying the weight ratio of heavy distillate to light distillate in the liquid solvent inversely with respect to the desired weight ratio of heavy distillate to light distillate in the distillate fuel oil product. The concentration of light distillate and heavy distillate in the liquid solvent is controlled by recycling predetermined amounts of light distillate and heavy distillate for admixture with feed coal to the process in accordance with the foregoing relationships.

Direct contact membrane distillation for the concentration of saline dairy effluent.

PubMed

Kezia, Kezia; Lee, Judy; Weeks, Mike; Kentish, Sandra

2015-09-15

The ability of direct contact membrane distillation to concentrate the waste effluent from salty whey, a by-product from the cheese making industry has been investigated. The effect of trace protein in the feed, cross-flow velocity and feed acidity were the factors examined. Flat Sheet PTFE membranes of nominal pore sizes 0.05, 0.22 and 0.45 μm were utilised. A decline in feed flux in the presence of trace protein in the feed was observed, but liquid penetration through the membrane could still be prevented by utilization of a membrane of smaller pore size, to achieve a final total solids concentration of ±30% w/w with water recovery from 37 to 83 %. The pressure-drop across the channel length was also predicted accounting for the feed spacer. To increase the channel length up to 1 m will require operation using the smallest pore size of 0.05 μm, unless very low cross-flow velocities are used. The fouling of the membrane is primarily governed by precipitation of a calcium phosphate salt. However, operation at low pH does not improve the flux or the final salt concentration significantly. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biocatalytic degradation of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, industrial chemicals, steroid hormones and pesticides in a membrane distillation-enzymatic bioreactor.

PubMed

Asif, Muhammad B; Hai, Faisal I; Kang, Jinguo; van de Merwe, Jason P; Leusch, Frederic D L; Price, William E; Nghiem, Long D

2018-01-01

Laccase-catalyzed degradation of a broad spectrum of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) by a membrane distillation (MD)-enzymatic membrane bioreactor (EMBR) was investigated. The MD component effectively retained TrOCs (94-99%) in the EMBR, facilitating their continuous biocatalytic degradation. Notably, the extent of TrOC degradation was strongly influenced by their molecular properties. A significant degradation (above 90%) of TrOCs containing strong electron donating functional groups (e.g., hydroxyl and amine groups) was achieved, while a moderate removal was observed for TrOCs containing electron withdrawing functional groups (e.g., amide and halogen groups). Separate addition of two redox-mediators, namely syringaldehyde and violuric acid, further improved TrOC degradation by laccase. However, a mixture of both showed a reduced performance for a few pharmaceuticals such as primidone, carbamazepine and ibuprofen. Mediator addition increased the toxicity of the media in the enzymatic bioreactor, but the membrane permeate (i.e., final effluent) was non-toxic, suggesting an added advantage of coupling MD with EMBR. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Final Project Report (Oct 2014-Dec 2017): Zeolite Membranes for Krypton/Xenon Separation from Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Off-Gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kwon, Yeon Hye; Nair, Sankar; Bhave, Ramesh

The overall focus of this project is to develop and understand SAPO-34 zeolitic membranes that can separate mixtures of radioisotope krypton-85 and xenon released as off-gases during used nuclear fuel recycling. The primary advantage of separating 85Kr from Xe is to reduce the volume of radioactive waste for storage. The second advantage is the revenue generated from the sale of high-purity Xe. Zeolite membranes are attractive because of their much lower energy requirements relative to cryogenic distillation, and their high resistance to radiation degradation. We report the detailed study of silicoaluminophosphate zeolite SAPO-34 materials and membranes for this application, duemore » to hypothesized favorable molecular sieving properties. In the 3-year Mission Support project, we developed a novel, high-performance, low-energy intensity, lower-cost zeolite membrane process for Kr/Xe separation during SNF processing; and investigated the underlying molecular adsorption and transport processes in both ‘idealized’ and ‘realistic’ operating conditions to develop reliable synthesis-structure-property relationships for such membranes. Adsorption and diffusion measurements on SAPO-34 crystals indicate their potential for use in Kr-Xe separation membranes, but also highlight competing effects of adsorption and diffusion selectivity. SAPO-34 membranes synthesized on α-alumina substrates via steam-assisted conversion seeding and hydrothermal growth are characterized in detail, with Kr permeances 26 GPU and ideal Kr/Xe selectivities >20 at 298 K after thickness reduction. Post-synthesis cation exchange shows large (>50%) increases in selectivity at ambient or slight sub-ambient conditions. In addition, we confirm that SAPO-34 membrane is stable under radiation exposure and the impact of radiation exposure on membrane performance would not be substantial. We also successfully synthesized hollow-fiber SAPO-34 membranes with the same performance levels as the disk-type and tubular membranes. This important development will allow a very compact and low-cost Kr/Xe separation system. Finally, a detailed process calculation for techno-economic analysis was performed by integrating Maxwell-Stefan model into cross-flow membrane system, in order to estimate the required number of membrane stages and the total cost.« less

Molecular Probes: An Innovative Technology for Monitoring Membrane Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santoro, Sergio

The ultimate objective of this study is to use molecular probes as an innovative and alternative technology contributing to the advance of membrane science by monitoring membrane processes in-situ, on-line and at sub-micron scale. An optical sensor for oxygen sensing was developed by the immobilization of tris (1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium (II) (Ru(phen)3) in a dense polymeric membrane made of polystyrene (PS) or Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV). The emission of the probe was quenched by both the temperature and by the oxygen. Moreover, the oxygen sensitivity was affected by the oxygen permeability of the membrane. The evaluation of the oxygen concentration is prone to errors since the emission of a single probe depends on several parameters (i.e. optical path, source intensity). The correction of these artefacts was obtained by the immobilization of a second luminescent molecule non-sensitive to the oxygen, Coumarin. The potential of the luminescent ratiometric sensor for the non-invasive monitoring of oxygen in food packaging using polymeric films with different oxygen permeability was evaluated. Emphasis was given to the efficiency of the optical sensor for the on-line, in-situ and non invasive monitoring of the oxygen by comparing the experimental data with a model which takes into account the oxygen permeability of the packaging materials evaluated independently. A nano-thermometer based on silica nano-particles doped with Ru(phen)3 was developed. A systematic study shows how it is possible to control the properties of the nano-particles as well as their temperature sensitivity. The nano-thermometer was immobilized on a membrane surface by dip-coating providing information about the temperature on the membrane surface. Hydrophobic porous membrane made of Poly(vinylidene fluoride) was prepared via electrospinning and employed in a direct contact membrane distillation process. Using a designed membrane module and a membrane doped with Ru(phen)3 the on-line mapping of the temperature on the membrane's surface was evaluated. None None None None

Hyper-Cross-Linked Additives that Impede Aging and Enhance Permeability in Thin Polyacetylene Films for Organic Solvent Nanofiltration.

PubMed

Cheng, Xi Quan; Konstas, Kristina; Doherty, Cara M; Wood, Colin D; Mulet, Xavier; Xie, Zongli; Ng, Derrick; Hill, Matthew R; Shao, Lu; Lau, Cher Hon

2017-04-26

Membrane materials with high permeability to solvents while rejecting dissolved contaminants are crucial to lowering the energy costs associated with liquid separations. However, the current lack of stable high-permeability materials require innovative engineering solutions to yield high-performance, thin membranes using stable polymers with low permeabilities. Poly[1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] (PTMSP) is one of the most permeable polymers but is extremely susceptible to physical aging. Despite recent developments in anti-aging polymer membranes, this research breakthrough has yet to be demonstrated on thin PTMSP films supported on porous polymer substrates, a crucial step toward commercializing anti-aging membranes for industrial applications. Here we report the development of scalable, thin film nanocomposite membranes supported on polymer substrates that are resistant to physical aging while having high permeabilities to alcohols. The selective layer is made up of PTMSP and nanoporous polymeric additives. The nanoporous additives provide additional passageways to solvents, enhancing the high permeability of the PTMSP materials further. Through intercalation of polyacetylene chains into the sub-nm pores of organic additives, physical aging in the consequent was significantly hindered in continuous long-term operation. Remarkably we also demonstrate that the additives enhance both membrane permeability and rejection of dissolved contaminants across the membranes, as ethanol permeability at 5.5 × 10 -6 L m m -2 h -1 bar -1 with 93% Rose Bengal (1017.6 g mol -1 ) rejection, drastically outperforming commercial and state-of-the-art membranes. These membranes can replace energy-intensive separation processes such as distillation, lowering operation costs in well-established pharmaceutical production processes.

A Pervaporation Study of Ammonia Solutions Using Molecular Sieve Silica Membranes

PubMed Central

Yang, Xing; Fraser, Thomas; Myat, Darli; Smart, Simon; Zhang, Jianhua; Diniz da Costa, João C.; Liubinas, Audra; Duke, Mikel

2014-01-01

An innovative concept is proposed to recover ammonia from industrial wastewater using a molecular sieve silica membrane in pervaporation (PV), benchmarked against vacuum membrane distillation (VMD). Cobalt and iron doped molecular sieve silica-based ceramic membranes were evaluated based on the ammonia concentration factor downstream and long-term performance. A modified low-temperature membrane evaluation system was utilized, featuring the ability to capture and measure ammonia in the permeate. It was found that the silica membrane with confirmed molecular sieving features had higher water selectivity over ammonia. This was due to a size selectivity mechanism that favoured water, but blocked ammonia. However, a cobalt doped silica membrane previously treated with high temperature water solutions demonstrated extraordinary preference towards ammonia by achieving up to a 50,000 mg/L ammonia concentration (a reusable concentration level) measured in the permeate when fed with 800 mg/L of ammonia solution. This exceeded the concentration factor expected by the benchmark VMD process by four-fold, suspected to be due to the competitive adsorption of ammonia over water into the silica structure with pores now large enough to accommodate ammonia. However, this membrane showed a gradual decline in selectivity, suspected to be due to the degradation of the silica material/pore structure after several hours of operation. PMID:24957120

Geothermal Thermoelectric Generation (G-TEG) with Integrated Temperature Driven Membrane Distillation and Novel Manganese Oxide for Lithium Extraction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Renew, Jay; Hansen, Tim

Southern Research Institute (Southern) teamed with partners Novus Energy Technologies (Novus), Carus Corporation (Carus), and Applied Membrane Technology, Inc. (AMT) to develop an innovative Geothermal ThermoElectric Generation (G-TEG) system specially designed to both generate electricity and extract high-value lithium (Li) from low-temperature geothermal brines. The process combined five modular technologies including – silica removal, nanofiltration (NF), membrane distillation (MD), Mn-oxide sorbent for Li recovery, and TEG. This project provides a proof of concept for each of these technologies. The first step in the process is silica precipitation through metal addition and pH adjustment to prevent downstream scaling in membrane processes.more » Next, the geothermal brine is concentrated with the first of a two stage MD system. The first stage MD system is made of a high-temperature material to withstand geothermal brine temperatures up to 150C.° The first stage MD is integrated with a G-TEG module for simultaneous energy generation. The release of energy from the MD permeate drives heat transfer across the TE module, producing electricity. The first stage MD concentrate is then treated utilizing an NF system to remove Ca 2+ and Mg 2+. The NF concentrate will be disposed in the well by reinjection. The NF permeate undergoes concentration in a second stage of MD (polymeric material) to further concentrate Li in the NF permeate and enhance the efficiency of the downstream Li recovery process utilizing a Mn-oxide sorbent. Permeate from both the stages of the MD can be beneficially utilized as the permeates will contain less contaminants than the feed water. The concentrated geothermal brines are then contacted with the Mn-oxide sorbent. After Li from the geothermal brine is adsorbed on the sorbent, HCl is then utilized to regenerate the sorbent and recover the Li. The research and development project showed that the Si removal goal (>80%) could be achieved by increasing the pH of the brine and adding Fe 3+ under several scenarios. The NF was also successful in achieving significant Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ removal (~80%) while retaining most Li in the permeate for high strength brines. MD experiments showed that geothermal brines could be significantly concentrated with little fouling due to pre-treatment.« less

Composite perfluorohydrocarbon membranes, their preparation and use

DOEpatents

Ding, Yong; Bikson, Benjamin

2017-04-04

Composite porous hydrophobic membranes are prepared by forming a perfluorohydrocarbon layer on the surface of a preformed porous polymeric substrate. The substrate can be formed from poly (aryl ether ketone) and a perfluorohydrocarbon layer can be chemically grafted to the surface of the substrate. The membranes can be utilized for a broad range of fluid separations, such as microfiltration, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration as membrane contactors for membrane distillation and for degassing and dewatering of fluids. The membranes can further contain a dense ultra-thin perfluorohydrocarbon layer superimposed on the porous poly (aryl ether ketone) substrate and can be utilized as membrane contactors or as gas separation. membranes for natural gas treatment and gas dehydration.

Process simulation of modified dry grind ethanol plant with recycle of pretreated and enzymatically hydrolyzed distillers' grains.

PubMed

Kim, Youngmi; Mosier, Nathan; Ladisch, Michael R

2008-08-01

Distillers' grains (DG), a co-product of a dry grind ethanol process, is an excellent source of supplemental proteins in livestock feed. Studies have shown that, due to its high polymeric sugar contents and ease of hydrolysis, the distillers' grains have potential as an additional source of fermentable sugars for ethanol fermentation. The benefit of processing the distillers' grains to extract fermentable sugars lies in an increased ethanol yield without significant modification in the current dry grind technology. Three different potential configurations of process alternatives in which pretreated and hydrolyzed distillers' grains are recycled for an enhanced overall ethanol yield are proposed and discussed in this paper based on the liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment of distillers' grains. Possible limitations of each proposed process are also discussed. This paper presents a compositional analysis of distillers' grains, as well as a simulation of the modified dry grind processes with recycle of distillers' grains. Simulated material balances for the modified dry grind processes are established based on the base case assumptions. These balances are compared to the conventional dry grind process in terms of ethanol yield, compositions of its co-products, and accumulation of fermentation inhibitors. Results show that 14% higher ethanol yield is achievable by processing and hydrolyzing the distillers' grains for additional fermentable sugars, as compared to the conventional dry grind process. Accumulation of fermentation by-products and inhibitory components in the proposed process is predicted to be 2-5 times higher than in the conventional dry grind process. The impact of fermentation inhibitors is reviewed and discussed. The final eDDGS (enhanced dried distillers' grains) from the modified processes has 30-40% greater protein content per mass than DDGS, and its potential as a value-added process is also analyzed. While the case studies used to illustrate the process simulation are based on LHW pretreated DG, the process simulation itself provides a framework for evaluation of the impact of other pretreatments.

Nitrile bioconversion by Microbacterium imperiale CBS 498-74 resting cells in batch and ultrafiltration membrane bioreactors.

PubMed

Cantarella, M; Cantarella, L; Gallifuoco, A; Spera, A

2006-03-01

The biohydration of acrylonitrile, propionitrile and benzonitrile catalysed by the NHase activity contained in resting cells of Microbacterium imperiale CBS 498-74 was operated at 5, 10 and 20 degrees C in laboratory-scale batch and membrane bioreactors. The bioreactions were conducted in buffered medium (50 mM Na(2)HPO(4)/NaH(2)PO(4), pH 7.0) in the presence of distilled water or tap-water, to simulate a possible end-pipe biotreatment process. The integral bioreactor performances were studied with a cell loading (dry cell weight; DCW) varying from 0.1 mg(DCW) per reactor to 16 mg(DCW) per reactor, in order to realize near 100% bioconversion of acrylonitrile, propionitrile and benzonitrile without consistent loss of NHase activity.

Fabrication of silica ceramic membrane via sol-gel dip-coating method at different nitric acid amount

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kahlib, N. A. Z.; Daud, F. D. M.; Mel, M.; Hairin, A. L. N.; Azhar, A. Z. A.; Hassan, N. A.

2018-01-01

Fabrication of silica ceramics via the sol-gel method has offered more advantages over other methods in the fabrication of ceramic membrane, such as simple operation, high purity homogeneous, well defined-structure and complex shapes of end products. This work presents the fabrication of silica ceramic membrane via sol-gel dip-coating methods by varying nitric acid amount. The nitric acid plays an important role as catalyst in fabrication reaction which involved hydrolysis and condensation process. The tubular ceramic support, used as the substrate, was dipped into the sol of Tetrethylorthosilicate (TEOS), distilled water and ethanol with the addition of nitric acid. The fabricated silica membrane was then characterized by (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope) FESEM and (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) FTIR to determine structural and chemical properties at different amount of acids. From the XRD analysis, the fabricated silica ceramic membrane showed the existence of silicate hydrate in the final product. FESEM images indicated that the silica ceramic membrane has been deposited on the tubular ceramic support as a substrate and penetrate into the pore walls. The intensity peak of FTIR decreased with increasing of amount of acids. Hence, the 8 ml of acid has demonstrated the appropriate amount of catalyst in fabricating good physical and chemical characteristic of silica ceramic membrane.

Distributive Distillation Enabled by Microchannel Process Technology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arora, Ravi

The application of microchannel technology for distributive distillation was studied to achieve the Grand Challenge goals of 25% energy savings and 10% return on investment. In Task 1, a detailed study was conducted and two distillation systems were identified that would meet the Grand Challenge goals if the microchannel distillation technology was used. Material and heat balance calculations were performed to develop process flow sheet designs for the two distillation systems in Task 2. The process designs were focused on two methods of integrating the microchannel technology 1) Integrating microchannel distillation to an existing conventional column, 2) Microchannel distillation formore » new plants. A design concept for a modular microchannel distillation unit was developed in Task 3. In Task 4, Ultrasonic Additive Machining (UAM) was evaluated as a manufacturing method for microchannel distillation units. However, it was found that a significant development work would be required to develop process parameters to use UAM for commercial distillation manufacturing. Two alternate manufacturing methods were explored. Both manufacturing approaches were experimentally tested to confirm their validity. The conceptual design of the microchannel distillation unit (Task 3) was combined with the manufacturing methods developed in Task 4 and flowsheet designs in Task 2 to estimate the cost of the microchannel distillation unit and this was compared to a conventional distillation column. The best results were for a methanol-water separation unit for the use in a biodiesel facility. For this application microchannel distillation was found to be more cost effective than conventional system and capable of meeting the DOE Grand Challenge performance requirements.« less

Rhamnolipid produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa USM-AR2 facilitates crude oil distillation.

PubMed

Asshifa Md Noh, Nur; Al-Ashraf Abdullah, Amirul; Nasir Mohamad Ibrahim, Mohamad; Ramli Mohd Yahya, Ahmad

2012-01-01

A biosurfactant-producing and hydrocarbon-utilizing bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa USM-AR2, was used to assist conventional distillation. Batch cultivation in a bioreactor gave a biomass of 9.4 g L(-1) and rhamnolipid concentration of 2.4 g L(-1) achieved after 72 h. Biosurfactant activity (rhamnolipid) was detected by the orcinol assay, emulsification index and drop collapse test. Pretreatment of crude oil TK-1 and AG-2 with a culture of P. aeruginosa USM-AR2 that contains rhamnolipid was proven to facilitate the distillation process by reducing the duration without reducing the quality of petroleum distillate. It showed a potential in reducing the duration of the distillation process, with at least 2- to 3-fold decreases in distillation time. This is supported by GC-MS analysis of the distillate where there was no difference between compounds detected in distillate obtained from treated or untreated crude oil. Calorimetric tests showed the calorie value of the distillate remained the same with or without treatment. These two factors confirmed that the quality of the distillate was not compromised and the incubation process by the microbial culture did not over-degrade the oil. The rhamnolipid produced by this culture was the main factor that enhanced the distillation performance, which is related to the emulsification of hydrocarbon chains in the crude oil. This biotreatment may play an important role to improve the existing conventional refinery and distillation process. Reducing the distillation times by pretreating the crude oil with a natural biosynthetic product translates to energy and cost savings in producing petroleum products.

Effective As(III) Removal by A Multi-Charged Hydroacid Complex Draw Solute Facilitated Forward Osmosis-Membrane Distillation (FO-MD) Processes.

PubMed

Ge, Qingchun; Han, Gang; Chung, Tai-Shung

2016-03-01

Effective removal of As(III) from water by an oxalic acid complex with the formula of Na3[Cr(C2O4)3] (Na-Cr-OA) is demonstrated via an forward osmosis-membrane distillation (FO-MD) hybrid system in this study. Na-Cr-OA first proved its superiority as a draw solute with high water fluxes and negligible reverse fluxes in FO, then a systematic investigation of the Na-Cr-OA promoted FO process was conducted to ascertain the factors in As(III) removal. Relatively high water fluxes of 28 LMH under the FO mode and 74 LMH under the pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) mode were achieved when using a 1000 ppm As(III) solution as the feed and 1.0 M Na-Cr-OA as the draw solution at 60 °C. As(III) removal with a water recovery up to 21.6% (FO mode) and 48.3% (PRO mode) were also achieved in 2 h. An outstanding As(III) rejection with 30-3000 μg/L As(III) in the permeate was accomplished when As(III) feed solutions varied from 5 × 10(4) to 1 × 10(6) μg/L, superior to the best FO performance reported for As(III) removal. Incorporating MD into FO not only makes As(III) removal sustainable by reconcentrating the Na-Cr-OA solution simultaneously, but also reduces the As(III) concentration below 10 μg/L in the product water, meeting the WHO standard.

Novel nanocomposite Kevlar fabric membranes: Fabrication characterization, and performance in oil/water separation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karimnezhad, Hanieh; Rajabi, Laleh; Salehi, Ehsan; Derakhshan, Ali Ashraf; Azimi, Sara

2014-02-01

Nanocomposite membranes with hydrophilic surface were fabricated for separation of oil (n-hexane) from oil/water emulsion. Three different nanomaterials namely, para-aminobenzoate alumoxane (PAB-A), boehmite-epoxide and polycitrate alumoxane (PC-A) were coated on the Kevlar fabric (support), according to a three-step dip-coating protocol. FTIR, SEM, TEM, UV/vis spectrophotometer, and wettability analyses were used to characterize the composite membranes. The three coating layers interacted chemically with one another and also physically with the Kevlar fabric. Water uptake measurements indicated that the membrane is a hydrophilic one. SEM and TEM analyses showed the smooth surface of the composite membrane and three-dimensional dendrimeric hyper-branched structure of (PC-A), respectively. A dead-end filtration setup was applied to test the membranes performance under natural gravity force. Effect of pH as an important variable affecting separation process was investigated with the neutral pH provided the optimum condition for the separation. Oil rejection and permeate fluxes were also monitored. The optimum flux and rejection obtained, were 7392 (Lm-2 h-1) and 89.06% at pH 7, respectively. Fouling occurred as a gel layer on the membrane surface. The deposited oil droplets on the surface of the membrane were successfully washed away with satisfactory permeate flux recovery (FRR = 88.88% at neutral pH), using hot distilled water and acidic solution as eluents.

Integration of membrane distillation into traditional salt farming method: Process development and modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hizam, S.; Bilad, M. R.; Putra, Z. A.

2017-10-01

Farmers still practice the traditional salt farming in many regions, particularly in Indonesia. This archaic method not only produces low yield and poor salt quality, it is also laborious. Furthermore, the farming locations typically have poor access to fresh water and are far away from electricity grid, which restrict upgrade to a more advanced technology for salt production. This paper proposes a new concept of salt harvesting method that improves the salt yield and at the same time facilitates recovery of fresh water from seawater. The new concept integrates solar powered membrane distillation (MD) and photovoltaic cells to drive the pumping. We performed basic solar still experiments to quantify the heat flux received by a pond. The data were used as insight for designing the proposed concept, particularly on operational strategy and the most effective way to integrate MD. After the conceptual design had been developed, we formulated mass and energy balance to estimate the performance of the proposed concept. Based on our data and design, it is expected that the system would improve the yield and quality of the salt production, maximizing fresh water harvesting, and eventually provides economical gain for salt farmers hence improving their quality of life. The key performance can only be measured via experiment using gain output ratio as performance indicator, which will be done in a future study.

Evolution of Volatile Compounds during the Distillation of Cognac Spirit.

PubMed

Awad, Pierre; Athès, Violaine; Decloux, Martine Esteban; Ferrari, Gérald; Snakkers, Guillaume; Raguenaud, Patrick; Giampaoli, Pierre

2017-09-06

Cognac wine spirit has a complex composition in volatile compounds which contributes to its organoleptic profile. This work focused on the batch distillation process and, in particular, on volatile compounds specifically produced by chemical reactions during the distillation of Cognac wine spirit, traditionally conducted in two steps with charentais pot stills. The aim of this study was to characterize these volatile compounds formed during distillation. Sampling has been performed on the distillates and inside the boiler during a typical Cognac distillation. The analysis of these samples allowed us to perform a mass balance and to point out several types of volatile compounds whose quantities strongly increased during the distillation process. These compounds were distinguished by their chemical family. It has been found that the first distillation step was decisive for the formation of volatile compounds. Moreover, 2 esters, 3 aldehydes, 12 norisoprenoids, and 3 terpenes were shown to be generated during the process. These results suggest that some volatile compounds found in Cognac spirit are formed during distillation due to chemical reactions induced by high temperature. These findings give important indications to professional distillers in order to enhance the product's quality.

Performance and fouling mechanism of direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) treating fermentation wastewater with high organic concentrations.

PubMed

Wu, Yan; Kang, Yun; Zhang, Liqiu; Qu, Dan; Cheng, Xiang; Feng, Li

2018-03-01

In this study, direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) was used for treating fermentation wastewater with high organic concentrations. DCMD performance characteristics including permeate flux, permeate water quality as well as membrane fouling were investigated systematically. Experimental results showed that, after 12hr DCMD, the feed wastewater was concentrated by about a factor of 3.7 on a volumetric basis, with the permeate flux decreasing from the initial 8.7L/m 2 /hr to the final 4.3L/m 2 /hr due to membrane fouling; the protein concentration in the feed wastewater was increased by about 3.5 times and achieved a value of 6178mg/L, which is suitable for reutilization. Although COD and TOC in permeate water increased continuously due to the transfer of volatile components from wastewater, organic rejection of over 95% was achieved in wastewater. GC-MS results suggested that the fermentation wastewater contained 128 kinds of organics, in which 14 organics dominated. After 12hr DCMD, not only volatile organics including trimethyl pyrazine, 2-acetyl pyrrole, phenethyl alcohol and phenylacetic acid, but also non-volatile dibutyl phthalate was detected in permeate water due to membrane wetting. FT-IR and SEM-EDS results indicated that the deposits formed on the membrane inner surface mainly consisted of Ca, Mg, and amine, carboxylic acid and aromatic groups. The fouled membrane could be recovered, as most of the deposits could be removed using a HCl/NaOH chemical cleaning method. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Innovative Treatment Technologies for Natural Waters and Wastewaters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Childress, Amy E.

2011-07-01

The research described in this report focused on the development of novel membrane contactor processes (in particular, forward osmosis (FO), pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), and membrane distillation (MD)) in low energy desalination and wastewater treatment applications and in renewable energy generation. FO and MD are recently gaining national and international attention as viable, economic alternatives for removal of both established and emerging contaminants from natural and process waters; PRO is gaining worldwide attention as a viable source of renewable energy. The interrelationship of energy and water are at the core of this study. Energy and water are inextricably bound; energymore » usage and production must be considered when evaluating any water treatment process for practical application. Both FO and MD offer the potential for substantial energy and resource savings over conventional treatment processes and PRO offers the potential for renewable energy or energy offsets in desalination. Combination of these novel technologies with each other, with existing technologies (e.g., reverse osmosis (RO)), and with existing renewable energy sources (e.g., salinity gradient solar ponds) may enable much less expensive water production and also potable water production in remote or distributed locations. Two inter-related projects were carried out in this investigation. One focused on membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment and PRO for renewable energy generation; the other focused on MD driven by a salinity gradient solar pond.« less

Multipartite nonlocality distillation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hsu, Li-Yi; Wu, Keng-Shuo

2010-11-15

The stronger nonlocality than that allowed in quantum theory can provide an advantage in information processing and computation. Since quantum entanglement is distillable, can nonlocality be distilled in the nonsignalling condition? The answer is positive in the bipartite case. In this article the distillability of the multipartite nonlocality is investigated. We propose a distillation protocol solely exploiting xor operations on output bits. The probability-distribution vectors and matrix are introduced to tackle the correlators. It is shown that only the correlators with extreme values can survive the distillation process. As the main result, the amplified nonlocality cannot maximally violate any Bell-typemore » inequality. Accordingly, a distillability criterion in the postquantum region is proposed.« less

VAPOR PRESSURE ISOTOPE EFFECTS IN THE MEASUREMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL TRITIUM SAMPLES.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuhne, W.

2012-12-03

Standard procedures for the measurement of tritium in water samples often require distillation of an appropriate sample aliquot. This distillation process may result in a fractionation of tritiated water and regular light water due to the vapor pressure isotope effect, introducing either a bias or an additional contribution to the total tritium measurement uncertainty. The magnitude of the vapor pressure isotope effect is characterized as functions of the amount of water distilled from the sample aliquot and the heat settings for the distillation process. The tritium concentration in the distillate is higher than the tritium concentration in the sample earlymore » in the distillation process, it then sharply decreases due to the vapor pressure isotope effect and becomes lower than the tritium concentration in the sample, until the high tritium concentration retained in the boiling flask is evaporated at the end of the process. At that time, the tritium concentration in the distillate again overestimates the sample tritium concentration. The vapor pressure isotope effect is more pronounced the slower the evaporation and distillation process is conducted; a lower heat setting during the evaporation of the sample results in a larger bias in the tritium measurement. The experimental setup used and the fact that the current study allowed for an investigation of the relative change in vapor pressure isotope effect in the course of the distillation process distinguish it from and extend previously published measurements. The separation factor as a quantitative measure of the vapor pressure isotope effect is found to assume values of 1.034 {+-} 0.033, 1.052 {+-} 0.025, and 1.066 {+-} 0.037, depending on the vigor of the boiling process during distillation of the sample. A lower heat setting in the experimental setup, and therefore a less vigorous boiling process, results in a larger value for the separation factor. For a tritium measurement in water samples, this implies that the tritium concentration could be underestimated by 3 - 6%.« less

The Role of B7 Ligand Interactions During an In Vivo Mucosal Immune Response

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-07-22

fresh batch. The gel was rinsed twice with distilled water and soaked in 20X SSPE for 30 min. A 0.2 JJM Nytran membrane (Schleicher and Schuell, Inc...Keene, NH) was prepared by placing soaking it in distilled water with two pieces ofGBOO2 thin blotting Paper (Schleicher and Schuell, Inc.) lOX SSPE ...and one piece ofGBOO4 thick blotting Paper (Schleicher and Schuell, Inc.) SX SSPE for 30 min. The gel was removed and placed upside down on the bench

Microchannel Distillation of JP-8 Jet Fuel for Sulfur Content Reduction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zheng, Feng; Stenkamp, Victoria S.; TeGrotenhuis, Ward E.

2006-09-16

In microchannel based distillation processes, thin vapor and liquid films are contacted in small channels where mass transfer is diffusion-limited. The microchannel architecture enables improvements in distillation processes. A shorter height equivalent of a theoretical plate (HETP) and therefore a more compact distillation unit can be achieved. A microchannel distillation unit was used to produce a light fraction of JP-8 fuel with reduced sulfur content for use as feed to produce fuel-cell grade hydrogen. The HETP of the microchannel unit is discussed, as well as the effects of process conditions such as feed temperature, flow rate, and reflux ratio.

Integrated process of distillation with side reactors for synthesis of organic acid esters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Panchal, Chandrakant B; Prindle, John C; Kolah, Aspri

An integrated process and system for synthesis of organic-acid esters is provided. The method of synthesizing combines reaction and distillation where an organic acid and alcohol composition are passed through a distillation chamber having a plurality of zones. Side reactors are used for drawing off portions of the composition and then recycling them to the distillation column for further purification. Water is removed from a pre-reactor prior to insertion into the distillation column. An integrated heat integration system is contained within the distillation column for further purification and optimizing efficiency in the obtaining of the final product.

Labyrinthine flows across multilayer graphene-based membranes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshida, Hiroaki

Graphene-based materials have recently found extremely wide applications for fluidic purposes thanks to remarkable developments in micro-/nano-fabrication techniques. In particular, high permeability and specific selectivity have been reported for these graphene-based membranes, such as the graphene-oxide membranes, with however controversial experimental results. There is therefore an urgent need to propose a theoretical framework of fluid transport in these architectures in order to rationalize the experimental results.In this presentation, we report a theoretical study of mass transport across multilayer graphene based membranes, which we benchmark by atomic-scale molecular dynamics. Specifically, we consider the water flow across multiple graphene layers with an inter-layer distance ranging from sub-nanometer to a few nanometers. The graphene layers have nanoslits aligned in a staggered fashion, and thus the water flows involve multiple twists and turns. We compare the continuum model predictions for the permeability with the lattice Boltzmann calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. The highlight is that, in spite of extreme confinement, the permeability across the graphene-based membrane is quantitatively predicted on the basis of a properly designed continuum model. The framework of this study constitutes a benchmark to which we compare favourably published experimental data.In addition, flow properties of a water-ethanol mixture are presented, demonstrating the possibility of a novel separation technique. While the membrane is permeable to both pure liquids, it exhibits a counter-intuitive ``self-semi-permeability'' to water in the presence of the mixture. This suggests a robust and versatile membrane-based separation method built on a pressure-driven reverse-osmosis process, which is considerably less energy consuming than distillation processes. The author acknowledges the ERC project Micromegas and the ANR projects BlueEnergy and Equip@Meso.

Emerging desalination technologies for water treatment: a critical review.

PubMed

Subramani, Arun; Jacangelo, Joseph G

2015-05-15

In this paper, a review of emerging desalination technologies is presented. Several technologies for desalination of municipal and industrial wastewater have been proposed and evaluated, but only certain technologies have been commercialized or are close to commercialization. This review consists of membrane-based, thermal-based and alternative technologies. Membranes based on incorporation of nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes or graphene-based ones show promise as innovative desalination technologies with superior performance in terms of water permeability and salt rejection. However, only nanocomposite membranes have been commercialized while others are still under fundamental developmental stages. Among the thermal-based technologies, membrane distillation and adsorption desalination show the most promise for enhanced performance with the availability of a waste heat source. Several alternative technologies have also been developed recently; those based on capacitive deionization have shown considerable improvements in their salt removal capacity and feed water recovery. In the same category, microbial desalination cells have been shown to desalinate high salinity water without any external energy source, but to date, scale up of the process has not been methodically evaluated. In this paper, advantages and drawbacks of each technology is discussed along with a comparison of performance, water quality and energy consumption. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Removal of endotoxin from deionized water using micromachined silicon nanopore membranes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Ross A.; Goldman, Ken; Fissell, William H.; Fleischman, Aaron J.; Zorman, Christian A.; Roy, Shuvo

2011-05-01

Endotoxins are lipopolysaccharide components of the cell membrane of Gram-negative bacteria that trigger the body's innate immune system and can cause shock and death. Water for medical therapy, including parenteral and dialysate solutions, must be free of endotoxin. This purity is challenging to achieve as many Gram-negative bacteria are endemic in the environment, and can thrive in harsh, nutrient-poor conditions. Current methods for removing endotoxin include distillation and reverse osmosis, both of which are resource intensive processes. Membranes that present an absolute barrier to macromolecular passage may be capable of delivering pure water for biomedical applications. In this work, endotoxin has been filtered from aqueous solutions using silicon nanopore membranes (SNMs) with monodisperse pore size distributions. SNMs with critical pore sizes between 26 and 49 nm were challenged with solutions of deionized water spiked with endotoxin and with Pseudomonas cepacia. The filtrate produced by the SNM from Pseudomonas-contaminated water had <1.0 endotoxin unit (EU) ml-1, which meets standards for dialysate purity. This approach suggests a technique for single-step cleanup of heavily contaminated water that may be suitable for field or clinical use.

Hollow Fiber Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator Development and Testing for Advanced Spacesuits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bue, Grant C.; Trevino, Luis A.; Tsioulos, Gus; Settles, Joseph; Colunga, Aaron; Vogel, Matthew; Vonau, Walt

2010-01-01

The spacesuit water membrane evaporator (SWME) is being developed to perform the thermal control function for advanced spacesuits to take advantage of recent advances in micropore membrane technology in providing a robust heat-rejection device that is potentially less sensitive to contamination than is the sublimator. Principles of a sheet membrane SWME design were demonstrated using a prototypic test article that was tested in a vacuum chamber at JSC in July 1999. The Membrana Celgard X50-215 microporous hollow fiber (HoFi) membrane was selected after recent contamination tests as the most suitable candidate among commercial alternatives for HoFi SWME prototype development. A design that grouped the fiber layers into stacks, which were separated by small spaces and packaged into a cylindrical shape, was developed into a full-scale prototype consisting 14,300 tube bundled into 30 stacks, each of which are formed into a chevron shape and separated by spacers and organized into three sectors of ten nested stacks. Vacuum chamber testing has been performed characterize heat rejection as a function of inlet water temperature and water vapor backpressure and to show contamination resistance to the constituents expected to be found in potable water produced by the distillation processes. Other tests showed the tolerance to freezing and suitability to reject heat in a Mars pressure environment.

Characterization of Polysulfone Membranes Prepared with Thermally Induced Phase Separation Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiron, L. G.; Pintilie, Ș C.; Vlad, M.; Birsan, I. G.; Baltă, Ș

2017-06-01

Abstract Membrane technology is one of the most used water treatment technology because of its high removal efficiency and cost effectiveness. Preparation techniques for polymer membranes show an important aspect of membrane properties. Generally, polysulfone (PSf) and polyethersulfone (PES) are used for the preparation of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. Polysulfone (PSf) membranes have been widely used for separation and purification of different solutions because of their excellent chemical and thermal stability. Polymeric membranes were obtained by phase inversion method. The polymer solution introduced in the nonsolvent bath (distilled water) initiate the evaporation of the solvent from the solution, this phenomenon has a strong influence on the transport properties. The effect of the coagulation bath temperature on the membrane properties is of interest for this study. Membranes are characterized by pure water flux, permeability, porosity and retention of methylene blue. The low temperature of coagulation bath improve the membrane’s rejection and its influence was most notable.

Distillation process using microchannel technology

DOEpatents

Tonkovich, Anna Lee [Dublin, OH; Simmons, Wayne W [Dublin, OH; Silva, Laura J [Dublin, OH; Qiu, Dongming [Carbondale, IL; Perry, Steven T [Galloway, OH; Yuschak, Thomas [Dublin, OH; Hickey, Thomas P [Dublin, OH; Arora, Ravi [Dublin, OH; Smith, Amanda [Galloway, OH; Litt, Robert Dwayne [Westerville, OH; Neagle, Paul [Westerville, OH

2009-11-03

The disclosed invention relates to a distillation process for separating two or more components having different volatilities from a liquid mixture containing the components. The process employs microchannel technology for effecting the distillation and is particularly suitable for conducting difficult separations, such as the separation of ethane from ethylene, wherein the individual components are characterized by having volatilities that are very close to one another.

Solar membrane distillation: desalination for the Navajo Nation.

PubMed

Karanikola, Vasiliki; Corral, Andrea F; Mette, Patrick; Jiang, Hua; Arnoldand, Robert G; Ela, Wendell P

2014-01-01

Provision of clean water is among the most serious, long-term challenges in the world. To an ever increasing degree, sustainable water supply depends on the utilization of water of impaired initial quality. This is particularly true in developing nations and in water-stressed areas such as the American Southwest. One clear example is the Navajo Nation. The reservation covers 27,000 square miles, mainly in northeastern Arizona. Low population density coupled with water scarcity and impairment makes provision of clean water particularly challenging. The Navajos rely primarily on ground water, which is often present in deep aquifers or of brackish quality. Commonly, reverse osmosis (RO) is chosen to desalinate brackish ground water, since RO costs are competitive with those of thermal desalination, even for seawater applications. However, both conventional thermal distillation and RO are energy intensive, complex processes that discourage decentralized or rural implementation. In addition, both technologies demand technical experience for operation and maintenance, and are susceptible to scaling and fouling unless extensive feed pretreatment is employed. Membrane distillation (MD), driven by vapor pressure gradients, can potentially overcome many of these drawbacks. MD can operate using low-grade, sub-boiling sources of heat and does not require extensive operational experience. This presentation discusses a project on the Navajo Nation, Arizona (Native American tribal lands) that is designed to investigate and deploy an autonomous (off-grid) system to pump and treat brackish groundwater using solar energy. Βench-scale, hollow fiber MD experiment results showed permeate water fluxes from 21 L/m2·d can be achieved with transmembrane temperature differences between 40 and 80˚C. Tests run with various feed salt concentrations indicate that the permeate flux decreases only about 25% as the concentration increases from 0 to 14% (w/w), which is four times seawater salt concentration. The quality of the permeate water remains constant at about 1 mg/L regardless of the changes in the influent salt concentration. A nine-month MD field trial, using hollow fiber membranes and completely off-the-shelf components demonstrated that a scaled-up solar-driven MD system was practical and economically viable. Based on these results, a pilot scale unit will be constructed and deployed on the tribal lands.

Carbon nanotube filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srivastava, A.; Srivastava, O. N.; Talapatra, S.; Vajtai, R.; Ajayan, P. M.

2004-09-01

Over the past decade of nanotube research, a variety of organized nanotube architectures have been fabricated using chemical vapour deposition. The idea of using nanotube structures in separation technology has been proposed, but building macroscopic structures that have controlled geometric shapes, density and dimensions for specific applications still remains a challenge. Here we report the fabrication of freestanding monolithic uniform macroscopic hollow cylinders having radially aligned carbon nanotube walls, with diameters and lengths up to several centimetres. These cylindrical membranes are used as filters to demonstrate their utility in two important settings: the elimination of multiple components of heavy hydrocarbons from petroleum-a crucial step in post-distillation of crude oil-with a single-step filtering process, and the filtration of bacterial contaminants such as Escherichia coli or the nanometre-sized poliovirus (~25 nm) from water. These macro filters can be cleaned for repeated filtration through ultrasonication and autoclaving. The exceptional thermal and mechanical stability of nanotubes, and the high surface area, ease and cost-effective fabrication of the nanotube membranes may allow them to compete with ceramic- and polymer-based separation membranes used commercially.

Carbon nanotube filters.

PubMed

Srivastava, A; Srivastava, O N; Talapatra, S; Vajtai, R; Ajayan, P M

2004-09-01

Over the past decade of nanotube research, a variety of organized nanotube architectures have been fabricated using chemical vapour deposition. The idea of using nanotube structures in separation technology has been proposed, but building macroscopic structures that have controlled geometric shapes, density and dimensions for specific applications still remains a challenge. Here we report the fabrication of freestanding monolithic uniform macroscopic hollow cylinders having radially aligned carbon nanotube walls, with diameters and lengths up to several centimetres. These cylindrical membranes are used as filters to demonstrate their utility in two important settings: the elimination of multiple components of heavy hydrocarbons from petroleum-a crucial step in post-distillation of crude oil-with a single-step filtering process, and the filtration of bacterial contaminants such as Escherichia coli or the nanometre-sized poliovirus ( approximately 25 nm) from water. These macro filters can be cleaned for repeated filtration through ultrasonication and autoclaving. The exceptional thermal and mechanical stability of nanotubes, and the high surface area, ease and cost-effective fabrication of the nanotube membranes may allow them to compete with ceramic- and polymer-based separation membranes used commercially.

Downstream process options for the ABE fermentation.

PubMed

Friedl, Anton

2016-05-01

Butanol is a very interesting substance both for the chemical industry and as a biofuel. The classical distillation process for the removal of butanol is far too energy demanding, at a factor of 220% of the energy content of butanol. Alternative separation processes studied are hybrid processes of gas-stripping, liquid-liquid extraction and pervaporation with distillation and a novel adsorption/drying/desorption hybrid process. Compared with the energy content of butanol, the resulting energy demand for butanol separation and concentration of optimized hybrid processes is 11%-22% for pervaporation/distillation and 11%-17% for liquid-liquid extraction/distillation. For a novel adsorption/drying/desorption process, the energy demand is 9.4%. But all downstream process options need further proof of industrial applicability. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Effect of pH and polypropylene beads in hybrid water treatment process of alumina ceramic microfiltration and PP beads with air back-flushing and UV irradiation.

PubMed

Park, Jin Yong; Song, Seunghwa

2017-07-07

For advanced water treatment, effects of pH and pure polypropylene (PP) beads packing concentration on membrane fouling and treatment efficiency were observed in a hybrid process of alumina ceramic microfiltration (MF; pore size 0.1 μm) and pure PP beads. Instead of natural organic matters and fine inorganic particles in natural water source, a quantity of humic acid (HA) and kaolin was dissolved in distilled water. The synthetic feed flowed inside the MF membrane, and the permeated water contacted the PP beads fluidized in the gap of the membrane and the acryl module case with outside UV irradiation. Periodic air back-flushing was performed to control membrane fouling during 10 s per 10 min. The membrane fouling resistance (R f ) was the maximum at 30 g/L of PP bead concentration. Finally, the maximum total permeated volume (V T ) was acquired at 5 g/L of PP beads, because flux maintained higher all through the operation. The treatment efficiency of turbidity was almost constant, independent of PP bead concentration; however, that of dissolved organic materials (DOM) showed the maximal at 50 g/L of PP beads. The R f increased as increasing feed pH from 5 to 9; however, the maximum V T was acquired at pH 6. It means that the membrane fouling could be inhibited at low acid condition. The treatment efficiency of turbidity increased a little, and that of DOM increased from 73.6 to 75.7% as increasing pH from 5 to 9.

Silicon production process evaluations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Chemical engineering analysis of the HSC process (Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation) for producing silicon from dichlorosilane in a 1,000 MT/yr plant was continued. Progress and status for the chemical engineering analysis of the HSC process are reported for the primary process design engineering activities: base case conditions (85%), reaction chemistry (85%), process flow diagram (60%), material balance (60%), energy balance (30%), property data (30%), equipment design (20%) and major equipment list (10%). Engineering design of the initial distillation column (D-01, stripper column) in the process was initiated. The function of the distillation column is to remove volatile gases (such as hydrogen and nitrogen) which are dissolved in liquid chlorosilanes. Initial specifications and results for the distillation column design are reported including the variation of tray requirements (equilibrium stages) with reflux ratio for the distillation.

Advanced Distillation Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maddalena Fanelli; Ravi Arora; Annalee Tonkovich

2010-03-24

The Advanced Distillation project was concluded on December 31, 2009. This U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded project was completed successfully and within budget during a timeline approved by DOE project managers, which included a one year extension to the initial ending date. The subject technology, Microchannel Process Technology (MPT) distillation, was expected to provide both capital and operating cost savings compared to conventional distillation technology. With efforts from Velocys and its project partners, MPT distillation was successfully demonstrated at a laboratory scale and its energy savings potential was calculated. While many objectives established at the beginning of the projectmore » were met, the project was only partially successful. At the conclusion, it appears that MPT distillation is not a good fit for the targeted separation of ethane and ethylene in large-scale ethylene production facilities, as greater advantages were seen for smaller scale distillations. Early in the project, work involved flowsheet analyses to discern the economic viability of ethane-ethylene MPT distillation and develop strategies for maximizing its impact on the economics of the process. This study confirmed that through modification to standard operating processes, MPT can enable net energy savings in excess of 20%. This advantage was used by ABB Lumus to determine the potential impact of MPT distillation on the ethane-ethylene market. The study indicated that a substantial market exists if the energy saving could be realized and if installed capital cost of MPT distillation was on par or less than conventional technology. Unfortunately, it was determined that the large number of MPT distillation units needed to perform ethane-ethylene separation for world-scale ethylene facilities, makes the targeted separation a poor fit for the technology in this application at the current state of manufacturing costs. Over the course of the project, distillation experiments were performed with the targeted mixture, ethane-ethylene, as well as with analogous low relative volatility systems: cyclohexane-hexane and cyclopentane-pentane. Devices and test stands were specifically designed for these efforts. Development progressed from experiments and models considering sections of a full scale device to the design, fabrication, and operation of a single-channel distillation unit with integrated heat transfer. Throughout the project, analytical and numerical models and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were validated with experiments in the process of developing this platform technology. Experimental trials demonstrated steady and controllable distillation for a variety of process conditions. Values of Height-to-an-Equivalent Theoretical Plate (HETP) ranging from less than 0.5 inch to a few inches were experimentally proven, demonstrating a ten-fold performance enhancement relative to conventional distillation. This improvement, while substantial, is not sufficient for MPT distillation to displace very large scale distillation trains. Fortunately, parallel efforts in the area of business development have yielded other applications for MPT distillation, including smaller scale separations that benefit from the flowsheet flexibility offered by the technology. Talks with multiple potential partners are underway. Their outcome will also help determine the path ahead for MPT distillation.« less

An adhesion-based method for plasma membrane isolation: evaluating cholesterol extraction from cells and their membranes.

PubMed

Bezrukov, Ludmila; Blank, Paul S; Polozov, Ivan V; Zimmerberg, Joshua

2009-11-15

A method to isolate large quantities of directly accessible plasma membrane from attached cells is presented. The method is based on the adhesion of cells to an adsorbed layer of polylysine on glass plates, followed by hypotonic lysis with ice-cold distilled water and subsequent washing steps. Optimal conditions for coating glass plates and time for cell attachment were established. No additional chemical or mechanical treatments were used. Contamination of the isolated plasma membrane by cell organelles was less than 5%. The method uses inexpensive, commercially available polylysine and reusable glass plates. Plasma membrane preparations can be made in 15 min. Using this method, we determined that methyl-beta-cyclodextrin differentially extracts cholesterol from fibroblast cells and their plasma membranes and that these differences are temperature dependent. Determination of the cholesterol/phospholipid ratio from intact cells does not reflect methyl-beta-cyclodextrin plasma membrane extraction properties.

Financial Summary, Nanofiltration Data, and Lithium Uptake Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jay Renew

Integrated testing of nanofiltration and lithium uptake subsystems using synthetic geothermal brine. Also includes a financial summary (Pro Forma) of the proposed 'Geothermal Thermoelectric Generation (G-TEG) with Integrated Temperature Driven Membrane Distillation and Novel Manganese Oxide for Lithium Extraction' (first pass 500 gpm).

Membrane-based recovery and dehydration of alcohols from fermentation broths - of materials and modules

EPA Science Inventory

Distillation combined with molecular sieve dehydration is the current state of the art for fuel grade ethanol production from fermentation broths. As the liquid biofuels industry transitions to lignocellulosic feedstocks, expands the end product portfolio to include other alcoho...

Energy efficient recovery and dehydration of ethanol from fermentation broths by Membrane Assisted Vapor Stripping technology

EPA Science Inventory

Distillation combined with molecular sieve dehydration is the current state of the art for fuel grade ethanol production from fermentation broths. To improve the sustainability of bioethanol production, energy efficient separation alternatives are needed, particularly for lower ...

A novel membrane distillation-thermophilic bioreactor system: biological stability and trace organic compound removal.

PubMed

Wijekoon, Kaushalya C; Hai, Faisal I; Kang, Jinguo; Price, William E; Guo, Wenshan; Ngo, Hao H; Cath, Tzahi Y; Nghiem, Long D

2014-05-01

The removal of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) by a novel membrane distillation-thermophilic bioreactor (MDBR) system was examined. Salinity build-up and the thermophilic conditions to some extent adversely impacted the performance of the bioreactor, particularly the removal of total nitrogen and recalcitrant TrOCs. While most TrOCs were well removed by the thermophilic bioreactor, compounds containing electron withdrawing functional groups in their molecular structure were recalcitrant to biological treatment and their removal efficiency by the thermophilic bioreactor was low (0-53%). However, the overall performance of the novel MDBR system with respect to the removal of total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and TrOCs was high and was not significantly affected by the conditions of the bioreactor. All TrOCs investigated here were highly removed (>95%) by the MDBR system. Biodegradation, sludge adsorption, and rejection by MD contribute to the removal of TrOCs by MDBR treatment. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing synthesis techniques for zeolitic-imidazolate framework membranes for high resolution propylene/propane separation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Hyuk Taek

Propylene/propane separation is one of the most challenging separations, currently achieved by energy-intensive cryogenic distillation. Despite the great potentials for energy-efficient membrane-based propylene/propane separation processes, no commercial membranes are available due to the limitations (i.e., low selectivity) of current polymeric materials. Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are promising membrane materials primarily due to their well-defined ultra-micropores with controllable surface chemistry along with their relatively high thermal/chemical stabilities. In particular, ZIF-8 with the effective aperture size of ~ 4.0 A has been shown very promising for propylene/propane separation. Despite the extensive research on ZIF-8 membranes, only a few of ZIF-8 membranes have displayed good propylene/propane separation performances presumably due to the challenges of controlling the microstructures of polycrystalline membranes. Since the membrane microstructures are greatly influenced by processing techniques, it is critically important to develop new techniques. In this dissertation, three state-of-the-art ZIF membrane synthesis techniques are developed. The first is a one-step in-situ synthesis technique based on the concept of counter diffusion. The technique enabled us to obtain highly propylene selective ZIF-8 membranes in less than a couple of hours with exceptional mechanical strength. Most importantly, due to the nature of the counter-diffusion concept, the new method offered unique opportunities such as healing defective membranes (i.e., poorly-intergrown) as well as significantly reducing the consumption of costly ligands and organic solvents. The second is a microwave-assisted seeding technique. Using this new seeding technique, we were able to prepare seeded supports with a high packing density in a couple of minutes, which subsequently grown into highly propylene-selective ZIF-8 membranes with an average propylene/propane selectivity of ~40. The last is a heteroepitaxial growth technique. The first well-intergrown membranes of ZIF-67 (Co-substituted ZIF-8) by heteroepitaxially growing ZIF-67 on ZIF-8 seed layers were reported. The ZIF-67 membranes exhibited impressively high propylene/propane separation capabilities. The presence of a methanol co-solvent in the growth solution was critically important to reproducibly prepare high quality ZIF-67 membranes. Furthermore, when the tertiary growth of ZIF-8 layers was applied to the ZIF-67 membranes, the membranes exhibited unprecedentedly high propylene/propane separation factors of ~ 200 possibly due to enhanced grain boundary structure.

Thin stillage fractionation using ultrafiltration: resistance in series model.

PubMed

Arora, Amit; Dien, Bruce S; Belyea, Ronald L; Wang, Ping; Singh, Vijay; Tumbleson, M E; Rausch, Kent D

2009-02-01

The corn based dry grind process is the most widely used method in the US for fuel ethanol production. Fermentation of corn to ethanol produces whole stillage after ethanol is removed by distillation. It is centrifuged to separate thin stillage from wet grains. Thin stillage contains 5-10% solids. To concentrate solids of thin stillage, it requires evaporation of large amounts of water and maintenance of evaporators. Evaporator maintenance requires excess evaporator capacity at the facility, increasing capital expenses, requiring plant slowdowns or shut downs and results in revenue losses. Membrane filtration is one method that could lead to improved value of thin stillage and may offer an alternative to evaporation. Fractionation of thin stillage using ultrafiltration was conducted to evaluate membranes as an alternative to evaporators in the ethanol industry. Two regenerated cellulose membranes with molecular weight cut offs of 10 and 100 kDa were evaluated. Total solids (suspended and soluble) contents recovered through membrane separation process were similar to those from commercial evaporators. Permeate flux decline of thin stillage using a resistance in series model was determined. Each of the four components of total resistance was evaluated experimentally. Effects of operating variables such as transmembrane pressure and temperature on permeate flux rate and resistances were determined and optimum conditions for maximum flux rates were evaluated. Model equations were developed to evaluate the resistance components that are responsible for fouling and to predict total flux decline with respect to time. Modeling results were in agreement with experimental results (R(2) > 0.98).

Production and Purification of Bioethanol from Molasses and Cassava

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maryana, Roni; Wahono, Satriyo Krido

2009-09-01

This research aim to analysis bioethanol purification process. Bioethanol from cassava has been produced in previous research and the ethanol from molasses was taken from Bekonang region. The production of bioethanol from cassava was carried out through several processes such as homogenization, adding of α-amylase, β-amylase and yeast (Saccharomyces c). Two types of laboratory scale distillator have been used, the first type is 50 cm length and 4 cm diameter. The second type distillator is 30 cm length and 9 cm diameter. Both types have been used to distill bioethanol The initial concentration after the fermentation process is 15% for bioethanol from cassava and 20-30% ethanol from molasses. The results of first type distillator are 90% of bioethanol at 50° C and yield 2.5%; 70% of bioethanol at 60° C and yield 11.2%. 32% of bioethanol at 70° C and yield 42%. Meanwhile the second distillator results are 84% of bioethanol at 50° C with yield 12%; 51% of bioethanol at 60° C with yield 35.5%; 20% of bioethanol at 70° C with yield 78.8%; 16% of bioethanol at 80° C with yield 81.6%. The ethanol from molasses has been distillated once times in Bekonang after the fermentation process, the yield was about 20%. In this research first type distillator and the initial concentration is 20% has been used. The results are 95% of bioethanol at 75° C with yield 8%; 94% of bioethanol at 85° C with yield 13% when vacuum pump was used. And 94% of bioethanol at 90° C with yield 3.7% and 94% of bioethanol at 96° C with yield 10.27% without vacuum pump. The bioethanol purification use second type distillator more effective than first type distillator.

In vitro erythrocyte membrane stabilization properties of Carica papaya L. leaf extracts

PubMed Central

Ranasinghe, Priyanga; Ranasinghe, Pathmasiri; Abeysekera, W. P. Kaushalya M.; Premakumara, G. A. Sirimal; Perera, Yashasvi S.; Gurugama, Padmalal; Gunatilake, Saman B.

2012-01-01

Background: Carica papaya L. fruit juice and leaf extracts are known to have many beneficial medical properties. Recent reports have claimed possible beneficial effects of C. papaya L. leaf juice in treating patients with dengue viral infections. This study aims to evaluate the membrane stabilization potential of C. papaya L. leaf extracts using an in vitro hemolytic assay. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in between June and August 2010. Two milliliters of blood from healthy volunteers and patients with serologically confirmed current dengue infection were freshly collected and used in the assays. Fresh papaya leaves at three different maturity stages (immature, partly matured, and matured) were cleaned with distilled water, crushed, and the juice was extracted with 10 ml of cold distilled water. Freshly prepared cold water extracts of papaya leaves (1 ml containing 30 μl of papaya leaf extracts, 20 μl from 40% erythrocytes suspension, and 950 μl of phosphate buffered saline) were used in the heat-induced and hypotonic-induced hemolytic assays. In dose response experiments, six different concentrations (9.375, 18.75, 37.5, 75, 150, and 300 μg/ml) of freeze dried extracts of the partly matured leaves were used. Membrane stabilization properties were investigated with heat-induced and hypotonicity-induced hemolysis assays. Results: Extracts of papaya leaves of all three maturity levels showed a significant reduction in heat-induced hemolysis compared to controls (P < 0.05). Papaya leaf extracts of all three maturity levels showed more than 25% inhibition at a concentration of 37.5 μg/ml. The highest inhibition of heat-induced hemolysis was observed at 37.5 μg/ml. Inhibition activity of different maturity levels was not significantly (P < 0.05) different from one another. Heat-induced hemolysis inhibition activity did not demonstrate a linear dose response relationship. At 37.5 μg/ml concentration of the extract, a marked inhibition of hypotonicity-induced hemolysis was observed. Conclusion: C. papaya L. leaf extracts showed a significant inhibition of hemolysis in vitro and could have a potential therapeutic effect on disease processes causing destabilization of biological membranes. PMID:23225962

In vitro erythrocyte membrane stabilization properties of Carica papaya L. leaf extracts.

PubMed

Ranasinghe, Priyanga; Ranasinghe, Pathmasiri; Abeysekera, W P Kaushalya M; Premakumara, G A Sirimal; Perera, Yashasvi S; Gurugama, Padmalal; Gunatilake, Saman B

2012-10-01

Carica papaya L. fruit juice and leaf extracts are known to have many beneficial medical properties. Recent reports have claimed possible beneficial effects of C. papaya L. leaf juice in treating patients with dengue viral infections. This study aims to evaluate the membrane stabilization potential of C. papaya L. leaf extracts using an in vitro hemolytic assay. The study was conducted in between June and August 2010. Two milliliters of blood from healthy volunteers and patients with serologically confirmed current dengue infection were freshly collected and used in the assays. Fresh papaya leaves at three different maturity stages (immature, partly matured, and matured) were cleaned with distilled water, crushed, and the juice was extracted with 10 ml of cold distilled water. Freshly prepared cold water extracts of papaya leaves (1 ml containing 30 μl of papaya leaf extracts, 20 μl from 40% erythrocytes suspension, and 950 μl of phosphate buffered saline) were used in the heat-induced and hypotonic-induced hemolytic assays. In dose response experiments, six different concentrations (9.375, 18.75, 37.5, 75, 150, and 300 μg/ml) of freeze dried extracts of the partly matured leaves were used. Membrane stabilization properties were investigated with heat-induced and hypotonicity-induced hemolysis assays. Extracts of papaya leaves of all three maturity levels showed a significant reduction in heat-induced hemolysis compared to controls (P < 0.05). Papaya leaf extracts of all three maturity levels showed more than 25% inhibition at a concentration of 37.5 μg/ml. The highest inhibition of heat-induced hemolysis was observed at 37.5 μg/ml. Inhibition activity of different maturity levels was not significantly (P < 0.05) different from one another. Heat-induced hemolysis inhibition activity did not demonstrate a linear dose response relationship. At 37.5 μg/ml concentration of the extract, a marked inhibition of hypotonicity-induced hemolysis was observed. C. papaya L. leaf extracts showed a significant inhibition of hemolysis in vitro and could have a potential therapeutic effect on disease processes causing destabilization of biological membranes.

Development of a preprototype thermoelectric integrated membrane evaporation subsystem for water recovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winkler, H. E.; Roebelen, G. J., Jr.

1980-01-01

A three-man urine water recovery preprototype subsystem using a new concept to provide efficient potable water recovery from waste fluids on extended duration space flights has been designed, fabricated, and tested. Low power, compactness, and gravity insensitive operation are featured in this vacuum distillation subsystem that combines a hollow fiber polysulfone membrane evaporator with a thermoelectric heat pump. Application and integration of these key elements have solved problems inherent in previous reclamation subsystem designs. The hollow fiber elements provide positive liquid/gas phase control with no moving parts other than a waste liquid recirculation pump and a product water withdrawal pump. Tubular membranes provide structural integrity, improving on previous flat sheet membrane designs. A thermoelectric heat pump provides latent energy recovery.

Multivariable model predictive control design of reactive distillation column for Dimethyl Ether production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wahid, A.; Putra, I. G. E. P.

2018-03-01

Dimethyl ether (DME) as an alternative clean energy has attracted a growing attention in the recent years. DME production via reactive distillation has potential for capital cost and energy requirement savings. However, combination of reaction and distillation on a single column makes reactive distillation process a very complex multivariable system with high non-linearity of process and strong interaction between process variables. This study investigates a multivariable model predictive control (MPC) based on two-point temperature control strategy for the DME reactive distillation column to maintain the purities of both product streams. The process model is estimated by a first order plus dead time model. The DME and water purity is maintained by controlling a stage temperature in rectifying and stripping section, respectively. The result shows that the model predictive controller performed faster responses compared to conventional PI controller that are showed by the smaller ISE values. In addition, the MPC controller is able to handle the loop interactions well.

H-Coal process and plant design

DOEpatents

Kydd, Paul H.; Chervenak, Michael C.; DeVaux, George R.

1983-01-01

A process for converting coal and other hydrocarbonaceous materials into useful and more valuable liquid products. The process comprises: feeding coal and/or other hydrocarbonaceous materials with a hydrogen-containing gas into an ebullated catalyst bed reactor; passing the reaction products from the reactor to a hot separator where the vaporous and distillate products are separated from the residuals; introducing the vaporous and distillate products from the separator directly into a hydrotreater where they are further hydrogenated; passing the residuals from the separator successively through flash vessels at reduced pressures where distillates are flashed off and combined with the vaporous and distillate products to be hydrogenated; transferring the unseparated residuals to a solids concentrating and removal means to remove a substantial portion of solids therefrom and recycling the remaining residual oil to the reactor; and passing the hydrogenated vaporous and distillate products to an atmospheric fractionator where the combined products are fractionated into separate valuable liquid products. The hydrogen-containing gas is generated from sources within the process.

Recovery of polyphenols from rose oil distillation wastewater using adsorption resins--a pilot study.

PubMed

Rusanov, Krasimir; Garo, Eliane; Rusanova, Mila; Fertig, Orlando; Hamburger, Matthias; Atanassov, Ivan; Butterweck, Veronika

2014-11-01

The production of rose oil from rose flowers by water steam distillation leaves a water fraction of the distillate as main part of the waste. Therefore, the rose oil distillation wastewater represents a serious environmental problem due to the high content of polyphenols which are difficult to decompose and have to be considered as biopollutants when discarded into the drainage system and rivers. On the other hand, natural polyphenols are valuable compounds with useful properties as bioactive substances. Until now there is no established practice for processing of rose oil distillation wastewater and utilization of contained substances. Thus, it was the aim of this study to develop a strategy to separate this wastewater into a polyphenol depleted water fraction and a polyphenol enriched fraction which could be developed into innovative value-added products. In a first step, the phytochemical profile of rose oil distillation wastewater was determined. Its HPLC-PDA-MS analysis revealed the presence of flavan-3-ols, flavanones, flavonols and flavones. In a second step, the development of a stepwise concentration of rose oil distillation wastewater was performed. The concentration process includes a filtration process to eliminate suspended solids in the wastewater, followed by adsorption of the contained phenolic compounds onto adsorption resins (XAD and SP). Finally, desorption of the polyphenol fraction from the resin matrix was achieved using ethanol and/or aqueous ethanol. The result of the process was a wastewater low in soluble organic compounds and an enriched polyphenol fraction (RF20 SP-207). The profile of this fraction was similar to that of rose oil distillation wastewater and showed the presence of flavonols such as quercetin and kaempferol glycosides as major metabolites. These compounds were isolated from the enriched polyphenol fraction and their structures confirmed by NMR. In summary, a pilot medium scale system was developed using adsorption resins for the recovery of polyphenols from rose oil distillation wastewater suggesting an industrial scalability of the process. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Distilling entanglement with noisy operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Jinho; Bae, Joonwoo; Kwon, Younghun

Entanglement distillation is a fundamental task in quantum information processing. It not only extracts entanglement out of corrupted systems but also leads to protecting systems of interest against intervention with environment. In this work, we consider a realistic scenario of entanglement distillation where noisy quantum operations are applied. In particular, the two-way distillation protocol that tolerates the highest error rate is considered. We show that among all types of noise there are only four equivalence classes according to the distillability condition. Since the four classes are connected by local unitary transformations, our results can be used to improve entanglement distillability in practice when entanglement distillation is performed in a realistic setting.

Two-stage coal liquefaction process

DOEpatents

Skinner, Ronald W.; Tao, John C.; Znaimer, Samuel

1985-01-01

An improved SRC-I two-stage coal liquefaction process which improves the product slate is provided. Substantially all of the net yield of 650.degree.-850.degree. F. heavy distillate from the LC-Finer is combined with the SRC process solvent, substantially all of the net 400.degree.-650.degree. F. middle distillate from the SRC section is combined with the hydrocracker solvent in the LC-Finer, and the initial boiling point of the SRC process solvent is increased sufficiently high to produce a net yield of 650.degree.-850.degree. F. heavy distillate of zero for the two-stage liquefaction process.

Urine pretreatment for waste water processing systems. [for space station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winkler, H. E.; Verostko, C. E.; Dehner, G. F.

1983-01-01

Recovery of high quality water from urine is an essential part of life support on a Space Station to avoid costly launch and resupply penalties. Water can be effectively recovered from urine by distillation following pretreatment by a chemical agent to inhibit microorganism contamination and fix volatile ammonia constituents. This paper presents the results of laboratory investigations of several pretreatment chemicals which were tested at several concentration levels in combination with sulfuric acid in urine. The optimum pretreatment formulation was then evaluated with urine in the Hamilton Standard Thermoelectric Integrated Membrane Evaporation Subsystem (TIMES). Over 2600 hours of test time was accumulated. Results of these laboratory and system tests are presented in this paper.

Extraction of essential oil from baby Java orange (Citrus sinensis) solid waste using water and steam distillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dewi, I. A.; Prastyo, A. M.; Wijana, S.

2018-03-01

Baby java orange (Citrus sinensis) is commonly consumed as juice. Processing of baby java orange leaves organic waste which consist of the mesocarp, exocarp, seed, and wall of the orange. Therefore, it is necessary to process baby java orange waste to be valuable products. The purpose of this study was to provide added value to unutilized baby java orange waste, and to find out the pretreatment of time-delay process that maximize the yield of essential oil produced. Essential oil processing can be done by water and steam distillation. The study used randomized block design with one factor namely distillation time-delay process by air drying consisted of 4 levels i.e. the distillation delay for 2, 4, 6, and 8 days. The best treatment was determined based on the yield. The best essential oil from baby java orange waste was obtained from the treatment of distillation delay-process of 8 days. This pretreatment generated yield value of 0.63% with moisture content of 24.21%. By estimating the price of essential oil showed that this effort not only reduced the bulky organic waste but also provided potential economical value.

Process for producing low-sulfur boiler fuel by hydrotreatment of solvent deashed SRC

DOEpatents

Roberts, George W.; Tao, John C.

1985-01-01

In this invention, a process is disclosed characterized by heating a slurry of coal in the presence of a process-derived recycle solvent and passing same to a dissolver zone, separating the resultant gases and liquid/solid products therefrom, vacuum distilling the liquid/solids products, separating the portions of the liquid/solids vacuum distillation effluent into a solid ash, unconverted coal particles and SRC material having a boiling point above 850.degree. F. and subjecting same to a critical solvent deashing step to provide an ash-free SRC product. The lighter liquid products from the vacuum distillation possess a boiling point below 850.degree. F. and are passed through a distillation tower, from which recycled solvent is recovered in addition to light distillate boiling below 400.degree. F. (overhead). The ash-free SRC product in accompanyment with at least a portion of the process derived solvent is passed in combination to a hydrotreating zone containing a hydrogenation catalyst and in the presence of hydrogen is hydroprocessed to produce a desulfurized and denitrogenized low-sulfur, low-ash boiler fuel and a process derived recycle solvent which is recycled to slurry the coal in the beginning of the process before heating.

Long Duration Testing of a Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator Prototype

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bue, Grant C.; Makinen, Janice; Cox, Marlon; Watts, Carly; Campbell, Colin; Vogel, Matthew; Colunga, Aaron

2011-01-01

The Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) is a heat-rejection device that is being developed to perform thermal control for advanced spacesuits. Cooling is achieved by circulating water from the liquid cooling garment (LCG) through hollow fibers (HoFi?s), which are small hydrophobic tubes. Liquid water remains within the hydrophobic tubes, but water vapor is exhausted to space, thereby removing heat. A SWME test article was tested over the course of a year, for a total of 1200 cumulative hours. In order to evaluate SWME tolerance to contamination due to constituents caused by distillation processes, these constituents were allowed to accumulate in the water as evaporation occurred. A test article was tested over the course of a year for a total of 1200 cumulative hours. The heat rejection performance of the SWME degraded significantly--below 700 W, attributable to the accumulation of rust in the circulating loop and biofilm growth. Bubble elimination capability, a feature that was previously proven with SWME, was compromised during the test, most likely due to loss of hydrophobic properties of the hollow fibers. The utilization of water for heat rejection was shown not to be dependent on test article, life cycle, heat rejection rate, or freezing of the membranes.

Long Duration Testing of a Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator Prototype

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bue, Grant C.; Makinen, Janice; Cox, Marlon; Watts, Carly; Campbell, Colin; Vogel, Matthew; Colunga, Aaron; Conger, Bruce

2012-01-01

The Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) is a heat-rejection device that is being developed to perform thermal control for advanced spacesuits. Cooling is achieved by circulating water from the liquid cooling garment (LCG) through hollow fibers (HoFi s), which are small hydrophobic tubes. Liquid water remains within the hydrophobic tubes, but water vapor is exhausted to space, thereby removing heat. A SWME test article was tested over the course of a year, for a total of 600 cumulative hours. In order to evaluate SWME tolerance to contamination due to constituents caused by distillation processes, these constituents were allowed to accumulate in the water as evaporation occurred. A test article was tested over the course of a year for a total of 600 cumulative hours. The heat rejection performance of the SWME degraded significantly--below 700 W, attributable to the accumulation of rust in the circulating loop and biofilm growth. Bubble elimination capability, a feature that was previously proven with SWME, was compromised during the test, most likely due to loss of hydrophobic properties of the hollow fibers. The utilization of water for heat rejection was shown not to be dependent on test article, life cycle, heat rejection rate, or freezing of the membranes.

A novel integrated thermal-/membrane-based solar energy-driven hybrid desalination system: Concept description and simulation results.

PubMed

Kim, Young-Deuk; Thu, Kyaw; Ng, Kim Choon; Amy, Gary L; Ghaffour, Noreddine

2016-09-01

In this paper, a hybrid desalination system consisting of vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) and adsorption desalination (AD) units, designated as VMD-AD cycle, is proposed. The synergetic integration of the VMD and AD is demonstrated where a useful effect of the AD cycle is channelled to boost the operation of the VMD process, namely the low vacuum environment to maintain the high pressure gradient across the microporous hydrophobic membrane. A solar-assisted multi-stage VMD-AD hybrid desalination system with temperature modulating unit is first designed, and its performance is then examined with a mathematical model of each component in the system and compared with the VMD-only system with temperature modulating and heat recovery units. The total water production and water recovery ratio of a solar-assisted 24-stage VMD-AD hybrid system are found to be about 21% and 23% higher, respectively, as compared to the VMD-only system. For the solar-assisted 24-stage VMD-AD desalination system having 150 m(2) of evacuated-tube collectors and 10 m(3) seawater storage tanks, both annual collector efficiency and solar fraction are close to 60%. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of Ultrafiltration Membrane-Separation Technology for Energy-Efficient Water Treatment and Desalination Process

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yim, Woosoon; Bae, Chulsung

The growing scarcity of fresh water is a major political and economic challenge in the 21st century. Compared to thermal-based distillation technique of water production, pressure driven membrane-based water purification process, such as ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), can offer more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly solution to clean water production. Potential applications also include removal of hazardous chemicals (i.e., arsenic, pesticides, organics) from water. Although those membrane-separation technologies have been used to produce drinking water from seawater (desalination) and non-traditional water (i.e., municipal wastewater and brackish groundwater) over the last decades, they still have problems in ordermore » to be applied in large-scale operations. Currently, a major huddle of membrane-based water purification technology for large-scale commercialization is membrane fouling and its resulting increases in pressure and energy cost of filtration process. Membrane cleaning methods, which can restore the membrane properties to some degree, usually cause irreversible damage to the membranes. Considering that electricity for creating of pressure constitutes a majority of cost (~50%) in membrane-based water purification process, the development of new nano-porous membranes that are more resistant to degradation and less subject to fouling is highly desired. Styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene (SEBS) block copolymer is one of the best known block copolymers that induces well defined morphologies. Due to the polarity difference of aromatic styrene unit and saturated ethylene/butylene unit, these two polymer chains self-assemble each other and form different phase-separated morphologies depending on the ratios of two polymer chain lengths. Because the surface of SEBS is hydrophobic which easily causes fouling of membrane, incorporation of ionic group (e,g, sulfonate) to the polymer is necessary to reduces fouling. Recently, sulfonated SEBS became commercially available and has been extensively explored for membrane-mediated water purification technology. The sulfonated block copolymer creates a well developed nano-sale phase-separated morphologies composed of hydrophilic domains (sulfonated polystyrene) and hydrophobic domains (polyethylene/polybutylene). The hydrophilic domains determines transport properties (water transport, salt and/or ion rejection, etc) and the hydrophobic domains provides mechanical stability of the membrane. Unfortunately, a high degree of sulfonation of SEBS induces excessive swelling and deterioration of mechanical stability of the membrane. In an effort to develop robust polymeric membrane materials for water purification technology, phosphonic acid-functionalized SEBS membranes are investigated during this report period. In compare to sulfonated polymers, the corresponding phosphonated polymers are known to swell less because of the formation of extensive hydrogen bonding networks between phosphonates. In addition to the expected better mechanical stability, phosphonated polymers has another advantage over sulfonated polymers for the use water purification membrane; each phosphonate can accommodate two ions while each sulfonate accommodates only one ion. Membrane properties (ion type, ionic density, etc) of new membranes will be studied and their separation performance will be evaluated in water purification and desalination process. Through systematic study of the relationship of chemical structure–surface property–membrane performance, we aim to better understand the nature of membrane fouling and develop more fouling-resistant water purification membranes. The basic understanding of this relationship will lead to the development of advanced membrane materials which can offer a solution to environmentally sustainable production of fresh water.« less

Floral aroma improvement of Muscat spirits by packed column distillation with variable internal reflux.

PubMed

Matias-Guiu, Pau; Rodríguez-Bencomo, Juan José; Orriols, Ignacio; Pérez-Correa, José Ricardo; López, Francisco

2016-12-15

The organoleptic quality of wine distillates depends on raw materials and the distillation process. Previous work has shown that rectification columns in batch distillation with fixed reflux rate are useful to obtain distillates or distillate fractions with enhanced organoleptic characteristics. This study explores variable reflux rate operating strategies to increase the levels of terpenic compounds in specific distillate fractions to emphasize its floral aroma. Based on chemical and sensory analyses, two distillate heart sub-fractions obtained with the best operating strategy found, were compared with a distillate obtained in a traditional alembic. Results have shown that a drastic reduction of the reflux rate at an early stage of the heart cut produced a distillate heart sub-fraction with a higher concentration of terpenic compounds and lower levels of negative aroma compounds. Therefore, this sub-fraction presented a much more noticeable floral aroma than the distillate obtained with a traditional alembic. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biological production of acetic acid from waste gases with Clostridium ljungdahlii

DOEpatents

Gaddy, James L.

1998-01-01

A method and apparatus for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various organic acids or alcohols by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified. In an exemplary recovery process, the bioreactor raffinate is passed through an extraction chamber into which one or more non-inhibitory solvents are simultaneously introduced to extract the product. Then, the product is separated from the solvent by distillation. Gas conversion rates can be maximized by use of centrifuges, hollow fiber membranes, or other means of ultrafiltration to return entrained anaerobic bacteria from the bioreactor raffinate to the bioreactor itself, thus insuring the highest possible cell concentration.

Clostridium stain which produces acetic acid from waste gases

DOEpatents

Gaddy, James L.

1997-01-01

A method and apparatus for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various organic acids or alcohols by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified. In an exemplary recovery process, the bioreactor raffinate is passed through an extraction chamber into which one or more non-inhibitory solvents are simultaneously introduced to extract the product. Then, the product is separated from the solvent by distillation. Gas conversion rates can be maximized by use of centrifuges, hollow fiber membranes, or other means of ultrafiltration to return entrained anaerobic bacteria from the bioreactor raffinate to the bioreactor itself, thus insuring the highest possible cell concentration.

Clostridium strain which produces acetic acid from waste gases

DOEpatents

Gaddy, J.L.

1997-01-14

A method and apparatus are disclosed for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various organic acids or alcohols by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified. In an exemplary recovery process, the bioreactor raffinate is passed through an extraction chamber into which one or more non-inhibitory solvents are simultaneously introduced to extract the product. Then, the product is separated from the solvent by distillation. Gas conversion rates can be maximized by use of centrifuges, hollow fiber membranes, or other means of ultrafiltration to return entrained anaerobic bacteria from the bioreactor raffinate to the bioreactor itself, thus insuring the highest possible cell concentration. 4 figs.

Design and implementation of a control structure for quality products in a crude oil atmospheric distillation column.

PubMed

Sotelo, David; Favela-Contreras, Antonio; Sotelo, Carlos; Jiménez, Guillermo; Gallegos-Canales, Luis

2017-11-01

In recent years, interest for petrochemical processes has been increasing, especially in refinement area. However, the high variability in the dynamic characteristics present in the atmospheric distillation column poses a challenge to obtain quality products. To improve distillates quality in spite of the changes in the input crude oil composition, this paper details a new design of a control strategy in a conventional crude oil distillation plant defined using formal interaction analysis tools. The process dynamic and its control are simulated on Aspen HYSYS ® dynamic environment under real operating conditions. The simulation results are compared against a typical control strategy commonly used in crude oil atmospheric distillation columns. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantum key distillation from Gaussian states by Gaussian operations.

PubMed

Navascués, M; Bae, J; Cirac, J I; Lewestein, M; Sanpera, A; Acín, A

2005-01-14

We study the secrecy properties of Gaussian states under Gaussian operations. Although such operations are useless for quantum distillation, we prove that it is possible to distill a secret key secure against any attack from sufficiently entangled Gaussian states with nonpositive partial transposition. Moreover, all such states allow for key distillation, when Eve is assumed to perform finite-size coherent attacks before the reconciliation process.

Closing CO2 Loop in Biogas Production: Recycling Ammonia As Fertilizer.

PubMed

He, Qingyao; Yu, Ge; Tu, Te; Yan, Shuiping; Zhang, Yanlin; Zhao, Shuaifei

2017-08-01

We propose and demonstrate a novel system for simultaneous ammonia recovery, carbon capture, biogas upgrading, and fertilizer production in biogas production. Biogas slurry pretreatment (adjusting the solution pH, turbidity, and chemical oxygen demand) plays an important role in the system as it significantly affects the performance of ammonia recovery. Vacuum membrane distillation is used to recover ammonia from biogas slurry at various conditions. The ammonia removal efficiency in vacuum membrane distillation is around 75% regardless of the ammonia concentration of the biogas slurry. The recovered ammonia is used for CO 2 absorption to realize simultaneous biogas upgrading and fertilizer generation. CO 2 absorption performance of the recovered ammonia (absorption capacity and rate) is compared with a conventional model absorbent. Theoretical results on biogas upgrading are also provided. After ammonia recovery, the treated biogas slurry has significantly reduced phytotoxicity, improving the applicability for agricultural irrigation. The novel concept demonstrated in this study shows great potential in closing the CO 2 loop in biogas production by recycling ammonia as an absorbent for CO 2 absorption associated with producing fertilizers.

Ion-Exchanged SAPO-34 membranes for Krypton-Xenon Separation: Control of Permeation Properties and Fabrication of Hollow Fiber Membranes

DOE PAGES

Kwon, Yeon Hye; Min, Byunghyun; Yang, Shaowei; ...

2018-01-29

Separation of radioisotope 85Kr from 136Xe is of importance in used nuclear fuel reprocessing. Membrane separation based on zeolite molecular sieves such as chabazite SAPO- 34 is an attractive alternative to energy-intensive cryogenic distillation. We report the synthesis of SAPO-34 membranes with considerably enhanced performance, via thickness reduction based upon control of a steam-assisted vapor-solid conversion technique followed by ion exchange with alkali metal cations. The reduction of membrane thickness leads to a large increase in Kr permeance from 7.5 gas permeation units (GPU) to 26.3 GPU with ideal Kr/Xe selectivities > 20 at 298 K. Cation-exchanged membranes show largemore » (>50%) increases in selectivity at ambient or slight sub-ambient conditions. The adsorption, diffusion, and permeation characteristics of ionexchanged SAPO-34 materials and membranes are investigated in detail, with potassium exchanged SAPO-34 membranes showing particularly attractive performance. Lastly, we then demonstrate the fabrication of selective SAPO-34 membranes on α-alumina hollow fibers.« less

Ion-Exchanged SAPO-34 membranes for Krypton-Xenon Separation: Control of Permeation Properties and Fabrication of Hollow Fiber Membranes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kwon, Yeon Hye; Min, Byunghyun; Yang, Shaowei

Separation of radioisotope 85Kr from 136Xe is of importance in used nuclear fuel reprocessing. Membrane separation based on zeolite molecular sieves such as chabazite SAPO- 34 is an attractive alternative to energy-intensive cryogenic distillation. We report the synthesis of SAPO-34 membranes with considerably enhanced performance, via thickness reduction based upon control of a steam-assisted vapor-solid conversion technique followed by ion exchange with alkali metal cations. The reduction of membrane thickness leads to a large increase in Kr permeance from 7.5 gas permeation units (GPU) to 26.3 GPU with ideal Kr/Xe selectivities > 20 at 298 K. Cation-exchanged membranes show largemore » (>50%) increases in selectivity at ambient or slight sub-ambient conditions. The adsorption, diffusion, and permeation characteristics of ionexchanged SAPO-34 materials and membranes are investigated in detail, with potassium exchanged SAPO-34 membranes showing particularly attractive performance. Lastly, we then demonstrate the fabrication of selective SAPO-34 membranes on α-alumina hollow fibers.« less

Techno-economic assessment of hybrid extraction and distillation processes for furfural production from lignocellulosic biomass.

PubMed

Nhien, Le Cao; Long, Nguyen Van Duc; Kim, Sangyong; Lee, Moonyong

2017-01-01

Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the most promising alternatives for replacing mineral resources to overcome global warming, which has become the most important environmental issue in recent years. Furfural was listed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as one of the top 30 potential chemicals arising from biomass. However, the current production of furfural is energy intensive and uses inefficient technology. Thus, a hybrid purification process that combines extraction and distillation to produce furfural from lignocellulosic biomass was considered and investigated in detail to improve the process efficiency. This effective hybrid process depends on the extracting solvent, which was selected based on a comprehensive procedure that ranged from solvent screening to complete process design. Various solvents were first evaluated in terms of their extraction ability. Then, the most promising solvents were selected to study the separation feasibility. Eventually, processes that used the three best solvents (toluene, benzene, and butyl chloride) were designed and optimized in detail using Aspen Plus. Sustainability analysis was performed to evaluate these processes in terms of their energy requirements, total annual costs (TAC), and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. The results showed that butyl chloride was the most suitable solvent for the hybrid furfural process because it could save 44.7% of the TAC while reducing the CO 2 emissions by 45.5% compared to the toluene process. In comparison with the traditional purification process using distillation, this suggested hybrid extraction/distillation process can save up to 19.2% of the TAC and reduce 58.3% total annual CO 2 emissions. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis of the feed composition and its effect on the performance of the proposed hybrid system was conducted. Butyl chloride was found to be the most suitable solvent for the hybrid extraction/distillation process of furfural production. The proposed hybrid sequence was more favorable than the traditional distillation process when the methanol fraction of the feed stream was <3% and more benefit could be obtained when that fraction decreased.

Development of a Nonlinear Soft-Sensor Using a GMDH Network for a Refinery Crude Distillation Tower

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujii, Kenzo; Yamamoto, Toru

In atmospheric distillation processes, the stabilization of processes is required in order to optimize the crude-oil composition that corresponds to product market conditions. However, the process control systems sometimes fall into unstable states in the case where unexpected disturbances are introduced, and these unusual phenomena have had an undesirable affect on certain products. Furthermore, a useful chemical engineering model has not yet been established for these phenomena. This remains a serious problem in the atmospheric distillation process. This paper describes a new modeling scheme to predict unusual phenomena in the atmospheric distillation process using the GMDH (Group Method of Data Handling) network which is one type of network model. According to the GMDH network, the model structure can be determined systematically. However, the least squares method has been commonly utilized in determining weight coefficients (model parameters). Estimation accuracy is not entirely expected, because the sum of squared errors between the measured values and estimates is evaluated. Therefore, instead of evaluating the sum of squared errors, the sum of absolute value of errors is introduced and the Levenberg-Marquardt method is employed in order to determine model parameters. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated by the foaming prediction in the crude oil switching operation in the atmospheric distillation process.

76 FR 41753 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-15

..., which are nutritional by-products of distilling processes, such as ethyl alcohol (ethanol) or biodiesel... levels for fuels produced from specific feedstock categories. These distillers' by-products contain... livestock and poultry operations to determine the extent of feeding of distiller's by- products, and aspects...

40 CFR 80.84 - Treatment of interface and transmix.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... processing facility means any refinery that produces TGP from transmix by distillation or other refining processes, but does not produce gasoline by processing crude oil. (5) Transmix processor means any person... Test Method for Distillation of Petroleum Products at Atmospheric Pressure”, which is incorporated by...

Hybrid Pressure Retarded Osmosis-Membrane Distillation System for Power Generation from Low-Grade Heat: Thermodynamic Analysis and Energy Efficiency

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, SH; Yip, NY; Cath, TY

2014-05-06

We present a novel hybrid membrane system that operates as a heat engine capable of utilizing low-grade thermal energy, which is not readily recoverable with existing technologies. The closed-loop system combines membrane distillation (MD), which generates concentrated and pure water streams by thermal separation, and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), which converts the energy of mixing to electricity by a hydro-turbine. The PRO-MD system was modeled by coupling the mass and energy flows between the thermal separation (MD) and power generation (PRO) stages for heat source temperatures ranging from 40 to 80 degrees C and working concentrations of 1.0, 2.0, andmore » 4.0 mol/kg NaCl. The factors controlling the energy efficiency of the heat engine were evaluated for both limited and unlimited mass and heat transfer kinetics in the thermal separation stage. In both cases, the relative flow rate between the MD permeate (distillate) and feed streams is identified as an important operation parameter. There is an optimal relative flow rate that maximizes the overall energy efficiency of the PRO-MD system for given working temperatures and concentration. In the case of unlimited mass and heat transfer kinetics, the energy efficiency of the system can be analytically determined based on thermodynamics. Our assessment indicates that the hybrid PRO-MD system can theoretically achieve an energy efficiency of 9.8% (81.6% of the Carnot efficiency) with hot and cold working temperatures of 60 and 20 degrees C, respectively, and a working solution of 1.0 M NaCl. When mass and heat transfer kinetics are limited, conditions that more closely represent actual operations, the practical energy efficiency will be lower than the theoretically achievable efficiency. In such practical operations, utilizing a higher working concentration will yield greater energy efficiency. Overall, our study demonstrates the theoretical viability of the PRO-MD system and identifies the key factors for performance optimization.« less

Hybrid pressure retarded osmosis-membrane distillation system for power generation from low-grade heat: thermodynamic analysis and energy efficiency.

PubMed

Lin, Shihong; Yip, Ngai Yin; Cath, Tzahi Y; Osuji, Chinedum O; Elimelech, Menachem

2014-05-06

We present a novel hybrid membrane system that operates as a heat engine capable of utilizing low-grade thermal energy, which is not readily recoverable with existing technologies. The closed-loop system combines membrane distillation (MD), which generates concentrated and pure water streams by thermal separation, and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), which converts the energy of mixing to electricity by a hydro-turbine. The PRO-MD system was modeled by coupling the mass and energy flows between the thermal separation (MD) and power generation (PRO) stages for heat source temperatures ranging from 40 to 80 °C and working concentrations of 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 mol/kg NaCl. The factors controlling the energy efficiency of the heat engine were evaluated for both limited and unlimited mass and heat transfer kinetics in the thermal separation stage. In both cases, the relative flow rate between the MD permeate (distillate) and feed streams is identified as an important operation parameter. There is an optimal relative flow rate that maximizes the overall energy efficiency of the PRO-MD system for given working temperatures and concentration. In the case of unlimited mass and heat transfer kinetics, the energy efficiency of the system can be analytically determined based on thermodynamics. Our assessment indicates that the hybrid PRO-MD system can theoretically achieve an energy efficiency of 9.8% (81.6% of the Carnot efficiency) with hot and cold working temperatures of 60 and 20 °C, respectively, and a working solution of 1.0 M NaCl. When mass and heat transfer kinetics are limited, conditions that more closely represent actual operations, the practical energy efficiency will be lower than the theoretically achievable efficiency. In such practical operations, utilizing a higher working concentration will yield greater energy efficiency. Overall, our study demonstrates the theoretical viability of the PRO-MD system and identifies the key factors for performance optimization.

40 CFR 60.665 - Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...) Distillation Operations § 60.665 Reporting and recordkeeping requirements. (a) Each owner or operator subject... of recovery equipment or a distillation unit; (2) Any recalculation of the TRE index value performed... distillation process unit containing the affected facility. These must be reported as soon as possible after...

40 CFR 60.665 - Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...) Distillation Operations § 60.665 Reporting and recordkeeping requirements. (a) Each owner or operator subject... of recovery equipment or a distillation unit; (2) Any recalculation of the TRE index value performed... distillation process unit containing the affected facility. These must be reported as soon as possible after...

40 CFR 63.680 - Applicability and designation of affected sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... for the treatment, recycling, or recovery of off-site material. Distillation means a process, either... equilibrium within the distillation unit. (ii) Fractionation process used for the treatment, recycling, or... process used for the treatment, recycling, or recovery of off-site material. Thin-film evaporation means a...

Progress on Zeolite-membrane-aided Organic Acid Esterification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makertiharta, I. G. B. N.; Dharmawijaya, P. T.

2017-07-01

Esterification is a common route to produce carboxylic acid esters as important intermediates in chemical and pharmaceutical industries. However, the reaction is equilibrium limited and needs to be driven forward by selective removal one of the products. There have been some efforts to selectively remove water from reaction mixture via several separation processes (such as pervaporation and reactive distillation). Integrated pervaporation and esterification has gained increasing attention towards. Inorganic zeolite is the most popular material for pervaporation due to its high chemical resistant and separation performance towards water. Zeolite also has proven to be an effective material in removing water from organic compound. Zeolite can act not only as selective layer but also simultaneously act as a catalyst on promoting the reaction. Hence, there are many configurations in integrating zeolite membrane for esterification reaction. As a selective layer to remove water from reaction mixture, high Si/Al zeolite is preferred to enhance its hydrophilicity. However, low Si/Al zeolite is unstable in acid condition due to dealumination thus eliminate its advantages. As a catalyst, acid zeolites (e.g. H-ZSM-5) provide protons for autoprotolysis of the carboxylic acid similar to other catalyst for esterification (e.g. inorganic acid, and ion exchange resins). There are many studies related to zeolite membrane aided esterification. This paper will give brief information related to zeolite membrane role in esterification and also research trend towards it.

Catalytic multi-stage process for hydroconversion and refining hydrocarbon feeds

DOEpatents

Comolli, Alfred G.; Lee, Lap-Keung

2001-01-01

A multi-stage catalytic hydrogenation and hydroconversion process for heavy hydrocarbon feed materials such as coal, heavy petroleum fractions, and plastic waste materials. In the process, the feedstock is reacted in a first-stage, back-mixed catalytic reactor with a highly dispersed iron-based catalyst having a powder, gel or liquid form. The reactor effluent is pressure-reduced, vapors and light distillate fractions are removed overhead, and the heavier liquid fraction is fed to a second stage back-mixed catalytic reactor. The first and second stage catalytic reactors are operated at 700-850.degree. F. temperature, 1000-3500 psig hydrogen partial pressure and 20-80 lb./hr per ft.sup.3 reactor space velocity. The vapor and light distillates liquid fractions removed from both the first and second stage reactor effluent streams are combined and passed to an in-line, fixed-bed catalytic hydrotreater for heteroatom removal and for producing high quality naphtha and mid-distillate or a full-range distillate product. The remaining separator bottoms liquid fractions are distilled at successive atmospheric and vacuum pressures, low and intermediate-boiling hydrocarbon liquid products are withdrawn, and heavier distillate fractions are recycled and further upgraded to provide additional low-boiling hydrocarbon liquid products. This catalytic multistage hydrogenation process provides improved flexibility for hydroprocessing the various carbonaceous feedstocks and adjusting to desired product structures and for improved economy of operations.

Thermodynamic Investigation of the Reduction-Distillation Process for Rare Earth Metals Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Judge, W. D.; Azimi, G.

2017-10-01

Owing to their high vapor pressure, the four rare earth metals samarium, europium, thulium, and ytterbium are produced by reduction-distillation whereby their oxides are reduced with metallic lanthanum in vacuo, and the produced metal is subsequently vaporized off. Here, we performed a thorough thermodynamic investigation to establish a fundamental understanding of the reduction-distillation process. Thermodynamic functions including vapor pressures, Gibbs free energies, and enthalpies of reaction were calculated and compared with available experimental data. Furthermore, the kinetics of the process was explored and theoretical evaporation rates were calculated from thermodynamic data. The thermodynamic model developed in this work can help optimize processing conditions to maximize the yield and improve the overall process.

Process for converting heavy oil deposited on coal to distillable oil in a low severity process

DOEpatents

Ignasiak, Teresa; Strausz, Otto; Ignasiak, Boleslaw; Janiak, Jerzy; Pawlak, Wanda; Szymocha, Kazimierz; Turak, Ali A.

1994-01-01

A process for removing oil from coal fines that have been agglomerated or blended with heavy oil comprises the steps of heating the coal fines to temperatures over 350.degree. C. up to 450.degree. C. in an inert atmosphere, such as steam or nitrogen, to convert some of the heavy oil to lighter, and distilling and collecting the lighter oils. The pressure at which the process is carried out can be from atmospheric to 100 atmospheres. A hydrogen donor can be added to the oil prior to deposition on the coal surface to increase the yield of distillable oil.

Neuro-estimator based GMC control of a batch reactive distillation.

PubMed

Prakash, K J Jithin; Patle, Dipesh S; Jana, Amiya K

2011-07-01

In this paper, an artificial neural network (ANN)-based nonlinear control algorithm is proposed for a simulated batch reactive distillation (RD) column. In the homogeneously catalyzed reactive process, an esterification reaction takes place for the production of ethyl acetate. The fundamental model has been derived incorporating the reaction term in the model structure of the nonreactive distillation process. The process operation is simulated at the startup phase under total reflux conditions. The open-loop process dynamics is also addressed running the batch process at the production phase under partial reflux conditions. In this study, a neuro-estimator based generic model controller (GMC), which consists of an ANN-based state predictor and the GMC law, has been synthesized. Finally, this proposed control law has been tested on the representative batch reactive distillation comparing with a gain-scheduled proportional integral (GSPI) controller and with its ideal performance (ideal GMC). Copyright © 2011 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling of steam distillation mechanism during steam injection process using artificial intelligence.

PubMed

Daryasafar, Amin; Ahadi, Arash; Kharrat, Riyaz

2014-01-01

Steam distillation as one of the important mechanisms has a great role in oil recovery in thermal methods and so it is important to simulate this process experimentally and theoretically. In this work, the simulation of steam distillation is performed on sixteen sets of crude oil data found in the literature. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as artificial neural network (ANN) and also adaptive neurofuzzy interference system (ANFIS) are used in this study as effective methods to simulate the distillate recoveries of these sets of data. Thirteen sets of data were used to train the models and three sets were used to test the models. The developed models are highly compatible with respect to input oil properties and can predict the distillate yield with minimum entry. For showing the performance of the proposed models, simulation of steam distillation is also done using modified Peng-Robinson equation of state. Comparison between the calculated distillates by ANFIS and neural network models and also equation of state-based method indicates that the errors of the ANFIS model for training data and test data sets are lower than those of other methods.

Modeling of Steam Distillation Mechanism during Steam Injection Process Using Artificial Intelligence

PubMed Central

Ahadi, Arash; Kharrat, Riyaz

2014-01-01

Steam distillation as one of the important mechanisms has a great role in oil recovery in thermal methods and so it is important to simulate this process experimentally and theoretically. In this work, the simulation of steam distillation is performed on sixteen sets of crude oil data found in the literature. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as artificial neural network (ANN) and also adaptive neurofuzzy interference system (ANFIS) are used in this study as effective methods to simulate the distillate recoveries of these sets of data. Thirteen sets of data were used to train the models and three sets were used to test the models. The developed models are highly compatible with respect to input oil properties and can predict the distillate yield with minimum entry. For showing the performance of the proposed models, simulation of steam distillation is also done using modified Peng-Robinson equation of state. Comparison between the calculated distillates by ANFIS and neural network models and also equation of state-based method indicates that the errors of the ANFIS model for training data and test data sets are lower than those of other methods. PMID:24883365

Surface code implementation of block code state distillation.

PubMed

Fowler, Austin G; Devitt, Simon J; Jones, Cody

2013-01-01

State distillation is the process of taking a number of imperfect copies of a particular quantum state and producing fewer better copies. Until recently, the lowest overhead method of distilling states produced a single improved [formula: see text] state given 15 input copies. New block code state distillation methods can produce k improved [formula: see text] states given 3k + 8 input copies, potentially significantly reducing the overhead associated with state distillation. We construct an explicit surface code implementation of block code state distillation and quantitatively compare the overhead of this approach to the old. We find that, using the best available techniques, for parameters of practical interest, block code state distillation does not always lead to lower overhead, and, when it does, the overhead reduction is typically less than a factor of three.

Surface code implementation of block code state distillation

PubMed Central

Fowler, Austin G.; Devitt, Simon J.; Jones, Cody

2013-01-01

State distillation is the process of taking a number of imperfect copies of a particular quantum state and producing fewer better copies. Until recently, the lowest overhead method of distilling states produced a single improved |A〉 state given 15 input copies. New block code state distillation methods can produce k improved |A〉 states given 3k + 8 input copies, potentially significantly reducing the overhead associated with state distillation. We construct an explicit surface code implementation of block code state distillation and quantitatively compare the overhead of this approach to the old. We find that, using the best available techniques, for parameters of practical interest, block code state distillation does not always lead to lower overhead, and, when it does, the overhead reduction is typically less than a factor of three. PMID:23736868

7 CFR 160.12 - Standard designations for rosin.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... after the distillation of gum spirits of turpentine from the oleoresin (gum) obtained from living pine... distillation of the volatile oil from the oleoresin within or extracted from pine wood by any suitable process... of rosin remaining after the removal of the fatty acids from tall oil by fractional distillation, and...

7 CFR 160.12 - Standard designations for rosin.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... after the distillation of gum spirits of turpentine from the oleoresin (gum) obtained from living pine... distillation of the volatile oil from the oleoresin within or extracted from pine wood by any suitable process... of rosin remaining after the removal of the fatty acids from tall oil by fractional distillation, and...

7 CFR 160.12 - Standard designations for rosin.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... after the distillation of gum spirits of turpentine from the oleoresin (gum) obtained from living pine... distillation of the volatile oil from the oleoresin within or extracted from pine wood by any suitable process... of rosin remaining after the removal of the fatty acids from tall oil by fractional distillation, and...

Dinotefuran-induced morphophysiological changes in semi-engorged females Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille, 1806 (Acari: Ixodidae) ticks: Ultra-structural evaluation.

PubMed

de Oliveira, Patrícia Rosa; Anholeto, Luis Adriano; Bechara, Gerváso Henrique; Camargo Mathias, Maria Izabel

2017-02-01

The present study demonstrated the effects of dinotefuran (active ingredient of the acaricide Protetor Pet ® ) on the ovary and midgut cells of semi engorged R. sanguineus females exposed to different concentrations of this chemical. For this, 120 semi-engorged females were divided into four treatment groups with 30 individuals each: group I or control (distilled water), group II (5000ppm), groups III (6250ppm) and group IV (8334ppm of dinotefuran). All the ticks were immersed in the different concentrations of dinotefuran or in distilled water for 5min and then dried and kept in BOD incubator for 7days. The results showed alterations mainly regarding the damaged cell structures, such as yolk granules, organelles and the plasma membrane of the germ cells. In addition, structures related with defense mechanisms were found, such as vacuoles, cytoskeletal filaments, and myelin figures in the germ cells. Damages in the generative cells of the midgut, alterations in the size of digestive cells, the number of endosomes, digestive vacuoles, digestive residues, lipid drops and organelles in the cytoplasm of the digestive cells and the presence of microvilli in the plasma membrane of these cells also demonstrate the progressive damages caused by the action of dinotefuran in the midgut and germ cells of R. sanguineus semi-engorged females. The concentrations applied partially impaired the digestive processes; and, without proper nutrition, all the ectoparasite's physiologic events are prevented from occurring, leading the individual to death. The germ cells were also damaged, and probably would not be able to advance in their development (I-V) and complete the vitellogenesis, which would affect the fertility of the female and consequently impede the formation of a new individual. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Membrane systems for energy efficient separation of light gases

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Devlin, D.J.; Archuleta, T.; Barbero, R.

1997-04-01

Ethylene and propylene are two of the largest commodity chemicals in the United States and are major building blocks for the petrochemicals industry. These olefins are separated currently by cryogenic distillation which demands extremely low temperatures and high pressures. Over 75 billion pounds of ethylene and propylene are distilled annually in the US at an estimated energy requirement of 400 trillion BTU`s. Non-domestic olefin producers are rapidly constructing state-of-the-art plants. These energy-efficient plants are competing with an aging United States olefins industry in which 75% of the olefins producers are practicing technology that is over twenty years old. New separationmore » opportunities are therefore needed to continually reduce energy consumption and remain competitive. Amoco has been a leader in incorporating new separation technology into its olefins facilities and has been aggressively pursuing non-cryogenic alternatives to light gas separations. The largest area for energy reduction is the cryogenic isolation of the product hydrocarbons from the reaction by-products, methane and hydrogen. This separation requires temperatures as low as {minus}150{degrees}F and pressures exceeding 450 psig. This CRADA will focus on developing a capillary condensation process to separate olefinic mixtures from light gas byproducts at temperatures that approach ambient conditions and at pressures less than 250 psig; this technology breakthrough will result in substantial energy savings. The key technical hurdle in the development of this novel separation concept is the precise control of the pore structure of membrane materials. These materials must contain specially-shaped channels in the 20-40A range to provide the driving force necessary to remove the condensed hydrocarbon products. In this project, Amoco is the technology end-user and provides the commercialization opportunity and engineering support.« less

Distillation and Air Stripping Designs for the Lunar Surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boul, Peter J.; Lange, Kevin E.; Conger, Bruce; Anderson, Molly

2009-01-01

Air stripping and distillation are two different gravity-based methods, which may be applied to the purification of wastewater on the lunar base. These gravity-based solutions to water processing are robust physical separation techniques, which may be advantageous to many other techniques for their simplicity in design and operation. The two techniques can be used in conjunction with each other to obtain high purity water. The components and feed compositions for modeling waste water streams are presented in conjunction with the Aspen property system for traditional stage distillation models and air stripping models. While the individual components for each of the waste streams will vary naturally within certain bounds, an analog model for waste water processing is suggested based on typical concentration ranges for these components. Target purity levels for the for recycled water are determined for each individual component based on NASA s required maximum contaminant levels for potable water Distillation processes are modeled separately and in tandem with air stripping to demonstrate the potential effectiveness and utility of these methods in recycling wastewater on the Moon. Optimum parameters such as reflux ratio, feed stage location, and processing rates are determined with respect to the power consumption of the process. Multistage distillation is evaluated for components in wastewater to determine the minimum number of stages necessary for each of 65 components in humidity condensate and urine wastewater mixed streams. Components of the wastewater streams are ranked by Henry s Law Constant and the suitability of air stripping in the purification of wastewater in terms of component removal is evaluated. Scaling factors for distillation and air stripping columns are presented to account for the difference in the lunar gravitation environment. Commercially available distillation and air stripping units which are considered suitable for Exploration Life Support are presented. The advantages to the various designs are summarized with respect to water purity levels, power consumption, and processing rates.

27 CFR 24.248 - Processes authorized for the treatment of wine, juice, and distilling material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... vinous character of the wine(2) None of the stripping solution may migrate into the wine. Reverse osmosis....2910. 1 This process must be done on distilled spirits plant premises. However, reverse osmosis, under...

27 CFR 24.248 - Processes authorized for the treatment of wine, juice, and distilling material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... vinous character of the wine(2) None of the stripping solution may migrate into the wine. Reverse osmosis....2910. 1 This process must be done on distilled spirits plant premises. However, reverse osmosis, under...

27 CFR 24.248 - Processes authorized for the treatment of wine, juice, and distilling material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... vinous character of the wine(2) None of the stripping solution may migrate into the wine. Reverse osmosis....2910. 1 This process must be done on distilled spirits plant premises. However, reverse osmosis, under...

Low grade bioethanol for fuel mixing on gasoline engine using distillation process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abikusna, Setia; Sugiarto, Bambang; Suntoro, Dedi; Azami

2017-03-01

Utilization of renewable energy in Indonesia is still low, compared to 34% oil, 20% coal and 20% gas, utilization of energy sources for water 3%, geothermal 1%, 2% biofuels, and biomass 20%. Whereas renewable energy sources dwindling due to the increasing consumption of gasoline as a fuel. It makes us have to look for alternative renewable energy, one of which is bio ethanol. Several studies on the use of ethanol was done to the researchers. Our studies using low grade bio ethanol which begins with the disitillation independently utilize flue gas heat at compact distillator, produces high grade bio ethanol and ready to be mixed with gasoline. Stages of our study is the compact distillator design of the motor dynamic continued with good performance and emission testing and ethanol distilled. Some improvement is made is through the flue gas heat control mechanism in compact distillator using gate valve, at low, medium, and high speed engine. Compact distillator used is kind of a batch distillation column. Column design process using the shortcut method, then carried the tray design to determine the overall geometry. The distillation is done by comparing the separator with a tray of different distances. As well as by varying the volume of the feed and ethanol levels that will feed distilled. In this study, we analyzed the mixing of ethanol through variation between main jet and pilot jet in the carburetor separately interchangeably with gasoline. And finally mixing mechanism bio ethanol with gasoline improved with fuel mixer for performance.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Ting; Feng, Xuhui; Elsaidi, Sameh K.

Herein, we demonstrate that a prototypical type of metal organic framework, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), in membrane form, can effectively separate Kr/Xe gas mixtures at industrially relevant compositions. The best membranes separated Kr/Xe mixtures with average Kr permeances as high as 1.5 × 10 -8 ± 0.2 mol/m 2 s Pa and average separation selectivities of 14.2 ± 1.9 for molar feed compositions corresponding to Kr/Xe ratio encountered typically in air. Molecular sieving, competitive adsorption, and differences in diffusivities were identified as the prevailing separation mechanisms. These membranes potentially represent a less-energy-intensive alternative to cryogenic distillation, which is the benchmarkmore » technology used to separate this challenging gas mixture. To our best knowledge, this is the first example of any metal organic membrane composition displaying separation ability for Kr/Xe gas mixtures.« less

Using Mathematica to Teach Process Units: A Distillation Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rasteiro, Maria G.; Bernardo, Fernando P.; Saraiva, Pedro M.

2005-01-01

The question addressed here is how to integrate computational tools, namely interactive general-purpose platforms, in the teaching of process units. Mathematica has been selected as a complementary tool to teach distillation processes, with the main objective of leading students to achieve a better understanding of the physical phenomena involved…

Dynamic Modeling of Process Technologies for Closed-Loop Water Recovery Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allada, Rama Kumar; Lange, Kevin; Anderson, Molly

2011-01-01

Detailed chemical process simulations are a useful tool in designing and optimizing complex systems and architectures for human life support. Dynamic and steady-state models of these systems help contrast the interactions of various operating parameters and hardware designs, which become extremely useful in trade-study analyses. NASA s Exploration Life Support technology development project recently made use of such models to compliment a series of tests on different waste water distillation systems. This paper presents dynamic simulations of chemical process for primary processor technologies including: the Cascade Distillation System (CDS), the Vapor Compression Distillation (VCD) system, the Wiped-Film Rotating Disk (WFRD), and post-distillation water polishing processes such as the Volatiles Removal Assembly (VRA) that were developed using the Aspen Custom Modeler and Aspen Plus process simulation tools. The results expand upon previous work for water recovery technology models and emphasize dynamic process modeling and results. The paper discusses system design, modeling details, and model results for each technology and presents some comparisons between the model results and available test data. Following these initial comparisons, some general conclusions and forward work are discussed.

Distillate fuel-oil processing for phosphoric acid fuel cell power plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1980-02-01

Efforts to develop distillate oil steam reforming processes are reviewed, and the applicability of these processes for integration with the fuel cell are discussed. The development efforts can be grouped into the following processing approaches: high temperature steam reforming; autothermal reforming; autothermal gasification; and ultra desulfurization followed by steam reforming. Sulfur in the feed is a problem in the process development.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Herbrych, Jacek W.; Feiguin, Adrian E.; Dagotto, Elbio R.

Here, we present a time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group investigation of the quantum distillation process within the Fermi-Hubbard model on a quasi-one-dimensional ladder geometry. The term distillation refers to the dynamical, spatial separation of singlons and doublons in the sudden expansion of interacting particles in an optical lattice, i.e., the release of a cloud of atoms from a trapping potential. Remarkably, quantum distillation can lead to a contraction of the doublon cloud, resulting in an increased density of the doublons in the core region compared to the initial state. As a main result, we show that this phenomenon is not limitedmore » to chains that were previously studied. Interestingly, there are additional dynamical processes on the two-leg ladder such as density oscillations and self-trapping of defects that lead to a less efficient distillation process. An investigation of the time evolution starting from product states provides an explanation for this behavior. Initial product states are also considered since in optical lattice experiments, such states are often used as the initial setup. We propose configurations that lead to a fast and efficient quantum distillation.« less

Separation and Recycling of Spent Carbon Cathode Blocks in the Aluminum Industry by the Vacuum Distillation Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaowu, Wang; Jianping, Peng; Yuezhong, Di

2018-04-01

Aluminum is the second most produced metal after iron. China is the top producer of primary aluminum with a production capacity of 41,000 kt and an output in 2016 of 32,000 kt. A large amount of spent carbon cathode block (SCCB) is produced after electrolytic pot failure. SCCB consists of carbon, fluorides, alkali metals, carbides, nitrides, cyanides, and oxides, and is considered to be a hazardous material because it contains significant concentrations of toxic and soluble cyanides and fluorides. There is no economical and efficient process for the treatment of SCCB and is most commonly disposed in landfill. In this study, the vacuum distillation process (VDP) has been used to separate and recycle SCCB. The results show that Na3AlF6, NaF, and sodium metal can be effectively separated from SCCB by VDP, and the distillation ratio is above 80% at a distillation temperature of 1200°C. The carbon content in the distilled SCCB is above 91% and the impurities are mainly CaF2 and Al2O3.

Avoid problems during distillation column startups

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sloley, A.W.

1996-07-01

The startup of a distillation column is the end product of the design process. Indeed, startup is the culmination of the theory and practice of designing the column to meet the process objectives. The author will direct most of this discussion towards column revamps due to their inherent complexity; however, the points apply equally to new columns, as well. The most important question that must be answered prior to a startup is how will the distillation system changes affect initial startup, process control of the system, and normal day-to-day operations? How will the operators run the system? Steady-state distillation-column simulationsmore » alone cannot provide an authoritative answer and, indeed, engineers` over-reliance on software too often has led them to ignore many practical aspects. Computer modeling, while an important engineering tool, is not reality. Distillation columns are real functioning pieces of equipment that require practical skills to successfully modify. They are not steady-state solutions that result from converged computer simulations. Early planning, coupled with thorough inspections and comprehensive reviews of instrumentation and procedures, can play a key role in assuring smooth startups.« less

Biological production of acetic acid from waste gases with Clostridium ljungdahlii

DOEpatents

Gaddy, J.L.

1998-09-15

A method and apparatus are disclosed for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various organic acids or alcohols by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified. In an exemplary recovery process, the bioreactor raffinate is passed through an extraction chamber into which one or more non-inhibitory solvents are simultaneously introduced to extract the product. Then, the product is separated from the solvent by distillation. Gas conversion rates can be maximized by use of centrifuges, hollow fiber membranes, or other means of ultrafiltration to return entrained anaerobic bacteria from the bioreactor raffinate to the bioreactor itself, thus insuring the highest possible cell concentration. 5 figs.

Thermoelectric integrated membrane evaporation water recovery technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roebelen, G. J., Jr.; Winkler, H. E.; Dehner, G. F.

1982-01-01

The recently developed Thermoelectric Integrated Membrane Evaporation Subsystem (TIMES) offers a highly competitive approach to water recovery from waste fluids for future on-orbit stations such as the Space Operations Center. Low power, compactness and gravity insensitive operation are featured in this vacuum distillation subsystem that combines a hollow fiber membrane evaporator with a thermoelectric heat pump. The hollow fiber elements provide positive liquid/gas phase control with no moving parts other than pumps and an accumulator, thus solving problems inherent in other reclamation subsystem designs. In an extensive test program, over 850 hours of operation were accumulated during which time high quality product water was recovered from both urine and wash water at an average steady state production rate of 2.2 pounds per hour.

Production of acetone butanol ethanol (ABE) by a hyper-producing mutant strain of Clostridium beijerinckii BA101 and recovery by pervaporation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qureshi, N.; Blaschek, H.P.

1999-07-01

A silicone membrane was used to study butanol separation from model butanol solutions and fermentation broth. Depending upon the butanol feed concentration in the model solution and pervaporation conditions, butanol selectivities of 20.88--68.32 and flux values of 158.7--215.4 g m{sup {minus}2} h{sup {minus}1} were achieved. Higher flux values were obtained at higher butanol concentrations using air as sweep gas. In an integrated process of butanol fermentation--recovery, solvent productivities were improved to 200% of the control batch fermentation productivities. In a batch reactor the hyper-butanol-producing mutant strain C. beijerinckii BA101 utilized 57.3 g/L glucose and produced 24.2 g/L total solvents, whilemore » in the integrated process it produced 51.5 g/L (culture volume) total solvents. Concentrated glucose medium was also fermented. The C. beijerinckii BA101 mutant strain was not negatively affected by the pervaporative conditions. In the integrated experiment, acids were not produced. With the active fermentation broth, butanol selectivity was reduced by a factor of 2--3. However, the membrane flux was not affected by the active fermentation broth. The butanol permeate concentration ranged from 26.4 to 95.4 g/L, depending upon butanol concentration in the fermentation broth. Since the permeate of most membranes contains acetone, butanol, and ethanol, it is suggested that distillation be used for further purification.« less

Changes in the phenolic acid content during commercial dry-grind processing of corn to ethanol and DDGS

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Nine fractions (ground corn-1, cooked slurry-2, liquefied slurry-3, fermented mash-4, whole stillage-5, thin stillage-6, condensed distillers soluble (CDS)-7, distillers wet grains (DWG)-8, and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS)-9) were collected from three commercial dry-grind bioethanol ...

Production and concentration of monoacylglycerols rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids by enzymatic glycerolysis and molecular distillation.

PubMed

Solaesa, Ángela García; Sanz, María Teresa; Falkeborg, Mia; Beltrán, Sagrario; Guo, Zheng

2016-01-01

Production of monoacylglycerols (MAGs) rich in ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) was conducted through short path distillation (SPD) of an acylglycerol mixture (containing 67% MAGs) produced by enzymatic glycerolysis of sardine oil with glycerol. A stepwise SPD process in a UIC KDL 5 system (vacuum 10(-3)mbar, feeding flow 1.0 mL/min) was proceeded: the first distillation performed at evaporator temperature (TE) of 110 °C to remove glycerol completely and most of FFAs; and the second distillation at optimized TE 155 °C; resulting in a stream distillate with 91% purity and 94% overall recovery of MAGs. This work also demonstrated that SPD is able to concentrate n-3 PUFAs in MAG form by distilling at proper TE e.g. 125 °C, where n-3 PUFAs are concentrated in the residues. Moreover, this work mapped out a complete processing diagram for scalable production of n-3 PUFAs enriched MAGs as potential food emulsifier and ingredient. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a preprototype times wastewater recovery subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roebelen, G. J., Jr.; Dehner, G. F.

1982-01-01

A three-man wastewater recovery preprototype subsystem using a hollow fiber membrane evaporator with a thermoelectric heat pump to provide efficient potable water recovery from wastewater on extended duration space flights was designed, fabricated, and tested at one-gravity. Low power, compactness and gravity insensitive operation are featured in this vacuum distillation subsystem. The tubular hollow fiber elements provide positive liquid/gas phase control with no moving parts, and provide structural integrity, improving on previous flat sheet membrane designs. A thermoelectric heat pump provides latent energy recovery. Application and integration of these key elements solved problems inherent in all previous reclamation subsystem designs.

The development of the super-biodiesel production continuously from Sunan pecan oil through the process of reactive distillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yohana, Eflita; Yulianto, Moh. Endy; Ikhsan, Diyono; Nanta, Aditya Marga; Puspitasari, Ristiyanti

2016-06-01

In general, a vegetable oil-based biodiesel production commercially operates a batch process with high investments and operational costs. Thus, it is necessary to develop super-biodiesel production from sunan pecan oil continuously through the process of reactive distillation. There are four advantages of the reactive distillation process for the biodiesel production, as follows: (i) it incorporates the process of transesterification reaction, and product separation of residual reactants become one stage of the process, so it saves the investment and operation costs, (ii) it reduces the need for raw materials because the methanol needed corresponds to the stoichiometry, so it also reduces the operation costs, (iii) the holdup time in the column is relatively short (5±0,5 minutes) compared to the batch process (1-2 hours), so it will reduce the operational production costs, and (iv) it is able to shift the reaction equilibrium, because the products and reactants that do not react are instantly separated (based on Le Chatelier's principles) so the conversion will be increased. However, the very crucial problem is determining the design tools and process conditions in order to maximize the conversion of the transesterification reaction in both phases. Thus, the purpose of this research was to design a continuous reactive distillation process by using a recycled condensate to increase the productivity of the super-biodiesel from sunan pecan oil. The research was carried out in three stages including (i) designing and fabricating the reactive distillation equipment, (ii) testing the tool performance and the optimization of the biodiesel production, and (iii) biodiesel testing on the diesel engine. These three stages were needed in designing and scaling-up the process tools and the process operation commercially. The reactive distillation process tools were designed and manufactured with reference to the design system tower by Kitzer, et.al. (2008). The manufactured reactive distillation consisted of packing distillation columns equipped with a reboiler and condenser, with the prototype made of stainless steel material equipped with sigh glass. The filling column expands the contact of liquid-vapor phase so that the two reactants between methanol and oil would be converted into methyl ester and glycerol. The initial results of the study indicated that the relatively good condition is reached at the peak temperature and the base of the column of 62°C and 71°C with NaOH 2% of methanol weight as the catalyst at the feed ratio of methanol and the sunan pecan oil 4:1. The result of the performance test of the diesel engine indicated that the efficiency of the biodiesel fuel was achieved relatively good at 1.7% with 2500 rpm engine speed.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Agrawal, Rakesh

This project sought and successfully answered two big challenges facing the creation of low-energy, cost-effective, zeotropic multi-component distillation processes: first, identification of an efficient search space that includes all the useful distillation configurations and no undesired configurations; second, development of an algorithm to search the space efficiently and generate an array of low-energy options for industrial multi-component mixtures. Such mixtures are found in large-scale chemical and petroleum plants. Commercialization of our results was addressed by building a user interface allowing practical application of our methods for industrial problems by anyone with basic knowledge of distillation for a given problem. Wemore » also provided our algorithm to a major U.S. Chemical Company for use by the practitioners. The successful execution of this program has provided methods and algorithms at the disposal of process engineers to readily generate low-energy solutions for a large class of multicomponent distillation problems in a typical chemical and petrochemical plant. In a petrochemical complex, the distillation trains within crude oil processing, hydrotreating units containing alkylation, isomerization, reformer, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and NGL (natural gas liquids) processing units can benefit from our results. Effluents from naphtha crackers and ethane-propane crackers typically contain mixtures of methane, ethylene, ethane, propylene, propane, butane and heavier hydrocarbons. We have shown that our systematic search method with a more complete search space, along with the optimization algorithm, has a potential to yield low-energy distillation configurations for all such applications with energy savings up to 50%.« less

Detailed Modeling of Distillation Technologies for Closed-Loop Water Recovery Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allada, Rama Kumar; Lange, Kevin E.; Anderson, Molly S.

2011-01-01

Detailed chemical process simulations are a useful tool in designing and optimizing complex systems and architectures for human life support. Dynamic and steady-state models of these systems help contrast the interactions of various operating parameters and hardware designs, which become extremely useful in trade-study analyses. NASA?s Exploration Life Support technology development project recently made use of such models to compliment a series of tests on different waste water distillation systems. This paper presents efforts to develop chemical process simulations for three technologies: the Cascade Distillation System (CDS), the Vapor Compression Distillation (VCD) system and the Wiped-Film Rotating Disk (WFRD) using the Aspen Custom Modeler and Aspen Plus process simulation tools. The paper discusses system design, modeling details, and modeling results for each technology and presents some comparisons between the model results and recent test data. Following these initial comparisons, some general conclusions and forward work are discussed.

Oxidative production of xylonic acid using xylose in distillation stillage of cellulosic ethanol fermentation broth by Gluconobacter oxydans.

PubMed

Zhang, Hongsen; Han, Xushen; Wei, Chengxiang; Bao, Jie

2017-01-01

An oxidative production process of xylonic acid using xylose in distillation stillage of cellulosic ethanol fermentation broth was designed, experimentally investigated, and evaluated. Dry dilute acid pretreated and biodetoxified corn stover was simultaneously saccharified and fermented into 59.80g/L of ethanol (no xylose utilization). 65.39g/L of xylose was obtained in the distillation stillage without any concentrating step after ethanol was distillated. Then the xylose was completely converted into 66.42g/L of xylonic acid by Gluconobacter oxydans. The rigorous Aspen Plus modeling shows that the wastewater generation and energy consumption was significantly reduced comparing to the previous xylonic acid production process using xylose in pretreatment liquid. This study provided a practical process option for xylonic acid production from lignocellulose feedstock with significant reduction of wastewater and energy consumption. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of reflux ratio and feed conditions for the purification of bioethanol in a continuous distillation column

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dasan, Y. K.; Abdullah, M. A.; Bhat, A. H.

2014-10-01

Continuous distillation column was used for the purification of bioethanol from fermentation of molasses using Saccharomyces cerevisia. Bioethanol produced was at 8.32% (v/v) level. The efficiency of continuous distillation process was evaluated based on reflux ratio, and feed condition. The lab results were validated using COFE simulation Software. The analyses showed that both reflux ratio and feed condition had significant effects on the distillation process. Stages increased from 1.79 to 2.26 as the reflux ratio was decreased from 90% to 45% and the saturated feed produced lower mole fraction of desired product. We concluded that the lower reflux ratio with cold feed condition was suitable for higher mole fraction of top product.

Conceptual design of distillation-based hybrid separation processes.

PubMed

Skiborowski, Mirko; Harwardt, Andreas; Marquardt, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

Hybrid separation processes combine different separation principles and constitute a promising design option for the separation of complex mixtures. Particularly, the integration of distillation with other unit operations can significantly improve the separation of close-boiling or azeotropic mixtures. Although the design of single-unit operations is well understood and supported by computational methods, the optimal design of flowsheets of hybrid separation processes is still a challenging task. The large number of operational and design degrees of freedom requires a systematic and optimization-based design approach. To this end, a structured approach, the so-called process synthesis framework, is proposed. This article reviews available computational methods for the conceptual design of distillation-based hybrid processes for the separation of liquid mixtures. Open problems are identified that must be addressed to finally establish a structured process synthesis framework for such processes.

Noisy processing and distillation of private quantum States.

PubMed

Renes, Joseph M; Smith, Graeme

2007-01-12

We provide a simple security proof for prepare and measure quantum key distribution protocols employing noisy processing and one-way postprocessing of the key. This is achieved by showing that the security of such a protocol is equivalent to that of an associated key distribution protocol in which, instead of the usual maximally entangled states, a more general private state is distilled. In addition to a more general target state, the usual entanglement distillation tools are employed (in particular, Calderbank-Shor-Steane-like codes), with the crucial difference that noisy processing allows some phase errors to be left uncorrected without compromising the privacy of the key.

Multi-objective Optimization of Molecular Distillation Conditions for Oleic Acid from a Rich-in-Fatty Acid Model Mixture.

PubMed

Ketenoğlu, Onur; Erdoğdu, Ferruh; Tekin, Aziz

2018-01-01

Oleic acid is a commercially valuable compound and has many positive health effects. Determining optimum conditions in a physical separation process is an industrially significant point due to environmental and health related concerns. Molecular distillation avoids the use of chemicals and adverse effects of high temperature application. The objective of this study was to determine the molecular distillation conditions for oleic acid to increase its purity and distillation yield in a model fatty acid mixture. For this purpose, a short-path evaporator column was used. Evaporation temperature ranged from 110 to 190℃, while absolute pressure was from 0.05 to 5 mmHg. Results showed that elevating temperature generally increased distillation yield until a maximum evaporation temperature. Vacuum application also affected the yield at a given temperature, and amount of distillate increased at higher vacuums except the case applied at 190℃. A multi-objective optimization procedure was then used for maximizing both yield and oleic acid amounts in distillate simultaneously, and an optimum point of 177.36℃ and 0.051 mmHg was determined for this purpose. Results also demonstrated that evaporation of oleic acid was also suppressed by a secondary dominant fatty acid of olive oil - palmitic acid, which tended to evaporate easier than oleic acid at lower evaporation temperatures, and increasing temperature achieved to transfer more oleic acid to distillate. At 110℃ and 0.05 mmHg, oleic and palmitic acid concentrations in distillate were 63.67% and 24.32%, respectively. Outcomes of this study are expected to be useful for industrial process conditions.

75 FR 81949 - Disclosure of Cochineal Extract and Carmine in the Labeling of Wines, Distilled Spirits, and Malt...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-29

... Extract and Carmine in the Labeling of Wines, Distilled Spirits, and Malt Beverages; Comment Period... Extract and Carmine in the Labeling of Wines, Distilled Spirits, and Malt Beverages, a notice of proposed... wines sold in the United States. The letter explained that because DISCUS is in the process of...

Study of Performance of Coaxial Vacuum Tube Solar Collector on Ethanol Distillation Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutomo; Ramelan, A. H.; Mustafa; Tristono, T.

2017-07-01

Coaxial vacuum tube solar collectors can generate heat up to 80°C is possibly used for ethanol distillation process that required temperature 79°C only. This study reviews the performance of coaxial collector vacuum tube used for ethanol distillation process. This experimental research was conducted in a closed space using a halogen lamp as a solar radiation simulator. We had done on three different of the radiation values, i.e. 998 W/m2, 878 W/m2 and 782 W/m2. The pressure levels of vacuum tube collector cavity in the research were 1; 0.5; 0.31; 0.179; and 0.043 atmospheres. The Research upgraded the 30% of ethanol to produce the concentration of 77% after distillation. The result shows that the performance of coaxial collector vacuum tube used for ethanol distillation process has the negative correlation to the level of the collector tube cavity pressure. The productivity will increase while the collector tube cavity pressure decreased. Therefore, the collector efficiency has the negative correlation also to the level of collector tube cavity pressure. The best performance achieved when it operated at a pressure of 0.043 atmosphere with radiation intensity 878 W / m2, and the value of efficiency is 57.8%.

Coal liquefaction process

DOEpatents

Wright, Charles H.

1986-01-01

A process for the liquefaction of coal wherein raw feed coal is dissolved in recycle solvent with a slurry containing recycle coal minerals in the presence of added hydrogen at elevated temperature and pressure. The highest boiling distillable dissolved liquid fraction is obtained from a vacuum distillation zone and is entirely recycled to extinction. Lower boiling distillable dissolved liquid is removed in vapor phase from the dissolver zone and passed without purification and essentially without reduction in pressure to a catalytic hydrogenation zone where it is converted to an essentially colorless liquid product boiling in the transportation fuel range.

Technique of ethanol food grade production with batch distillation and dehydration using starch-based adsorbent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Widjaja, Tri; Altway, Ali; Ni'mah, Hikmatun; Tedji, Namira; Rofiqah, Umi

2015-12-01

Development and innovation of ethanol food grade production are becoming the reasearch priority to increase economy growth. Moreover, the government of Indonesia has established regulation for increasing the renewable energy as primary energy. Sorghum is cerealia plant that contains 11-16% sugar that is optimum for fermentation process, it is potential to be cultivated, especially at barren area in Indonesia. The purpose of this experiment is to learn about the effect of microorganisms in fermentation process. Fermentation process was carried out batchwise in bioreactor and used 150g/L initial sugar concentration. Microorganisms used in this experiment are Zymomonas mobilis mutation (A3), Saccharomyces cerevisiae and mixed of Pichia stipitis. The yield of ethanol can be obtained from this experiment. For ethanol purification result, distillation process from fermentation process has been done to search the best operation condition for efficiency energy consumption. The experiment for purification was divided into two parts, which are distillation with structured packing steel wool and adsorption (dehydration) sequencely. In distillation part, parameters evaluation (HETP and pressure drop) of distillation column that can be used for scale up are needed. The experiment was operated at pressure of 1 atm. The distillation stage was carried out at 85 °C and reflux ratio of 0.92 with variety porosities of 20%, 40%, and 60%. Then the adsorption process was done at 120°C and two types of adsorbent, which are starch - based adsorbent with ingredient of cassava and molecular sieve 3A, were used. The adsorption process was then continued to purify the ethanol from impurities by using activated carbon. This research shows that the batch fermentation process with Zymomonas mobilis A3 obtain higher % yield of ethanol of 40,92%. In addition to that, for purification process, the best operation condition is by using 40% of porosity of stuctured packing steel wool in distillation stage and starch-based adsorbent in adsorption stage, which can obtain ethanol content of 92,15% with acetic acid percentage of 0,001% and the rest is water. This result is qualified for ethanol food grade specification which is between 90 - 94 % of ethanol with maximum percentage of acetic acid is 0,003%, and passes in fusel oil and isopropyl alcohol test.

Microwave-Assisted Hydro-Distillation of Essential Oil from Rosemary: Comparison with Traditional Distillation

PubMed Central

Moradi, Sara; Fazlali, Alireza; Hamedi, Hamid

Background: Hydro-distillation (HD) method is a traditional technique which is used in most industrial companies. Microwave-assisted Hydro-distillation (MAHD) is an advanced HD technique utilizing a microwave oven in the extraction process. Methods: In this research, MAHD of essential oils from the aerial parts (leaves) of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) was studied and the results were compared with those of the conventional HD in terms of extraction time, extraction efficiency, chemical composition, quality of the essential oils and cost of the operation. Results: Microwave hydro-distillation was superior in terms of saving energy and extraction time (30 min, compared to 90 min in HD). Chromatography was used for quantity analysis of the essential oils composition. Quality of essential oil improved in MAHD method due to an increase of 17% in oxygenated compounds. Conclusion: Consequently, microwave hydro-distillation can be used as a substitute of traditional hydro-distillation. PMID:29296263

Microwave-Assisted Hydro-Distillation of Essential Oil from Rosemary: Comparison with Traditional Distillation.

PubMed

Moradi, Sara; Fazlali, Alireza; Hamedi, Hamid

2018-01-01

Hydro-distillation (HD) method is a traditional technique which is used in most industrial companies. Microwave-assisted Hydro-distillation (MAHD) is an advanced HD technique utilizing a microwave oven in the extraction process. In this research, MAHD of essential oils from the aerial parts (leaves) of rosemary ( Rosmarinus officinalis L. ) was studied and the results were compared with those of the conventional HD in terms of extraction time, extraction efficiency, chemical composition, quality of the essential oils and cost of the operation. Microwave hydro-distillation was superior in terms of saving energy and extraction time (30 min , compared to 90 min in HD). Chromatography was used for quantity analysis of the essential oils composition. Quality of essential oil improved in MAHD method due to an increase of 17% in oxygenated compounds. Consequently, microwave hydro-distillation can be used as a substitute of traditional hydro-distillation.

Full-Scale Hollow Fiber Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator Prototype Development and Testing for Advanced Spacesuits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bue, Grant; Trevino, Luis; Tsioulos, Gus; Mitchell, Keith; Dillon, Paul; Weaver, Gregg

2009-01-01

The spacesuit water membrane evaporator (SWME) is being developed to perform the thermal control function for advanced spacesuits to take advantage of recent advances in micropore membrane technology in providing a robust heat-rejection device that is potentially less sensitive to contamination than is the sublimator. Principles of a sheet membrane SWME design were demonstrated using a prototypic test article that was tested in a vacuum chamber at JSC in July 1999. The Membrana Celgard X50-215 microporous hollow fiber (HoFi) membrane was selected after recent contamination tests as the superior candidate among commercial alternatives for HoFi SWME prototype development. Although a number of design variants were considered, one that grouped the fiber layers into stacks, which were separated by small spaces and packaged into a cylindrical shape, was deemed best for further development. An analysis of test data showed that eight layer stacks of the HoFi sheets that had good exposure on each side of the stack would evaporate water with high efficiency. A design that has 15,000 tubes, with 18 cm of exposed tubes between headers has been built and tested that meets the size, weight, and performance requirements of the SWME. This full-scale prototype consists of 30 stacks, each of which are formed into a chevron shape and separated by spacers and organized into three sectors of ten nested stacks. Testing has been performed to show contamination resistance to the constituents expected to be found in potable water produced by the distillation processes. Other tests showed the sensitivity to surfactants.

Use of solar distillation for olive mill wastewater drying and recovery of polyphenolic compounds.

PubMed

Sklavos, Sotirios; Gatidou, Georgia; Stasinakis, Athanasios S; Haralambopoulos, Dias

2015-10-01

Olive mill wastewater (OMW) is characterized by its high organic load and the presence of phenolic compounds. For first time, a solar distillator was used to investigate the simultaneous solar drying of OMW and the recovery of phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties in the distillate. Two experiments were conducted and the role of thermal insulation on the performance of the distiller was studied. The use of insulation resulted to higher temperatures in the distillator (up to 84.3 °C and 78.5 °C at the air and sludge, respectively), shorter period for OMW dewatering (14 days), while it increased the performance of distillator by 26.1%. Chemical characterization of the distillate showed that pH and COD concentration gradually decreased during the experiments, whereas an opposite trend was noticed for conductivity and total phenols concentration. Almost 4% of the total phenols found initially in OMW were transferred to the distillate when an insulated solar distillator was used. Gas chromatographic analysis of collected distillates confirmed the presence of tyrosol in all samples; whereas hydroxytyrosol was found only in fresh collected distillate samples. Further experiments should be conducted to optimize the process and quantify the concentrations of recovered phenolic compounds. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced Control Synthesis for Reverse Osmosis Water Desalination Processes.

PubMed

Phuc, Bui Duc Hong; You, Sam-Sang; Choi, Hyeung-Six; Jeong, Seok-Kwon

2017-11-01

  In this study, robust control synthesis has been applied to a reverse osmosis desalination plant whose product water flow and salinity are chosen as two controlled variables. The reverse osmosis process has been selected to study since it typically uses less energy than thermal distillation. The aim of the robust design is to overcome the limitation of classical controllers in dealing with large parametric uncertainties, external disturbances, sensor noises, and unmodeled process dynamics. The analyzed desalination process is modeled as a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system with varying parameters. The control system is decoupled using a feed forward decoupling method to reduce the interactions between control channels. Both nominal and perturbed reverse osmosis systems have been analyzed using structured singular values for their stabilities and performances. Simulation results show that the system responses meet all the control requirements against various uncertainties. Finally the reduced order controller provides excellent robust performance, with achieving decoupling, disturbance attenuation, and noise rejection. It can help to reduce the membrane cleanings, increase the robustness against uncertainties, and lower the energy consumption for process monitoring.

Extraction of Volatile Flavor Compounds From Tobacco Leaf Through a Low-Density Polyethylene Membrane.

PubMed

Yokoi, Michinori; Shimoda, Mitsuya

2017-03-01

A low-density polyethylene (LDPE) membrane pouch method was developed to extract volatile flavor compounds from tobacco leaf. Tobacco leaf suspended in water was enclosed in a pouch prepared from a LDPE membrane of specific gravity 0.92 g/cm3 and 0.03 mm thickness and then extracted with diethyl ether. In comparison with direct solvent extraction, LDPE membrane excluded larger and higher boiling point compounds which could contaminate a gas chromatograph inlet and damage a column. Whilst being more convenient than a reduced-pressure steam distillation, it could extract volatile flavor compounds of wide range of molecular weight and polarity. Repeatabilities in the extracted amounts were ranged from 0.38% of 2.3-bipyridyl to 26% of β-ionone, and average value of 39 compounds was 5.9%. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Multi-objective Optimization of Solar-driven Hollow-fiber Membrane Distillation Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nenoff, Tina M.; Moore, Sarah E.; Mirchandani, Sera

Securing additional water sources remains a primary concern for arid regions in both the developed and developing world. Climate change is causing fluctuations in the frequency and duration of precipitation, which can be can be seen as prolonged droughts in some arid areas. Droughts decrease the reliability of surface water supplies, which forces communities to find alternate primary water sources. In many cases, ground water can supplement the use of surface supplies during periods of drought, reducing the need for above-ground storage without sacrificing reliability objectives. Unfortunately, accessible ground waters are often brackish, requiring desalination prior to use, and underdevelopedmore » infrastructure and inconsistent electrical grid access can create obstacles to groundwater desalination in developing regions. The objectives of the proposed project are to (i) mathematically simulate the operation of hollow fiber membrane distillation systems and (ii) optimize system design for off-grid treatment of brackish water. It is anticipated that methods developed here can be used to supply potable water at many off-grid locations in semi-arid regions including parts of the Navajo Reservation. This research is a collaborative project between Sandia and the University of Arizona.« less

Use of Low-Temperature Geothermal Energy for Desalination in the Western United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Turchi, Craig S.; Akar, Sertac; Cath, Tzahi

2015-11-01

This joint project between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Colorado School of Mines has examined the potential of using low-temperature geothermal resources for desalination. The temperature range in question is not well suited for electricity generation, but can be used for direct heating. Accordingly, the best integration approaches use thermal desalination technologies such as multi-effect distillation (MED) or membrane distillation (MD), rather than electric-driven technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO). The examination of different desalination technologies led to the selection of MD for pairing with geothermal energy. MD operates at near-ambient pressure and temperatures less than 100°C withmore » hydrophobic membranes. The technology is modular like RO, but the equipment costs are lower. The thermal energy demands of MD are higher than MED, but this is offset by an ability to run at lower temperatures and a low capital cost. Consequently, a geothermal-MD system could offer a low capital cost and, if paired with low-cost geothermal energy, a low operating cost. The target product water cost is $1.0 to $1.5 per cubic meter depending on system capacity and the cost of thermal energy.« less

On the evolution of morphology of zirconium sponge during reduction and distillation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kapoor, K.; Padmaprabu, C.; Nandi, D.

2008-03-15

High purity zirconium metal is produced by magnesio-thermic reduction of zirconium tetrachloride followed by vacuum distillation. The reduction process is carried out in a batch giving metal sponge and magnesium chloride in the reduced mass. The sponge is purified to using by vacuum distillation. The morphology of the sponge formed during the reduction and its influence on further processing has significant importance. In the present study, a detailed investigation involving evolution of the morphology of sponge particles and its implication during the vacuum distillation was carried out. The study of the microstructure was done using scanning electron microscopy and X-raymore » diffraction. It is observed that the nascent sponge formed is highly unstable which transforms to a needle-like morphology almost immediately, which further transforms to rounded and finally to a bulk shape. Faceting of the surface and needle-shape formation were observed in these particles, this is probably due to anisotropy in the surface energy. The morphology of the sponge formed during the reduction influences the distillation process. The fine needle-like shape sponge morphology leads to particle ejection, which is explained to be due to curvature effect. This is responsible for the formation of unwanted mass during distillation. XRD line broadening analysis indicates that the individual sponge particles are free from structural defects (dislocation) and are nearly single crystalline in nature.« less

Energy efficiency of acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE) recovery by heat-integrated distillation.

PubMed

Grisales Diaz, Victor Hugo; Olivar Tost, Gerard

2018-03-01

Acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE) is an alternative biofuel. However, the energy requirement of ABE recovery by distillation is considered elevated (> 15.2 MJ fuel/Kg-ABE), due to the low concentration of ABE from fermentation broths (between 15 and 30 g/l). In this work, to reduce the energy requirements of ABE recovery, four processes of heat-integrated distillation were proposed. The energy requirements and economic evaluations were performed using the fermentation broths of several biocatalysts. Energy requirements of the processes with four distillation columns and three distillation columns were similar (between 7.7 and 11.7 MJ fuel/kg-ABE). Double-effect system (DED) with four columns was the most economical process (0.12-0.16 $/kg-ABE). ABE recovery from dilute solutions by DED achieved energy requirements between 6.1 and 8.7 MJ fuel/kg-ABE. Vapor compression distillation (VCD) reached the lowest energy consumptions (between 4.7 and 7.3 MJ fuel/kg-ABE). Energy requirements for ABE recovery DED and VCD were lower than that for integrated reactors. The energy requirements of ABE production were between 1.3- and 2.0-fold higher than that for alternative biofuels (ethanol or isobutanol). However, the energy efficiency of ABE production was equivalent than that for ethanol and isobutanol (between 0.71 and 0.76) because of hydrogen production in ABE fermentation.

Haploid deletion strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that determine survival during space flight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johanson, Kelly; Allen, Patricia L.; Gonzalez-Villalobos, Romer A.; Nesbit, Jacqueline; Nickerson, Cheryl A.; Höner zu Bentrup, Kerstin; Wilson, James W.; Ramamurthy, Rajee; D'Elia, Riccardo; Muse, Kenneth E.; Hammond, Jeffrey; Freeman, Jake; Stodieck, Louis S.; Hammond, Timothy G.

2007-02-01

This study identifies genes that determine survival during a space flight, using the model eukaryotic organism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Select strains of a haploid yeast deletion series grew during storage in distilled water in space, but not in ground based static or clinorotation controls. The survival advantages in space in distilled water include a 133-fold advantage for the deletion of PEX19, a chaperone and import receptor for newly- synthesized class I peroxisomal membrane proteins, to 77-40 fold for deletion strains lacking elements of aerobic respiration, isocitrate metabolism, and mitochondrial electron transport. Following automated addition of rich growth media, the space flight was associated with a marked survival advantage of strains with deletions in catalytically active genes including hydrolases, oxidoreductases and transferases. When compared to static controls, space flight was associated with a marked survival disadvantage of deletion strains lacking transporter, antioxidant and catalytic activity. This study identifies yeast deletion strains with a survival advantage during storage in distilled water and space flight, and amplifies our understanding of the genes critical for survival in space.

The application of a novel optical SPM in biomedicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yinli; Chen, Haibo; Wu, Shifa; Song, Linfeng; Zhang, Jian

2005-01-01

As an analysis tool, SPM has been broadly used in biomedicine in recent years, such as AFM and SNOM; they are effective instruments in detecting life nanostructures at atomic level. Atomic force and photon scanning tunneling microscope (AF/PSTM) is one of member of SPM, it can be used to obtain sample" optical and atomic fore images at once scanning, these images include the transmissivity image, reflection index image and topography image. This report mainly introduces the application of AF/PSTM in red blood membrane and the effect of different sample dealt with processes on the experiment result. The materials for preparing red cells membrane samples are anticoagulant blood, isotonic phosphatic buffer solution (PBS) and new two times distilled water. The images of AF/PSTM give real expression to the biology samples" fact despite of different sample dealt with processes, which prove that AF/PSTM suits to biology sample imaging. At the same time, the optical images and the topography image of AF/PSTM of the same sample are complementary with each other; this will make AF/PSTM a facile tool to analysis biologic samples" nanostructure. As another sample, this paper gives the application of AF/PSTM in immunoassay, the result shows that AF/PSTM is suit to analysis biologic sample, and it will become a new tool for biomedicine test.

Dynamic Modeling of Process Technologies for Closed-Loop Water Recovery Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allada, Rama Kumar; Lange, Kevin E.; Anderson, Molly S.

2012-01-01

Detailed chemical process simulations are a useful tool in designing and optimizing complex systems and architectures for human life support. Dynamic and steady-state models of these systems help contrast the interactions of various operating parameters and hardware designs, which become extremely useful in trade-study analyses. NASA s Exploration Life Support technology development project recently made use of such models to compliment a series of tests on different waste water distillation systems. This paper presents dynamic simulations of chemical process for primary processor technologies including: the Cascade Distillation System (CDS), the Vapor Compression Distillation (VCD) system, the Wiped-Film Rotating Disk (WFRD), and post-distillation water polishing processes such as the Volatiles Removal Assembly (VRA). These dynamic models were developed using the Aspen Custom Modeler (Registered TradeMark) and Aspen Plus(Registered TradeMark) process simulation tools. The results expand upon previous work for water recovery technology models and emphasize dynamic process modeling and results. The paper discusses system design, modeling details, and model results for each technology and presents some comparisons between the model results and available test data. Following these initial comparisons, some general conclusions and forward work are discussed.

Chemicals from coal. Interim report for USBM Synthoil

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peters, B.C.

1977-10-01

This document contains the results of an investigation to determine the suitability of the USBM Synthoil Product as a petrochemical feedstock. A sample of the whole crude was distilled into two straight run fractions; 350 to 650/sup 0/F mid-distillate and 650/sup 0/F+ residue. Laboratory studies in metal reactors and computer and mathematical simulations were performed to provide overall material balance data for a conceptual plant. The mid-distillate was hydrocracked to produce naphtha which was further processed by hydrotreating and reforming. The reformate from the mid-distillate was then mathematically hydrodealkylated to convert it to a product slate consisting of methane, LPG's,more » benzene, and fuel, along with the total hydrogen consumed. The value of the products obtained per 100 pounds of mid-distillate was $6.89. The high aromatic yield obtained from the hydrocrackate naphtha makes this fraction very attractive as a petrochemical feedstock. Because the gas oil would be extremely difficult to process, it was not investigated.« less

Hierarchical Composite Membranes with Robust Omniphobic Surface Using Layer-By-Layer Assembly Technique.

PubMed

Woo, Yun Chul; Kim, Youngjin; Yao, Minwei; Tijing, Leonard D; Choi, June-Seok; Lee, Sangho; Kim, Seung-Hyun; Shon, Ho Kyong

2018-02-20

In this study, composite membranes were fabricated via layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of negatively charged silica aerogel (SiA) and 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (FTCS) on a polyvinylidene fluoride phase inversion membrane and interconnecting them with positively charged poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) via electrostatic interaction. The results showed that the PDDA-SiA-FTCS coated membrane had significantly enhanced the membrane structure and properties. New trifluoromethyl and tetrafluoroethylene bonds appeared at the surface of the coated membrane, which led to lower surface free energy of the composite membrane. Additionally, the LBL membrane showed increased surface roughness. The improved structure and property gave the LBL membrane an omniphobic property, as indicated by its good wetting resistance. The membrane performed a stable air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) flux of 11.22 L/m 2 h with very high salt rejection using reverse osmosis brine from coal seam gas produced water as feed with the addition of up to 0.5 mM SDS solution. This performance was much better compared to those of the neat membrane. The present study suggests that the enhanced membrane properties with good omniphobicity via LBL assembly make the porous membranes suitable for long-term AGMD operation with stable permeation flux when treating challenging saline wastewater containing low surface tension organic contaminants.

Minimizing corrosion in coal liquid distillation

DOEpatents

Baumert, Kenneth L.; Sagues, Alberto A.; Davis, Burtron H.

1985-01-01

In an atmospheric distillation tower of a coal liquefaction process, tower materials corrosion is reduced or eliminated by introduction of boiling point differentiated streams to boiling point differentiated tower regions.

27 CFR 19.348 - Formula requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS DISTILLED SPIRITS PLANTS Processing of Distilled Spirits Filing Formulas..., refine, compound, or treat spirits in any manner which results in a change of character, composition...

27 CFR 19.348 - Formula requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY ALCOHOL DISTILLED SPIRITS PLANTS Processing of Distilled Spirits Filing Formulas..., refine, compound, or treat spirits in any manner which results in a change of character, composition...

27 CFR 19.348 - Formula requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS DISTILLED SPIRITS PLANTS Processing of Distilled Spirits Filing Formulas..., refine, compound, or treat spirits in any manner which results in a change of character, composition...

27 CFR 19.348 - Formula requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY ALCOHOL DISTILLED SPIRITS PLANTS Processing of Distilled Spirits Filing Formulas..., refine, compound, or treat spirits in any manner which results in a change of character, composition...

Rubidium extraction from seawater brine by an integrated membrane distillation-selective sorption system.

PubMed

Naidu, Gayathri; Jeong, Sanghyun; Johir, Md Abu Hasan; Fane, Anthony G; Kandasamy, Jaya; Vigneswaran, Saravanamuthu

2017-10-15

The ultimate goal of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine management is to achieve minimal liquid discharge while recovering valuable resources. The suitability of an integrated system of membrane distillation (MD) with sorption for the recovery of rubidium (Rb + ) and simultaneous SWRO brine volume reduction has been evaluated for the first time. Polymer encapsulated potassium copper hexacyanoferrate (KCuFC(PAN)) sorbent exhibited a good selectivity for Rb + sorption with 10-15% increment at 55 °C (Langmuir Q max  = 125.11 ± 0.20 mg/g) compared to at 25 °C (Langmuir Q max  = 108.71 ± 0.20 mg/g). The integrated MD-KCuFC(PAN) system with periodic membrane cleaning, enabled concentration of SWRO brine to a volume concentration factor (VCF) of 2.9 (65% water recovery). A stable MD permeate flux was achieved with good quality permeate (conductivity of 15-20 μS/cm). Repeated cycles of MD-KCuFC(PAN) sorption with SWRO brine enabled the extraction of 2.26 mg Rb + from 12 L of brine (equivalent to 1.9 kg of Rb/day, or 0.7 tonne/yr from a plant producing 10,000 m 3 /day brine). KCuFC(PAN) showed a high regeneration and reuse capacity. NH 4 Cl air stripping followed by resorcinol formaldehyde (RF) resin filtration enabled to recover Rb + from the desorbed solution. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A review of oxygen removal from oxygen-bearing coal-mine methane.

PubMed

Zhao, Peiyu; Zhang, Guojie; Sun, Yinghui; Xu, Ying

2017-06-01

In this article, a comparison will be made concerning the advantages and disadvantages of five kinds of coal mine methane (CMM) deoxygenation method, including pressure swing adsorption, combustion, membrane separation, non-metallic reduction, and cryogenic distillation. Pressure swing adsorption has a wide range of application and strong production capacity. To achieve this goal, adsorbent must have high selectivity, adsorption capacity, and adequate adsorption/desorption kinetics, remain stable after several adsorption/desorption cycles, and possess good thermal and mechanical stabilities. Catalytic combustion deoxygenation is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction, which releases large amounts of thermal energy. So, the stable and accurate control of the temperature is not easy. Meanwhile partial methane is lost. The key of catalytic combustion deoxygenation lies in the development of high-efficiency catalyst. Membrane separation has advantages of high separation efficiency and low energy consumption. However, there are many obstacles, including higher costs. Membrane materials have the requirements of both high permeability and high selectivity. The development of new membrane materials is a key for membrane separation. Cryogenic distillation has many excellence advantages, such as high purity production and high recovery. However, the energy consumption increases with decreasing CH 4 concentrations in feed gas. Moreover, there are many types of operational security problems. And that several kinds of deoxygenation techniques mentioned above have an economic value just for oxygen-bearing CMM with methane content above 30%. Moreover, all the above methods are not applicable to deoxygenation of low concentration CMM. Non-metallic reduction method cannot only realize cyclic utilization of deoxidizer but also have no impurity gases generation. It also has a relatively low cost and low loss rate of methane, and the oxygen is removed thoroughly. In particular, the non-metallic reduction method has good development prospects for low concentration oxygen-bearing CMM. This article also points out the direction of future development of coal mine methane deoxygenation.

Method for making a microporous membrane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gavalas, Lillian Susan (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A method for making a microporous membrane comprises the steps of: providing a plurality of carbon nanotubes having a hollow interior diameter of 20 Angstroms or less; sonicating the plurality of carbon nanotubes utilizing a solution comprising deionized, distilled water and a surfactant that coats at least one of the plurality of carbon nanotubes; collecting the coated carbon nanotubes; forming a matrix that supports the plurality of carbon nanotubes; embedding the coated carbon nanotubes into the matrix; rinsing the coated nanotubes to remove at least a portion of the surfactant; curing the nanotube-matrix assembly; and cutting the nanotube-matrix assembly to a particular thickness so as to open the ends of the embedded nanotubes. The hollow interiors of the plurality of embedded carbon nanotubes comprise the pores of the microporous membrane.

Hollow-Fiber Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bue, Grant; Trevino, Luis; Tsioulos, Gus; Mitchell, Keith; Settles, Joseph

2013-01-01

The hollow-fiber spacesuit water membrane evaporator (HoFi SWME) is being developed to perform the thermal control function for advanced spacesuits and spacecraft to take advantage of recent advances in micropore membrane technology in providing a robust, heat-rejection device that is less sensitive to contamination than is the sublimator. After recent contamination tests, a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) micro porous hollow-fiber membrane was selected for prototype development as the most suitable candidate among commercial hollow-fiber evaporator alternatives. An innovative design that grouped the fiber layers into stacks, which were separated by small spaces and packaged into a cylindrical shape, was developed into a full-scale prototype for the spacesuit application. Vacuum chamber testing has been performed to characterize heat rejection as a function of inlet water temperature and water vapor back-pressure, and to show contamination resistance to the constituents expected to be found in potable water produced by the wastewater reclamation distillation processes. Other tests showed tolerance to freezing and suitability to reject heat in a Mars pressure environment. In summary, HoFi SWME is a lightweight, compact evaporator for heat rejection in the spacesuit that is robust, contamination- insensitive, freeze-tolerant, and able to reject the required heat of spacewalks in microgravity, lunar, and Martian environments. The HoFi is packaged to reject 810 W of heat through 800 hours of use in a vacuum environment, and 370 W in a Mars environment. The device also eliminates free gas and dissolved gas from the coolant loop.

Students' construction of a simple steam distillation apparatus and development of creative thinking skills: A project-based learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diawati, Chansyanah; Liliasari, Setiabudi, Agus; Buchari

2017-05-01

This project-based learning combined the chemistry of separation process using steam distillation with engineering design process in an undergraduate chemistry course. Students built upon their knowledge of phase changes, immiscible mixture, and the relationship between vapor pressure and boiling point to complete a project of modifications steam distillation apparatus. The research method is a qualitative case study, which aims to describe how (1) the creative thinking skills of students emerged during six weeks of theproject, (2) students built steam distillation apparatus characteristics as the project product and (3) students response to the project-based learning model. The results showed that the students had successfully constructed a steam distillation apparatus using plastic kettle as steam generator and distillation flask. A Plastic tubewas used to drain water vapor from steam generator to distillation flask and to drain steam containing essential oil to the condenser. A biscuit tin filled with ice was used as a condenser. The time required until resulting distillate was fifteen minutes. The production of essential was conductive qualitatively by a very strong smell typical of essential oil and two phases of distillate. Throughout the project, students formulated the relevant and varied problem, formulated the goals, proposed the ideas of the apparatus and materials, draw apparatus design, constructed apparatus, tested apparatus, evaluated, and reported the project. Student response was generally positive. They were pleased, interested, more understanding the concepts and work apparatus principles, also implemented new ideas. These results indicate that project-based learning can develop students' creative thinking skills. Based on these results, it is necessary to conduct research and implemented project-based learning to other concepts.

Improved waste water vapor compression distillation technology. [for Spacelab

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, K. L.; Nuccio, P. P.; Reveley, W. F.

1977-01-01

The vapor compression distillation process is a method of recovering potable water from crewman urine in a manned spacecraft or space station. A description is presented of the research and development approach to the solution of the various problems encountered with previous vapor compression distillation units. The design solutions considered are incorporated in the preliminary design of a vapor compression distillation subsystem. The new design concepts are available for integration in the next generation of support systems and, particularly, the regenerative life support evaluation intended for project Spacelab.

Miniature Distillation Column for Producing LOX From Air

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rozzi, Jay C.

2006-01-01

The figure shows components of a distillation column intended for use as part of a system that produces high-purity liquid oxygen (LOX) from air by distillation. (The column could be easily modified to produce high-purity liquid nitrogen.) Whereas typical industrial distillation columns for producing high-purity liquid oxygen and/or nitrogen are hundreds of feet tall, this distillation column is less than 3 ft (less than about 0.9 m) tall. This column was developed to trickle-charge a LOX-based emergency oxygen system (EOS) for a large commercial aircraft. A description of the industrial production of liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen by distillation is prerequisite to a meaningful description of the present miniaturized distillation column. Typically, such industrial production takes place in a chemical processing plant in which large quantities of high-pressure air are expanded in a turboexpander to (1) recover a portion of the electrical power required to compress the air and (2) partially liquefy the air. The resulting two-phase flow of air is sent to the middle of a distillation column. The liquid phase is oxygen-rich, and its oxygen purity increases as it flows down the column. The vapor phase is nitrogen-rich and its nitrogen purity increases as it flows up the column. A heater or heat exchanger, commonly denoted a reboiler, is at the bottom of the column. The reboiler is so named because its role is to reboil some of the liquid oxygen collected at the bottom of the column to provide a flow of oxygen-rich vapor. As the oxygen-rich vapor flows up the column, it absorbs the nitrogen in the down-flowing liquid by mass transfer. Once the vapor leaves the lower portion of the column, it interacts with down-flowing nitrogen liquid that has been condensed in a heat exchanger, commonly denoted a condenser, at the top of the column. Liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen products are obtained by draining some of the purified product at the bottom and top of the column, respectively. Because distillation is a mass-transfer process, the purity of the product(s) can be increased by increasing the effectiveness of the mass-transfer process (increasing the mass-transfer coefficient) and/or by increasing the available surface area for mass transfer through increased column height. The diameter of a distillation column is fixed by pressure-drop and mass-flow requirements. The approach taken in designing the present distillation column to be short yet capable of yielding a product of acceptably high purity was to pay careful attention to design details that affect mass-transfer processes.

Recent advances in cellulose and chitosan based membranes for water purification: A concise review.

PubMed

Thakur, Vijay Kumar; Voicu, Stefan Ioan

2016-08-01

Recently membrane technology has emerged as a new promising and pervasive technology due to its innate advantages over traditional technologies such as adsorption, distillation and extraction. In this article, some of the recent advances in developing polymeric composite membrane materials for water purification from natural polysaccharide based polymers namely cellulose derivatives and chitosan are concisely reviewed. The impact of human social, demographic and industrial evolution along with expansion through environment has significantly affected the quality of water by pollution with large quantities of pesticides, minerals, drugs or other residues. At the forefront of decontamination and purification techniques, we found the membrane materials from polymers as a potential alternative. In an attempt to reduce the number of technical polymers widely used in the preparation of membranes, many researchers have reported new solutions for desalination or retention of organic yeasts, based on bio renewable polymers like cellulose derivatives and chitosan. These realizations are presented and discussed in terms of the most important parameters of membrane separation especially water flux and retention in this article. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Interferometric study on the mass transfer in cryogenic distillation under magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bao, S. R.; Zhang, R. P.; Y Rong, Y.; Zhi, X. Q.; Qiu, L. M.

2017-12-01

Cryogenic distillation has long been used for the mass production of industrial gases because of its features of high efficiency, high purity, and capability to produce noble gases. It is of great theoretical and practical significance to explore methods to improve the mass transfer efficiency in cryogenic distillation. The negative correlation between the susceptibility of paramagnetic oxygen and temperature provides a new possibility of comprehensive utilization of boiling point and susceptibility differences in cryogenic distillation. Starting from this concept, we proposed a novel distillation intensifying method by using gradient magnetic field, in which the magnetic forces enhance the transport of the oxygen molecules to the liquid phase in the distillation. In this study, a cryogenic testbed was designed and fabricated to study the diffusion between oxygen and nitrogen under magnetic field. A Mach-Zehnder interferometer was used to visualize the concentration distribution during the diffusion process. The mass transfer characteristics with and without magnetic field, in the chamber filled with the magnetized medium, were systematically studied. The concentration redistribution of oxygen was observed, and the stable stratified diffusion between liquid oxygen and nitrogen was prolonged by the non-uniform magnetic field. The experimental results show that the magnetic field can efficiently influence the mass transfer in cryogenic distillation, which can provide a new mechanism for the optimization of air separation process.

EXTERIOR VIEW, THE SA WETSIDE BUILDING (ALSO KNOWN AS DISTILLATION ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

EXTERIOR VIEW, THE SA WETSIDE BUILDING (ALSO KNOWN AS DISTILLATION BUILDING OR SOLVAY TOWERS BUILDING) THE HEART OF THE SOLVAY PROCESS. VIEW LOOKING EAST. THIS BUILDING WAS BUILT IN 1954 TO REPLACE A SIMILAR STRUCTURE BUILT CIRCA 1907. - Solvay Process Company, SA Wetside Building, Between Willis & Milton Avenue, Solvay, Onondaga County, NY

Distillation Designs for the Lunar Surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boul, Peter J.; Lange,Kevin E.; Conger, Bruce; Anderson, Molly

2010-01-01

Gravity-based distillation methods may be applied to the purification of wastewater on the lunar base. These solutions to water processing are robust physical separation techniques, which may be more advantageous than many other techniques for their simplicity in design and operation. The two techniques can be used in conjunction with each other to obtain high purity water. The components and feed compositions for modeling waste water streams are presented in conjunction with the Aspen property system for traditional stage distillation. While the individual components for each of the waste streams will vary naturally within certain bounds, an analog model for waste water processing is suggested based on typical concentration ranges for these components. Target purity levels for recycled water are determined for each individual component based on NASA s required maximum contaminant levels for potable water Optimum parameters such as reflux ratio, feed stage location, and processing rates are determined with respect to the power consumption of the process. Multistage distillation is evaluated for components in wastewater to determine the minimum number of stages necessary for each of 65 components in humidity condensate and urine wastewater mixed streams.

Effect of fiber removal from ground corn, distillers dried grains with solubles and soybean meal using the Elusieve process on broiler performance and processing yield

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Elusieve process, a combination of sieving and elutriation (air classification), has been found to be effective in fiber separation from ground corn, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and soybean meal (SBM). The objective of this study was to determine the effect of removing fiber fro...

Don't Forget Product Recovery in Catalysis Research-Check the Distillation Resistance.

PubMed

Lange, Jean-Paul

2017-01-10

When investigating a new catalytic reaction, scientists may wonder if the crude reaction product can be easily separated and purified. We present here a new concept-distillation resistance-to assess the potential of distillation as a purification technique and to guide catalyst formulation or operation at the very early stage of the research. Distillation resistance, which has been developed from the analysis of 15 industrial distillation trains, can be quickly calculated with knowledge of only the product composition and atmospheric boiling points of the components. It can be directly converted into a preliminary distillation cost that considers investment and energy cost. Its application and its potential guidance in catalysis research are illustrated through a few cases studies derived from biorefinery processes. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Test results on reuse of reclaimed shower water - A summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Verostko, Charles E.; Garcia, Rafael; Sauer, Richard; Reysa, Richard P.; Linton, Arthur T.

1989-01-01

Results are presented from tests to evaluate a microgravity whole body shower and waste water recovery system design for possible use on the Space Station. Several water recovery methods were tested, including phase change distillation, a thermoelectric hollow fiber membrane evaporation subsystem, and a reverse osmosis dynamic membrane system. Consideration is given to the test hardware, the types of soaps evaluated, the human response to showering with reclaimed water, chemical treatment for microbial control, the procedures for providing hygienic water, and the quality of water produced by the systems. All three of the waste water recovery systems tested successfully produced reclaimed water for reuse.

Coal liquefaction process

DOEpatents

Wright, C.H.

1986-02-11

A process is described for the liquefaction of coal wherein raw feed coal is dissolved in recycle solvent with a slurry containing recycle coal minerals in the presence of added hydrogen at elevated temperature and pressure. The highest boiling distillable dissolved liquid fraction is obtained from a vacuum distillation zone and is entirely recycled to extinction. Lower boiling distillable dissolved liquid is removed in vapor phase from the dissolver zone and passed without purification and essentially without reduction in pressure to a catalytic hydrogenation zone where it is converted to an essentially colorless liquid product boiling in the transportation fuel range. 1 fig.

Extended testing of compression distillation.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bambenek, R. A.; Nuccio, P. P.

1972-01-01

During the past eight years, the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center has supported the development of an integrated water and waste management system which includes the compression distillation process for recovering useable water from urine, urinal flush water, humidity condensate, commode flush water, and concentrated wash water. This paper describes the design of the compression distillation unit, developed for this system, and the testing performed to demonstrate its reliability and performance. In addition, this paper summarizes the work performed on pretreatment and post-treatment processes, to assure the recovery of sterile potable water from urine and treated urinal flush water.

27 CFR 5.42 - Prohibited practices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... name that is in simulation or is an abbreviation thereof, or any graphic, pictorial, or emblematic... distillation step is a necessary distillation process for the production of the product. (7) Labels shall not...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bornea, A.; Zamfirache, M.; Stefan, L.

ICIT (Institute for Cryogenics and Isotopic Technologies) has used its experience in cryogenic water distillation process to propose a similar process for hydrogen distillation that can be used in detritiation technologies. This process relies on the same packages but a stainless filling is tested instead of the phosphorous bronze filling used for water distillation. This paper presents two types of packages developed for hydrogen distillation, both have a stainless filling but it differs in terms of density, exchange surface and specific volume. Performance data have been obtained on laboratory scale. In order to determine the characteristics of the package, themore » installation was operated in the total reflux mode, for different flow rate for the liquid. There were made several experiments considering different operating conditions. Samples extracted at the top and bottom of cryogenic distillation column allowed mathematical processing to determine the separation performance. The experiments show a better efficiency for the package whose exchange surface was higher and there were no relevant differences between both packages as the operating pressure of the cryogenic column was increasing. For a complete characterization of the packages, future experiments will be considered to determine performance at various velocities in the column and their correlation with the pressure in the column. We plan further experiments to separate tritium from the mixture of isotopes DT, having in view that our goal is to apply this results to a detritiation plant.« less

Operating a pilot-scale nitrification/distillation plant for complete nutrient recovery from urine.

PubMed

Fumasoli, Alexandra; Etter, Bastian; Sterkele, Bettina; Morgenroth, Eberhard; Udert, Kai M

2016-01-01

Source-separated urine contains most of the excreted nutrients, which can be recovered by using nitrification to stabilize the urine before concentrating the nutrient solution with distillation. The aim of this study was to test this process combination at pilot scale. The nitrification process was efficient in a moving bed biofilm reactor with maximal rates of 930 mg N L(-1) d(-1). Rates decreased to 120 mg N L(-1) d(-1) after switching to more concentrated urine. At high nitrification rates (640 mg N L(-1) d(-1)) and low total ammonia concentrations (1,790 mg NH4-N L(-1) in influent) distillation caused the main primary energy demand of 71 W cap(-1) (nitrification: 13 W cap(-1)) assuming a nitrogen production of 8.8 g N cap(-1) d(-1). Possible process failures include the accumulation of the nitrification intermediate nitrite and the selection of acid-tolerant ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Especially during reactor start-up, the process must therefore be carefully supervised. The concentrate produced by the nitrification/distillation process is low in heavy metals, but high in nutrients, suggesting a good suitability as an integral fertilizer.

Optimization of tocopherol concentration process from soybean oil deodorized distillate using response surface methodology.

PubMed

Ito, Vanessa Mayumi; Batistella, César Benedito; Maciel, Maria Regina Wolf; Maciel Filho, Rubens

2007-04-01

Soybean oil deodorized distillate is a product derived from the refining process and it is rich in high value-added products. The recovery of these unsaponifiable fractions is of great commercial interest, because of the fact that in many cases, the "valuable products" have vitamin activities such as tocopherols (vitamin E), as well as anticarcinogenic properties such as sterols. Molecular distillation has large potential to be used in order to concentrate tocopherols, as it uses very low temperatures owing to the high vacuum and short operating time for separation, and also, it does not use solvents. Then, it can be used to separate and to purify thermosensitive material such as vitamins. In this work, the molecular distillation process was applied for tocopherol concentration, and the response surface methodology was used to optimize free fatty acids (FFA) elimination and tocopherol concentration in the residue and in the distillate streams, both of which are the products of the molecular distiller. The independent variables studied were feed flow rate (F) and evaporator temperature (T) because they are the very important process variables according to previous experience. The experimental range was 4-12 mL/min for F and 130-200 degrees C for T. It can be noted that feed flow rate and evaporator temperature are important operating variables in the FFA elimination. For decreasing the loss of FFA, in the residue stream, the operating range should be changed, increasing the evaporator temperature and decreasing the feed flow rate; D/F ratio increases, increasing evaporator temperature and decreasing feed flow rate. High concentration of tocopherols was obtained in the residue stream at low values of feed flow rate and high evaporator temperature. These results were obtained through experimental results based on experimental design.

Quantum entanglement distillation with metamaterials.

PubMed

al Farooqui, Md Abdullah; Breeland, Justin; Aslam, Muhammad I; Sadatgol, Mehdi; Özdemir, Şahin K; Tame, Mark; Yang, Lan; Güney, Durdu Ö

2015-07-13

We propose a scheme for the distillation of partially entangled two-photon Bell and three-photon W states using metamaterials. The distillation of partially entangled Bell states is achieved by using two metamaterials with polarization dependence, one of which is rotated by π/2 around the direction of propagation of the photons. On the other hand, the distillation of three-photon W states is achieved by using one polarization dependent metamaterial and two polarization independent metamaterials. Upon transmission of the photons of the partially entangled states through the metamaterials the entanglement of the states increases and they become distilled. This work opens up new directions in quantum optical state engineering by showing how metamaterials can be used to carry out a quantum information processing task.

Processing Maple Syrup with a Vapor Compression Distiller: An Economic Analysis

Treesearch

Lawrence D. Garrett

1977-01-01

A test of vapor compression distillers for processing maple syrup revealed that: (1) vapor compression equipment tested evaporated 1 pound of water with .047 pounds of steam equivalent (electrical energy); open-pan evaporators of similar capacity required 1.5 pounds of steam equivalent (oil energy) to produce 1 pound of water; (2) vapor compression evaporation produced...

27 CFR 24.248 - Processes authorized for the treatment of wine, juice, and distilling material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

....2910. 1 This process must be done on distilled spirits plant premises. However, reverse osmosis, under... vinous character of the wine (2) None of the stripping solution may migrate into the wine. Reverse osmosis 1 To reduce the ethyl alcohol content of wine and to remove off flavors in wine Permeable...

27 CFR 24.248 - Processes authorized for the treatment of wine, juice, and distilling material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

....2910. 1 This process must be done on distilled spirits plant premises. However, reverse osmosis, under... vinous character of the wine (2) None of the stripping solution may migrate into the wine. Reverse osmosis 1 To reduce the ethyl alcohol content of wine and to remove off flavors in wine Permeable...

Variation in Distillers Grains Quality and Investigation into Its Underlying Causes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A major process for making ethanol from grains is the dry-grind method. The major co-product of the process is distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), which are widely used as a feed for animals and fish. Income from marketing of DDGS is important to the economic viability of the dry grind ind...

Datalogging the Distillation Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soares, Allan; Creevy, Steven

1995-01-01

Presents a distillation experiment that uses temperature sensors connected to a computer in place of thermometers, and enables the whole class to view the data on a monitor and interpret and discuss the data in real time. (JRH)

Outlining a selection procedure for Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated from grape marc to improve fermentation process and distillate quality.

PubMed

Bovo, Barbara; Carlot, Milena; Fontana, Federico; Lombardi, Angiolella; Soligo, Stefano; Giacomini, Alessio; Corich, Viviana

2015-04-01

Nowadays grape marc represents one of the main by-product of winemaking. Many South Europe countries valorize this ligno-cellulosic waste through fermentation and distillation for industrial alcoholic beverage production. The storage of marcs is a crucial phase in the distillation process, due to the physicochemical transformations ascribed to microbial activity. Among the methods adopted by distillers to improve the quality of spirits, the use of selected yeasts has not been explored so far, therefore in this work we evaluated the selection criteria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for grape marc fermentation. The proposed selection procedure included three steps: characterization of phenotypical traits, evaluation of selected strains on pasteurised grape marc at lab-scale (100 g) and pilot-scale fermentation (350 kg). This selection process was applied on 104 strains isolated from grape marcs of different origins and technological treatment. Among physiological traits, β-glucosidase activity level as quality trait seems to be only partially involved in increasing varietal flavour. More effective in describing yeast impact on distillate quality is the ratio higher alcohols/esters that indicates strain ability to increase positive flavours. Finally, evaluating grape marc as source of selected yeasts, industrial treatment rather than varietal origin seems to shape strain technological and quality traits. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of sun drying process and prolonged storage on composition of essential oil from clove buds (Syzygium aromaticum)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastuti, L. T.; Saepudin, E.; Cahyana, A. H.; Rahayu, D. U. C.; Murni, V. W.; Haib, J.

2017-07-01

Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) is native to Indonesia and used as a spice in virtually all of the world's cuisine. Clove bud oil, a yellow liquid, is obtained from distillation of buds. The quality of oil is influenced by origin, post-harvest processing, pre-treatment before distillation, the distillation method, and post-distillation treatment. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of drying process and prolonged storage on essential oil composition of clove bud from the Tolitoli, Indonesia. To determine the effect of drying, fresh clove bud was dried under sunlight until it reached moisture content 13±1 %. The effect of storage was studied in the oil extracted from clove bud that was stored in laboratory at 25 °C for 4 months. The essential oil of each treatment was obtained by steam distillation and its chemical composition was analyzed by GC/MS. The major components found in fresh and dried clove are as follows: eugenol, eugenyl acetate, and caryophyllene. Percentage of caryophyllene was slightly increase after drying but decrease during storage. While the content of eugenyl acetate decreased during drying and storage, the content of eugenol increased. The drying and storage also affect to the change on minor compounds of essential oil of clove.

Catalytic distillation process

DOEpatents

Smith, Jr., Lawrence A.

1982-01-01

A method for conducting chemical reactions and fractionation of the reaction mixture comprising feeding reactants to a distillation column reactor into a feed zone and concurrently contacting the reactants with a fixed bed catalytic packing to concurrently carry out the reaction and fractionate the reaction mixture. For example, a method for preparing methyl tertiary butyl ether in high purity from a mixed feed stream of isobutene and normal butene comprising feeding the mixed feed stream to a distillation column reactor into a feed zone at the lower end of a distillation reaction zone, and methanol into the upper end of said distillation reaction zone, which is packed with a properly supported cationic ion exchange resin, contacting the C.sub.4 feed and methanol with the catalytic distillation packing to react methanol and isobutene, and concurrently fractionating the ether from the column below the catalytic zone and removing normal butene overhead above the catalytic zone.

Catalytic distillation process

DOEpatents

Smith, L.A. Jr.

1982-06-22

A method is described for conducting chemical reactions and fractionation of the reaction mixture comprising feeding reactants to a distillation column reactor into a feed zone and concurrently contacting the reactants with a fixed bed catalytic packing to concurrently carry out the reaction and fractionate the reaction mixture. For example, a method for preparing methyl tertiary butyl ether in high purity from a mixed feed stream of isobutene and normal butene comprising feeding the mixed feed stream to a distillation column reactor into a feed zone at the lower end of a distillation reaction zone, and methanol into the upper end of said distillation reaction zone, which is packed with a properly supported cationic ion exchange resin, contacting the C[sub 4] feed and methanol with the catalytic distillation packing to react methanol and isobutene, and concurrently fractionating the ether from the column below the catalytic zone and removing normal butene overhead above the catalytic zone.

Fermentative alcohol production

DOEpatents

Wilke, Charles R.; Maiorella, Brian L.; Blanch, Harvey W.; Cysewski, Gerald R.

1982-01-01

An improved fermentation process for producing alcohol which includes the combination of vacuum fermentation and vacuum distillation. Preferably, the vacuum distillation is carried out in two phases, one a fermentor proper operated at atmospheric pressure and a flash phase operated at reduced pressure with recycle of fermentation brew having a reduced alcohol content to the fermentor, using vapor recompression heating of the flash-pot recycle stream to heat the flash-pot or the distillation step, and using "water load balancing" (i.e., the molar ratio of water in the fermentor feed is the same as the molar ratio of water in the distillation overhead).

Investigation to biodiesel production by the two-step homogeneous base-catalyzed transesterification.

PubMed

Ye, Jianchu; Tu, Song; Sha, Yong

2010-10-01

For the two-step transesterification biodiesel production made from the sunflower oil, based on the kinetics model of the homogeneous base-catalyzed transesterification and the liquid-liquid phase equilibrium of the transesterification product, the total methanol/oil mole ratio, the total reaction time, and the split ratios of methanol and reaction time between the two reactors in the stage of the two-step reaction are determined quantitatively. In consideration of the transesterification intermediate product, both the traditional distillation separation process and the improved separation process of the two-step reaction product are investigated in detail by means of the rigorous process simulation. In comparison with the traditional distillation process, the improved separation process of the two-step reaction product has distinct advantage in the energy duty and equipment requirement due to replacement of the costly methanol-biodiesel distillation column. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

APPLICATION OF VACUUM SALT DISTILLATION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE AND CHLORIDE FROM LEGACY FISSILE MATERIALS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pierce, R.; Peters, T.

2011-11-01

Between September 2009 and January 2011, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and the Savannah River Site (SRS) HB-Line Facility designed, developed, tested, and successfully deployed a production-scale system for the distillation of sodium chloride (NaCl) and potassium chloride (KCl) from plutonium oxide (PuO{sub 2}). Subsequent efforts adapted the vacuum salt distillation (VSD) technology for the removal of chloride and fluoride from less-volatile halide salts at the same process temperature and vacuum. Calcium chloride (CaCl{sub 2}), calcium fluoride (CaF{sub 2}), and plutonium fluoride (PuF{sub 3}) were of particular concern. To enable the use of the same operating conditions for themore » distillation process, SRNL employed in situ exchange reactions to convert the less-volatile halide salts to compounds that facilitated the distillation of halide without removal of plutonium. SRNL demonstrated the removal of halide from CaCl{sub 2}, CaF{sub 2} and PuF{sub 3} below 1000 C using VSD technology.« less

Cascade Distillation Subsystem Development: Early Results From the Exploration Life Support Distillation Technology Comparison Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callahan, Michael R.; Patel, Vipul; Pickering, Karen D.

2009-01-01

In 2009, the Cascade Distillation Subsystem (CDS) wastewater processor (Honeywell International, Torrance, CA) was assessed in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Exploration Life Support (ELS) distillation comparison test. The purpose of the test was to collect data to support down-selection and development of a primary distillation technology for application in a lunar outpost water recovery system. The CDS portion of the comparison test was conducted between May 6 and August 19, 2009. The system was challenged with two pretreated test solutions, each intended to represent a feasible wastewater generated in a surface habitat. The 30-day equivalent wastewater loading volume for a crew of four was processed for each wastewater solution. Test Solution 1 consisted of a mixed stream containing human-generated urine and humidity condensate. Test Solution 2 contained the addition of human-generated hygiene wastewater to the solution 1 waste stream components. Approximately 1500 kg of total wastewater was processed through the CDS during testing. Respective recoveries per solution were 93.4 +/- 0.7 and 90.3 +/- 0.5%. The average specific energy of the system was calculated to be less than 130 W-hr/kg. The following paper provides detailed information and data on the performance of the CDS as challenged per the ELS distillation comparison test.

A comparative study of water-steam distillation with water-bubble distillation techniques to increase the quality of patchouli essential oil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fitri, Noor; Yandi, Nefri; Hermawati, Julianto, Tatang Shabur

2017-03-01

A comparative study of the quality of patchouli oil using Water-Steam Distillation (WSD) and Water Bubble Distillation (WBD) techniques has been studied. The raw materials were Patchouli plants from Samigaluh village, Kulon Progo district, Yogyakarta. This study is aimed to compare two distillation techniques in order to find out the optimal distillation technique to increase the content of patchouli alcohol (patchoulol) and the quality of patchouli oil. Pretreatment such as withering, drying, size reduction and light fermentation were intended to increase the yield. One kilogramm of patchouli was moisturized with 500 mL of aquadest. The light fermentation process was carried out for 20 hours in a dark container. Fermented patchouli was extracted for 6 hours using Water-Steam and Water Bubble Distillation techniques. Physical and chemical properties test of patchouli oil were performed using SNI standard No. SNI-06-2385-2006 and the chemical composition of patchouli oil was analysed by GC-MS. As the results, the higher yield oil is obtained using Water-Steam Distillation, i.e. 5.9% versus 2.4%. Spesific gravity, refractive index and acid number of patchouli oil in Water-Steam Distillation results did not meet the SNI standard, i.e. 0.991; 1.623 and 13.19, while the Water Bubble Distillation met the standard, i.e. 0.955; 1.510 and 6.61. The patchoulol content using Water Bubble Distillation technique is 61.53%, significant higher than those using Water-Steam Distillation, i.e. 38.24%. Thus, Water Bubble Distillation promises a potential technique to increase the content of patchoulol in the patchouli oil.

An overview on exploration and environmental impact of unconventional gas sources and treatment options for produced water.

PubMed

Silva, Tânia L S; Morales-Torres, Sergio; Castro-Silva, Sérgio; Figueiredo, José L; Silva, Adrián M T

2017-09-15

Rising global energy demands associated to unbalanced allocation of water resources highlight the importance of water management solutions for the gas industry. Advanced drilling, completion and stimulation techniques for gas extraction, allow more economical access to unconventional gas reserves. This stimulated a shale gas revolution, besides tight gas and coalbed methane, also causing escalating water handling challenges in order to avoid a major impact on the environment. Hydraulic fracturing allied to horizontal drilling is gaining higher relevance in the exploration of unconventional gas reserves, but a large amount of wastewater (known as "produced water") is generated. Its variable chemical composition and flow rates, together with more severe regulations and public concern, have promoted the development of solutions for the treatment and reuse of such produced water. This work intends to provide an overview on the exploration and subsequent environmental implications of unconventional gas sources, as well as the technologies for treatment of produced water, describing the main results and drawbacks, together with some cost estimates. In particular, the growing volumes of produced water from shale gas plays are creating an interesting market opportunity for water technology and service providers. Membrane-based technologies (membrane distillation, forward osmosis, membrane bioreactors and pervaporation) and advanced oxidation processes (ozonation, Fenton, photocatalysis) are claimed to be adequate treatment solutions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Corrosion inhibition for distillation apparatus

DOEpatents

Baumert, Kenneth L.; Sagues, Alberto A.; Davis, Burtron H.; Schweighardt, Frank K.

1985-01-01

Tower material corrosion in an atmospheric or sub-atmospheric distillation tower in a coal liquefaction process is reduced or eliminated by subjecting chloride-containing tray contents to an appropriate ion-exchange resin to remove chloride from such tray contents materials.

Experimental entanglement distillation and 'hidden' non-locality.

PubMed

Kwiat, P G; Barraza-Lopez, S; Stefanov, A; Gisin, N

2001-02-22

Entangled states are central to quantum information processing, including quantum teleportation, efficient quantum computation and quantum cryptography. In general, these applications work best with pure, maximally entangled quantum states. However, owing to dissipation and decoherence, practically available states are likely to be non-maximally entangled, partially mixed (that is, not pure), or both. To counter this problem, various schemes of entanglement distillation, state purification and concentration have been proposed. Here we demonstrate experimentally the distillation of maximally entangled states from non-maximally entangled inputs. Using partial polarizers, we perform a filtering process to maximize the entanglement of pure polarization-entangled photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. We have also applied our methods to initial states that are partially mixed. After filtering, the distilled states demonstrate certain non-local correlations, as evidenced by their violation of a form of Bell's inequality. Because the initial states do not have this property, they can be said to possess 'hidden' non-locality.

Effects of corn processing method and dietary inclusion of wet distiller's grain with solubles on carbon-nitrogen balance of finishing cattle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The growing ethanol industry in the Southern Great Plains has increased the use of wet distiller's grains with solubles (WDGS) in beef cattle finishing diets. Effects of corn processing method and WDGS on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) balance were evaluated in four Jersey steers using respiration calo...

Analysis of microbial community composition in a lab-scale membrane distillation bioreactor.

PubMed

Zhang, Q; Shuwen, G; Zhang, J; Fane, A G; Kjelleberg, S; Rice, S A; McDougald, D

2015-04-01

Membrane distillation bioreactors (MDBR) have potential for industrial applications where wastewater is hot or waste heat is available, but the role of micro-organisms in MDBRs has never been determined, and thus was the purpose of this study. Microbial communities were characterized by bacterial and archaeal 16S and eukaryotic 18S rRNA gene tag-encoded pyrosequencing of DNA obtained from sludge. Taxonomy-independent analysis revealed that bacterial communities had a relatively low richness and diversity, and community composition strongly correlated with conductivity, total nitrogen and bound extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Taxonomy-dependent analysis revealed that Rubrobacter and Caldalkalibacillus were abundant members of the bacterial community, but no archaea were detected. Eukaryotic communities had a relatively high richness and diversity, and both changes in community composition and abundance of the dominant genus, Candida, correlated with bound EPS. Thermophilic MDBR communities were comprised of a low diversity bacterial community and a highly diverse eukaryotic community with no archea detected. Communities exhibited low resilience to changes in operational parameters. Specifically, retenatate nutrient composition and concentration was strongly correlated with the dominant species. This study provides an understanding of microbial community diversity in an MDBR, which is fundamental to the optimization of reactor performance. © 2015 The Authors published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for Applied Microbiology.

Analysis of microbial community composition in a lab-scale membrane distillation bioreactor

PubMed Central

Zhang, Q; Shuwen, G; Zhang, J; Fane, AG; Kjelleberg, S; Rice, SA; McDougald, D

2015-01-01

Aims Membrane distillation bioreactors (MDBR) have potential for industrial applications where wastewater is hot or waste heat is available, but the role of micro-organisms in MDBRs has never been determined, and thus was the purpose of this study. Methods and Results Microbial communities were characterized by bacterial and archaeal 16S and eukaryotic 18S rRNA gene tag-encoded pyrosequencing of DNA obtained from sludge. Taxonomy-independent analysis revealed that bacterial communities had a relatively low richness and diversity, and community composition strongly correlated with conductivity, total nitrogen and bound extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Taxonomy-dependent analysis revealed that Rubrobacter and Caldalkalibacillus were abundant members of the bacterial community, but no archaea were detected. Eukaryotic communities had a relatively high richness and diversity, and both changes in community composition and abundance of the dominant genus, Candida, correlated with bound EPS. Conclusions Thermophilic MDBR communities were comprised of a low diversity bacterial community and a highly diverse eukaryotic community with no archea detected. Communities exhibited low resilience to changes in operational parameters. Specifically, retenatate nutrient composition and concentration was strongly correlated with the dominant species. Significance and Impact of the Study This study provides an understanding of microbial community diversity in an MDBR, which is fundamental to the optimization of reactor performance. PMID:25604265

Two-Step Vapor/Liquid/Solid Purification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holland, L. R.

1986-01-01

Vertical distillation system combines in single operation advantages of multiple zone refining with those of distillation. Developed specifically to load Bridgman-Stockbarger (vertical-solidification) growth ampoules with ultrapure tellurium and cadmium, system, with suitable modifications, serves as material refiner. In first phase of purification process, ampoule heated to drive off absorbed volatiles. Second phase, evaporator heated to drive off volatiles in charge. Third phase, slowly descending heater causes distillation from evaporator to growing crystal in ampoule.

Solid fossil-fuel recovery by electrical induction heating in situ - A proposal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, S.

1980-04-01

A technique, termed electrical induction heating, is proposed for in situ processes of energy production from solid fossil fuels, such as bitumen production from underground distillation of oil sand; oil by underground distillation of oil shale; petroleum from heavy oil by underground mobilization of heavy oil, from either residues of conventional liquid petroleum deposits or new deposits of viscous oil; methane and coal tar from lignite and coal deposits by underground distillation of coal; and generation of electricity by surface combustion of low calorific-value gas from underground coke gasification by combustion of the organic residue left from the underground distillation of coal by induction heating. A method of surface distillation of mined coking coal by induction heating to produce coke, methane, and coal tar is also proposed.

Butanol production from lignocellulose by simultaneous fermentation, saccharification, and pervaporation or vacuum evaporation.

PubMed

Díaz, Víctor Hugo Grisales; Tost, Gerard Olivar

2016-10-01

Techno-economic study of acetone, butanol and ethanol (ABE) fermentation from lignocellulose was performed. Simultaneous saccharification, fermentation and vacuum evaporation (SFS-V) or pervaporation (SFS-P) were proposed. A kinetic model of metabolic pathways for ABE fermentation with the effect of phenolics and furans in the growth was proposed based on published laboratory results. The processes were optimized in Matlab®. The end ABE purification was carried out by heat-integrated distillation. The objective function of the minimization was the total annualized cost (TAC). Fuel consumption of SFS-P using poly[1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] membrane was between 13.8 and 19.6% lower than SFS-V. Recovery of furans and phenolics for the hybrid reactors was difficult for its high boiling point. TAC of SFS-P was increased 1.9 times with supplementation of phenolics and furans to 3g/l each one for its high toxicity. Therefore, an additional detoxification method or an efficient pretreatment process will be necessary. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A new procedure for the determination of distillation temperature distribution of high-boiling petroleum products and fractions.

PubMed

Boczkaj, Grzegorz; Przyjazny, Andrzej; Kamiński, Marian

2011-03-01

The distribution of distillation temperatures of liquid and semi-fluid products, including petroleum fractions and products, is an important process and practical parameter. It provides information on properties of crude oil and content of particular fractions, classified on the basis of their boiling points, as well as the optimum conditions of atmospheric or vacuum distillation. At present, the distribution of distillation temperatures is often investigated by simulated distillation (SIMDIS) using capillary gas chromatography (CGC) with a short capillary column with polydimethylsiloxane as the stationary phase. This paper presents the results of investigations on the possibility of replacing currently used CGC columns for SIMDIS with a deactivated fused silica capillary tube without any stationary phase. The SIMDIS technique making use of such an empty fused silica column allows a considerable lowering of elution temperature of the analytes, which results in a decrease of the final oven temperature while ensuring a complete separation of the mixture. This eliminates the possibility of decomposition of less thermally stable mixture components and bleeding of the stationary phase which would result in an increase of the detector signal. It also improves the stability of the baseline, which is especially important in the determination of the end point of elution, which is the basis for finding the final temperature of distillation. This is the key parameter for the safety process of hydrocracking, where an excessively high final temperature of distillation of a batch can result in serious damage to an expensive catalyst bed. This paper compares the distribution of distillation temperatures of the fraction from vacuum distillation of petroleum obtained using SIMDIS with that obtained by the proposed procedure. A good agreement between the two procedures was observed. In addition, typical values of elution temperatures of n-paraffin standards obtained by the two procedures were compared. Finally, the agreement between boiling points of polar compounds determined from their retention times and actual boiling points was investigated.

Photodegradation of Dicloran in Freshwater and Seawater.

PubMed

Vebrosky, Emily N; Saranjampour, Parichehr; Crosby, Donald G; Armbrust, Kevin L

2018-03-21

Dicloran appears to be a model pesticide for investigating photodegradation processes in surface waters. Photodegradation processes are particularly relevant to this compound as it is applied to crops grown in proximity to freshwater and marine ecosystems. The photodegradation of dicloran under simulated sunlight was measured in distilled water, artificial seawater, phosphate buffer, and filter-sterilized estuarine water to determine its half-life, degradation rate, and photodegradation products. The half-life was approximately 7.5 h in all media. There was no significant difference in the rate of degradation between distilled water and artificial seawater for dicloran. For the intermediate products, a higher concentration of 2-chloro-1,4-benzoquinone was measured in artificial seawater versus distilled water, while a slightly higher concentration of 1,4-benzoquinone was measured in distilled water versus artificial seawater. The detection of chloride and nitrate ions after 2 h of light exposure suggests photonucleophilic substitution contributes to the degradation process. Differences in product distributions between water types suggest that salinity impacts on chemical degradation may need to be addressed in chemical exposure assessments.

Experimental purification of two-atom entanglement.

PubMed

Reichle, R; Leibfried, D; Knill, E; Britton, J; Blakestad, R B; Jost, J D; Langer, C; Ozeri, R; Seidelin, S; Wineland, D J

2006-10-19

Entanglement is a necessary resource for quantum applications--entanglement established between quantum systems at different locations enables private communication and quantum teleportation, and facilitates quantum information processing. Distributed entanglement is established by preparing an entangled pair of quantum particles in one location, and transporting one member of the pair to another location. However, decoherence during transport reduces the quality (fidelity) of the entanglement. A protocol to achieve entanglement 'purification' has been proposed to improve the fidelity after transport. This protocol uses separate quantum operations at each location and classical communication to distil high-fidelity entangled pairs from lower-fidelity pairs. Proof-of-principle experiments distilling entangled photon pairs have been carried out. However, these experiments obtained distilled pairs with a low probability of success and required destruction of the entangled pairs, rendering them unavailable for further processing. Here we report efficient and non-destructive entanglement purification with atomic quantum bits. Two noisy entangled pairs were created and distilled into one higher-fidelity pair available for further use. Success probabilities were above 35 per cent. The many applications of entanglement purification make it one of the most important techniques in quantum information processing.

Liquefaction process wherein solvents derived from the material liquefied and containing increased concentrations of donor species are employed

DOEpatents

Fant, B. T.; Miller, John D.; Ryan, D. F.

1982-01-01

An improved process for the liquefaction of solid carbonaceous materials wherein a solvent or diluent derived from the solid carbonaceous material being liquefied is used to form a slurry of the solid carbonaceous material and wherein the solvent or diluent comprises from about 65 to about 85 wt. % hydroaromatic components. The solvent is prepared by first separating a solvent or diluent distillate fraction from the liquefaction product, subjecting this distillate fraction to hydrogenation and then extracting the naphthenic components from the hydrogenated product. The extracted naphthenic components are then dehydrogenated and hydrotreated to produce additional hydroaromatic components. These components are combined with the solvent or diluent distillate fraction. The solvent may also contain hydroaromatic constituents prepared by extracting naphthenic components from a heavy naphtha, dehydrogenating the same and then hydrotreating the dehydrogenated product. When the amount of solvent produced in this manner exceeds that required for steady state operation of the liquefaction process a portion of the solvent or diluent distillated fraction will be withdrawn as product.

Improved fermentative alcohol production. [Patent application

DOEpatents

Wilke, C.R.; Maiorella, B.L.; Blanch, H.W.; Cysewski, G.R.

1980-11-26

An improved fermentation process is described for producing alcohol which includes the combination of vacuum fermentation and vacuum distillation. Preferably, the vacuum distillation is carried out in two phases, one a fermentor proper operated at atmospheric pressure and a flash phase operated at reduced pressure with recycle of fermentation brew having a reduced alcohol content to the fermentor, using vapor recompression heating of the flash-pot recycle stream to heat the flash-pot or the distillation step, and using water load balancing (i.e., the molar ratio of water in the fermentor feed is the same as the molar ratio of water in the distillation overhead).

Optimization of Polysulfone / Graphene Oxide / Polyethylene Glycol / Triaminopyrimidine by Using Response Surface Methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riduan Jamalludin, Mohd; Harun, Zawati; Khadijah Hubadillah, Siti; Hafiz Dzarfan Othman, Mohd; Hasliza Kamarudin, Noor; Zaini Yunos, Muhamad; Izzati Ismail, Ras; Lailina, N. M.

2018-03-01

The addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG), graphene oxide (GO) and triaminopyrimidine (TAP) into polysulfone membranes was used to modify the membrane morphology and increase membrane performance. The central composite design of the response surface methodology was used to predict the maximum permeability and rejection of the PSf membrane. The parameter chosen for this study were PEG (7-14 wt%), GO (0-2.5wt%) and TAP (0-0.5 wt%) concentration. The flat sheet membrane was prepared via phase inversion technique where polysulfone (PSf) was used as base polymer. Various concentration of GO, PEG and TAP were added into the casting solution to produce different membrane composition. PEG was added as pore forming agent for the PSf membrane while inorganic additive such as GO was used to increase the hydrophilicity of the membrane. Besides that, the addition of TAP as a compatibilizer to enhance the physical interaction between GO and PEG. The characterization and surface morphology of produced membrane were analysed via scanning electron microscope, SEM and X-ray diffraction, XRD. The optimization of membrane performance was carried out by using response surface methodology (RSM). The performance of the membrane was analysed by using distilled water for pure water flux test and humic acid for rejection test. The optimized responses, membrane permeability and rejection obtained experimentally were 301.562 Lm-2h-1 and 91.562% respectively, with deviation from the predicted value of 7.884 and 0.4381 %, respectively.

Two-stage pervaporation process for effective in situ removal acetone-butanol-ethanol from fermentation broth.

PubMed

Cai, Di; Hu, Song; Miao, Qi; Chen, Changjing; Chen, Huidong; Zhang, Changwei; Li, Ping; Qin, Peiyong; Tan, Tianwei

2017-01-01

Two-stage pervaporation for ABE recovery from fermentation broth was studied to reduce the energy cost. The permeate after the first stage in situ pervaporation system was further used as the feedstock in the second stage of pervaporation unit using the same PDMS/PVDF membrane. A total 782.5g/L of ABE (304.56g/L of acetone, 451.98g/L of butanol and 25.97g/L of ethanol) was achieved in the second stage permeate, while the overall acetone, butanol and ethanol separation factors were: 70.7-89.73, 70.48-84.74 and 9.05-13.58, respectively. Furthermore, the theoretical evaporation energy requirement for ABE separation in the consolidate fermentation, which containing two-stage pervaporation and the following distillation process, was estimated less than ∼13.2MJ/kg-butanol. The required evaporation energy was only 36.7% of the energy content of butanol. The novel two-stage pervaporation process was effective in increasing ABE production and reducing energy consumption of the solvents separation system. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reactive Distillation and Air Stripping Processes for Water Recycling and Trace Contaminant Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boul, Peter J.; Lange, Kevin E.; Conger, Bruce; Anderson, Molly

2009-01-01

Reactive distillation designs are considered to reduce the presence of volatile organic compounds in the purified water. Reactive distillation integrates a reactor with a distillation column. A review of the literature in this field has revealed a variety of functional reactive columns in industry. Wastewater may be purified by a combination of a reactor and a distiller (e.g., the EWRS or VPCAR concepts) or, in principle, through a design which integrates the reactor with the distiller. A review of the literature in reactive distillation has identified some different designs in such combinations of reactor and distiller. An evaluation of reactive distillation and reactive air stripping is presented with regards to the reduction of volatile organic compounds in the contaminated water and air. Among the methods presented, an architecture is presented for the evaluation of the simultaneous oxidation of organics in air and water. These and other designs are presented in light of potential improvements in power consumptions and air and water purities for architectures which include catalytic activity integrated into the water processor. In particular, catalytic oxidation of organics may be useful as a tool to remove contaminants that more traditional distillation and/or air stripping columns may not remove. A review of the current leading edge at the commercial level and at the research frontier in catalytically active materials is presented. Themes and directions from the engineering developments in catalyst design are presented conceptually in light of developments in the nanoscale chemistry of a variety of catalyst materials.

27 CFR 5.39 - Presence of neutral spirits and coloring, flavoring, and blending materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

....” (2) In the case of neutral spirits or of gin produced by a process of continuous distillation, there..., during distillation or storage, other than through contact with the oak container. Provided, that the...

27 CFR 5.39 - Presence of neutral spirits and coloring, flavoring, and blending materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

....” (2) In the case of neutral spirits or of gin produced by a process of continuous distillation, there..., during distillation or storage, other than through contact with the oak container. Provided, that the...

EFFICIENT RECOVERY OF BIOETHANOL USING NOVEL PERVAPORATION-DEPHLEGMATION PROCESS

EPA Science Inventory

Bioethanol is the most important liquid fuel made in the U.S. from domestically produced renewable resources. Traditional production of bioethanol involves batch fermation of biomass followed by ethanol recovery from the fermentation broths using distillation. The distillation st...

Distillation and condensation of LiCl-KCl eutectic salts for a separation of pure salts from salt wastes from an electrorefining process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eun, Hee Chul; Yang, Hee Chul; Lee, Han Soo; Kim, In Tae

2009-12-01

Salt separation and recovery from the salt wastes generated from a pyrochemical process is necessary to minimize the high-level waste volumes and to stabilize a final waste form. In this study, the thermal behavior of the LiCl-KCl eutectic salts containing rare earth oxychlorides or oxides was investigated during a vacuum distillation and condensation process. LiCl was more easily vaporized than the other salts (KCl and LiCl-KCl eutectic salt). Vaporization characteristics of LiCl-KCl eutectic salts were similar to that of KCl. The temperature to obtain the vaporization flux (0.1 g min -1 cm -2) was decreased by much as 150 °C by a reduction of the ambient pressure from 5 Torr to 0.5 Torr. Condensation behavior of the salt vapors was different with the ambient pressure. Almost all of the salt vapors were condensed and were formed into salt lumps during a salt distillation at the ambient pressure of 0.5 Torr and they were collected in the condensed salt storage. However, fine salt particles were formed when the salt distillation was performed at 10 Torr and it is difficult for them to be recovered. Therefore, it is thought that a salt vacuum distillation and condensation should be performed to recover almost all of the vaporized salts at a pressure below 0.5 Torr.

γ-Oryzanol and tocopherol contents in residues of rice bran oil refining.

PubMed

Pestana-Bauer, Vanessa Ribeiro; Zambiazi, Rui C; Mendonça, Carla R B; Beneito-Cambra, Miriam; Ramis-Ramos, Guillermo

2012-10-01

Rice bran oil (RBO) contains significant amounts of the natural antioxidants γ-oryzanol and tocopherols, which are lost to a large degree during oil refining. This results in a number of industrial residues with high contents of these phytochemicals. With the aim of supporting the development of profitable industrial procedures for γ-oryzanol and tocopherol recovery, the contents of these phytochemicals in all the residues produced during RBO refining were evaluated. The samples included residues from the degumming, soap precipitation, bleaching earth filtering, dewaxing and deodorisation distillation steps. The highest phytochemical concentrations were found in the precipitated soap for γ-oryzanol (14.2 mg g(-1), representing 95.3% of total γ-oryzanol in crude RBO), and in the deodorisation distillate for tocopherols (576 mg 100 g(-1), representing 6.7% of total tocopherols in crude RBO). Therefore, among the residues of RBO processing, the deodorisation distillate was the best source of tocopherols. As the soap is further processed for the recovery of fatty acids, samples taken from every step of this secondary process, including hydrosoluble fraction, hydrolysed soap, distillation residue and purified fatty acid fraction, were also analyzed. The distillation residue left after fatty acid recovery from soap was found to be the best source of γ-oryzanol (43.1 mg g(-1), representing 11.5% of total γ-oryzanol in crude RBO). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nitric acid recycling and copper nitrate recovery from effluent.

PubMed

Jô, L F; Marcus, R; Marcelin, O

2014-01-01

The recycling of nitric acid and copper nitrate contained in an industrial effluent was studied. The experiments conducted on such a medium showed that the presence of copper nitrate significantly improves nitric acid-water separation during distillation in an azeotropic medium. At the temperature of the azeotrope, however, this metal salt starts to precipitate, making the medium pasty, thus inhibiting the nitric acid extraction process. The optimisation of parameters such as column efficiency and adding water to the boiler at the azeotrope temperature are recommended in this protocol in order to collect the various components while avoiding the formation of by-products: NOx compounds. Thus, the absence of column, along with the addition of a small volume of water at a temperature of 118 °C, significantly increases the yield, allowing 94 % nitric acid to be recovered at the end of the process, along with the residual copper nitrate. The resulting distillate, however, is sufficiently dilute to not be used as is. Rectification is required to obtain concentrated nitric acid at 15 mol·l(-1), along with a weakly acidic distillate from the distillation front. This latter is quenched using potassium hydroxide and is used as a fertiliser solution for horticulture or sheltered market gardening. This process thus allows complete recycling of all the medium's components, including that of the distillate resulting from the nitric acid rectification operation.

Effect of NTP Pretreatment on Thermal Resistance and Fouling Components of Oilfield Wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Jie; Li, Wenli; Zou, Longsheng; Fu, Honghun

2018-01-01

In order to prevent scaling in the process of oilfield wastewater evaporation, low temperature plasma is used for pretreatment of heavy oil wastewater. It reacts with the ions and radicals produced by the low-temperature plasma and then is send into the evaporator. The changes of various indexes of the distilled water and the distribution of fouling in the evaporation process of heavy oil wastewater after plasma pretreatment were studied. The results showed that the content and hardness of silica in wastewater were decreased after plasma pretreatment, which was more suitable for evaporation treatment. At the same time, the content of salt and oil in distilled water is reduced, and the quality is improved. In addition, when the steam concentration was 30∼40 times, the suspended solids in the concentrated solution of the wastewater increased significantly after the plasma treatment. Correspondingly, the fouling at the bottom of evaporator is greatly reduced. Comparing the various indexes of distilled water and the feed water index of gas injection boiler, it can be seen that the excessive oil content in distilled water is the biggest obstacle to the recovery of distilled water to boiler feed water. Low temperature plasma pretreatment can provide a quick and new way to solve the scaling problems and water quality problems in the recovery of distilled water from a large number of heavy oil wastewater.

GOBF-ARMA based model predictive control for an ideal reactive distillation column.

PubMed

Seban, Lalu; Kirubakaran, V; Roy, B K; Radhakrishnan, T K

2015-11-01

This paper discusses the control of an ideal reactive distillation column (RDC) using model predictive control (MPC) based on a combination of deterministic generalized orthonormal basis filter (GOBF) and stochastic autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models. Reactive distillation (RD) integrates reaction and distillation in a single process resulting in process and energy integration promoting green chemistry principles. Improved selectivity of products, increased conversion, better utilization and control of reaction heat, scope for difficult separations and the avoidance of azeotropes are some of the advantages that reactive distillation offers over conventional technique of distillation column after reactor. The introduction of an in situ separation in the reaction zone leads to complex interactions between vapor-liquid equilibrium, mass transfer rates, diffusion and chemical kinetics. RD with its high order and nonlinear dynamics, and multiple steady states is a good candidate for testing and verification of new control schemes. Here a combination of GOBF-ARMA models is used to catch and represent the dynamics of the RDC. This GOBF-ARMA model is then used to design an MPC scheme for the control of product purity of RDC under different operating constraints and conditions. The performance of proposed modeling and control using GOBF-ARMA based MPC is simulated and analyzed. The proposed controller is found to perform satisfactorily for reference tracking and disturbance rejection in RDC. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cascade Distillation Subsystem Development: Early Results from the Exploration Life Support Distillation Technology Comparison Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callahan, Michael R.; Patel, Vipul; Pickering, Karen D.

2010-01-01

In 2009, the Cascade Distillation Subsystem (CDS) wastewater processor (Honeywell International, Torrance, California) was assessed in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Exploration Life Support (ELS) distillation comparison test. The purpose of the test was to collect data to support down-selection and development of a primary distillation technology for application in a lunar outpost water recovery system. The CDS portion of the comparison test was conducted between May 6 and August 19, 2009. The system was challenged with two pretreated test solutions, each intended to represent a feasible wastewater generated in a surface habitat. The 30-day equivalent wastewater loading volume for a crew of four was intended to be processed for each wastewater solution. Test Solution 1 consisted of a mixed stream containing human-generated urine and humidity condensate. Test Solution 2 contained the addition of human-generated hygiene wastewater to the solution 1 waste stream components. Approximately 1500 kg of total wastewater was processed through the CDS during testing. Respective recoveries per solution were 93.4 +/- 0.7 and 90.3 +/- 0.5 percent. The average specific energy of the system during testing was calculated to be less than 120 W-hr/kg. The following paper provides detailed information and data on the performance of the CDS as challenged per the ELS distillation comparison test.

Louisiana SIP: LAC 33:III Ch 21 Subchap J, 2147--Limiting Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Emissions from Reactor Processes and Distillation Operations in Synthetic Organic Chemical manufacturing Industry (SOCMI); SIP effective 1998-02-02 (LAc74) to more..

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Louisiana SIP: LAC 33:III Ch 21 Subchap J, 2147--Limiting Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Emissions from Reactor Processes and Distillation Operations in Synthetic Organic Chemical manufacturing Industry (SOCMI); SIP effective 1998-02-02 (LAc74) more...

Louisiana SIP: LAC 33:III Ch 2147. Limiting Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Emissions from Reactor Processes and Distillation Operations in Synthetic Organic Chemical manufacturing Industry (SOCMI); SIP effective 2011-08-04 (LAd34) to 2017-09-27

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Louisiana SIP: LAC 33:III Ch 2147. Limiting Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Emissions from Reactor Processes and Distillation Operations in Synthetic Organic Chemical manufacturing Industry (SOCMI); SIP effective 2011-08-04 (LAd34) to 2017-09-27

The setup of an extraction system coupled to a hydrogen isotopes distillation column

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zamfirache, M.; Bornea, A.; Stefanescu, I.

2008-07-15

Among the most difficult problems of cryogenic distillation one stands apart: the extraction of the heavy fraction. By an optimal design of the cycle scheme, this problem could be avoided. A 'worst case scenario' is usually occurring when the extracted fraction consists of one prevalent isotope such as hydrogen and small amounts of the other two hydrogen isotopes (deuterium and/or tritium). This situation is further complicated by two parameters of the distillation column: the extraction flow rate and the hold-up. The present work proposes the conceptual design of an extraction system associated to the cryogenic distillation column used in hydrogenmore » separation processes. During this process, the heavy fraction (DT, T{sub 2}) is separated, its concentration being the highest at the bottom of the distillation column. From this place the extraction of the gaseous phase can now begin. Being filled with adsorbent, the extraction system is used to temporarily store the heavy fraction. Also the extraction system provides samples for the gas Chromatograph. The research work is focused on the existent pilot plant for tritium and deuterium separation from our institute to validate the experiments carried out until now. (authors)« less

Aluminum Trichloride Induces Hypertension and Disturbs the Function of Erythrocyte Membrane in Male Rats.

PubMed

Zhang, Qiuyue; Cao, Zheng; Sun, Xudong; Zuang, Cuicui; Huang, Wanyue; Li, Yanfei

2016-05-01

Aluminum (Al) is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust. Al accumulates in erythrocyte and causes toxicity on erythrocyte membrane. The dysfunction of erythrocyte membrane is a potential risk to hypertension. The high Al content in plasma was associated with hypertension. To investigate the effect of AlCl3 on blood pressure and the function of erythrocyte membrane, the rats were intragastrically exposed to 0, 64(1/20 LD50), 128(1/10 LD50), and 256(1/5 LD50) mg/kg body weight AlCl3 in double distilled water for 120 days, respectively. Then, we determined the systolic and mean arterial blood pressures of rats, the osmotic fragility, the percentage of membrane proteins, the activities of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase, Mg(2+)-ATPase, Ca(2+)-ATPase, catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-pX), and malondialdehyde (MDA) content of the erythrocyte membrane in this experiment. The results showed that AlCl3 elevated the systolic and mean arterial blood pressure of rats, increased the osmotic fragility, decreased the percentage of membrane protein, inhibited the activities of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase, Mg(2+)-ATPase, Ca(2+)-ATPase, CAT, SOD and GSH-pX, and increased the MDA content of erythrocyte membrane. These results indicate that AlCl3 may induce hypertension by disturbing the function of erythrocyte membrane.

Estimate feedstock processability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Amorelli, A.; Amos, Y.D.; Halsig, C.P.

1992-06-01

Currently, one of the major environmental pressures is to further reduce sulfur levels in middle distillate products. This paper reports that the key to this is understanding reactivities of individual sulfur components in the feedstocks to be treated. The major sulfur species in middle distillates is aromatic compounds, predominantly benzothiophenes and dibenzothiophenes. However, in straight run materials, significant quantities of aliphatic sulfur compounds and further higher boiling benzothiophenes are also expected. Simultaneous simulated distillation with a gas chromatograph microwave-induced plasma atomic emission detector (SIMDIS/AED) is used for middle distillate characterization of sulfur distribution as a function of boiling point. Itmore » is able to discriminate between middle distillate feed types such as cracked and straight run gas oils, and has shown that similar feeds, with different total sulfur contents (unevenly distributed throughout a feedstock), have the same normalized sulfur distribution.« less

Validating the Equilibrium Stage Model for an Azeotropic System in a Laboratorial Distillation Column

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duarte, B. P. M.; Coelho Pinheiro, M. N.; Silva, D. C. M.; Moura, M. J.

2006-01-01

The experiment described is an excellent opportunity to apply theoretical concepts of distillation, thermodynamics of mixtures and process simulation at laboratory scale, and simultaneously enhance the ability of students to operate, control and monitor complex units.

Structural determination of glucosylceramides in the distillation remnants of shochu, the Japanese traditional liquor, and its production by Aspergillus kawachii.

PubMed

Hirata, Miyo; Tsuge, Keisuke; Jayakody, Lahiru N; Urano, Yoshitaka; Sawada, Kazutaka; Inaba, Shigeki; Nagao, Koji; Kitagaki, Hiroshi

2012-11-21

Shochu is traditional Japanese liquor produced from various crops and fungi Aspergillus kawachi or A. awamorii . The amount of unutilized shochu distillation remnants is increasing because of the recent prohibition of ocean dumping of these remnants. In this Article, we first describe the structures of glucosylceramides contained in shochu distillation remnants by fragment ion analysis using ESI-tandem mass spectrometry. Shochu distillation remnant produced from barley contained glucosylceramides d18:2/C16:0h, d18:2/C20:0h, d19:2/C18:1h, and d18:2/C18:0h. Koji (barley fermented with A. kawachii) contained the same glucosylceramides. Shochu distillation remnants produced from rice contained glucosylceramides d18:2/C18:0h and d19:2/C18:1h. The culture broth of A. kawachii contained glucosylceramides d19:2/C18:1h and d19:2/C18:0h. These results indicate that the glucosylceramides contained in crops and those produced by A. kawachii transfer through the processes of fermentation with yeast and distillation to the shochu distillation remnant. This information will enable utilization of shochu distillation remnants and koji as novel sources of sphingolipids.

Low-temperature thermally regenerative electrochemical system

DOEpatents

Loutfy, R.O.; Brown, A.P.; Yao, N.P.

1982-04-21

A thermally regenerative electrochemical system is described including an electrochemical cell with two water-based electrolytes separated by an ion exchange membrane, at least one of the electrolytes containing a complexing agent and a salt of a multivalent metal whose respective order of potentials for a pair of its redox couples is reversible by a change in the amount of the ocmplexing agent in the electrolyte, the complexing agent being removable by distillation to cause the reversal.

Low temperature thermally regenerative electrochemical system

DOEpatents

Loutfy, Raouf O.; Brown, Alan P.; Yao, Neng-Ping

1983-01-01

A thermally regenerative electrochemical system including an electrochemical cell with two water-based electrolytes separated by an ion exchange membrane, at least one of the electrolytes containing a complexing agent and a salt of a multivalent metal whose respective order of potentials for a pair of its redox couples is reversible by a change in the amount of the complexing agent in the electrolyte, the complexing agent being removable by distillation to cause the reversal.

Convection due to an unstable density difference across a permeable membrane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puthenveettil, Baburaj A.; Arakeri, Jaywant H.

We study natural convection driven by unstable concentration differences of sodium chloride (NaCl) across a horizontal permeable membrane at Rayleigh numbers (Ra) of 1010 to 1011 and Schmidt number (Sc)=600. A layer of brine lies over a layer of distilled water, separated by the membrane, in square-cross-section tanks. The membrane is permeable enough to allow a small flow across it at higher driving potentials. Based on the predominant mode of transport across the membrane, three regimes of convection, namely an advection regime, a diffusion regime and a combined regime, are identified. The near-membrane flow in all the regimes consists of sheet plumes formed from the unstable layers of fluid near the membrane. In the advection regime observed at higher concentration differences (Bb) show a common log-normal probability density function at all Ra. We propose a phenomenology which predicts /line{lambda}_b sqrt{Z_w Z_{V_i}}, where Zw and Z_{V_i} are, respectively, the near-wall length scales in Rayleighnard convection (RBC) and due to the advection velocity. In the combined regime, which occurs at intermediate values of C/2)4/3. At lower driving potentials, in the diffusion regime, the flux scaling is similar to that in turbulent RBC.

Responses of neurons to extreme osmomechanical stress.

PubMed

Wan, X; Harris, J A; Morris, C E

1995-05-01

Neurons are often regarded as fragile cells, easily destroyed by mechanical and osmotic insult. The results presented here demonstrate that this perception needs revision. Using extreme osmotic swelling, we show that molluscan neurons are astonishingly robust. In distilled water, a heterogeneous population of Lymnaea stagnalis CNS neurons swelled to several times their initial volume, yet had a ST50 (survival time for 50% of cells) > 60 min. Cells that were initially bigger survived longer. On return to normal medium, survivors were able, over the next 24 hr, to rearborize. Reversible membrane capacitance changes corresponding to about 0.7 muF/cm2 of apparent surface area accompanied neuronal swelling and shrinking in hypo- and hyperosmotic solutions; reversible changes in cell surface area evidently contributed to the neurons' ability to accommodate hydrostatic pressures then recover. The reversible membrane area/capacitance changes were not dependent on extracellular Ca2+. Neurons were monitored for potassium currents during direct mechanical inflation and during osmotically driven inflation. The latter but not the former stimulus routinely elicited small potassium currents, suggesting that tension increases activate the currents only if additional disruption of the cortex has occurred. Under stress in distilled water, a third of the neurons displayed a quite unexpected behavior: prolonged writhing of peripheral regions of the soma. This suggested that a plasma membrane-linked contractile machinery (presumably actomyosin) might contribute to the neurons' mechano-osmotic robustness by restricting water influx. Consistent with this possibility, 1 mM N-ethyl-maleimide, which inhibits myosin ATPase, decreased the ST50 to 18 min, rendered the survival time independent of initial size, and abolished writhing activity. For neurons, active mechanical resistance of the submembranous cortex, along with the mechanical compliance supplied by insertion or eversion of membrane stores may account for the ability to withstand diverse mechanical stresses. Mechanical robustness such as that displayed here could be an asset during neuronal outgrowth or regeneration.

Distillation-based Droplet Modeling of Non-Ideal Oxygenated Gasoline Blends: Investigating the Role of Droplet Evaporation on PM Emissions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burke, Stephen C.; Ratcliff, Matthew; McCormick, Robert

In some studies, a relationship has been observed between increasing ethanol content in gasoline and increased particulate matter (PM) emissions from vehicles equipped with spark ignition engines. The fundamental cause of the PM increase seen for moderate ethanol concentrations is not well understood. Ethanol features a greater heat of vaporization (HOV) than gasoline and also influences vaporization by altering the liquid and vapor composition throughout the distillation process. A droplet vaporization model was developed to explore ethanol's effect on the evaporation of aromatic compounds known to be PM precursors. The evolving droplet composition is modeled as a distillation process, withmore » non-ideal interactions between oxygenates and hydrocarbons accounted for using UNIFAC group contribution theory. Predicted composition and distillation curves were validated by experiments. Detailed hydrocarbon analysis was applied to fuel samples and to distillate fractions, and used as input for the initial droplet composition. With composition calculated throughout the distillation, the changing HOV and other physical properties can be found using reference data. The droplet can thus be modeled in terms of energy transfer, which in turn provides the transient mass transfer, droplet temperature, and droplet diameter. Model predictions suggest that non-ideal vapor-liquid equilibrium along with an increase in HOV can alter the droplet composition evolution. Results predict that the presence of ethanol causes enrichment of the higher boiling fractions (T90+) in the aromatic components as well as lengthens the droplet lifetime. A simulation of the evaporation process in a transient environment as experienced within an engine cylinder predicts a decrease in mixing time of the heaviest fractions of the fuel prior to spark initiation, possibly explaining observations linking ethanol to PM.« less

Distillation-based Droplet Modeling of Non-Ideal Oxygenated Gasoline Blends: Investigating the Role of Droplet Evaporation on PM Emissions

DOE PAGES

Burke, Stephen C.; Ratcliff, Matthew; McCormick, Robert; ...

2017-03-28

In some studies, a relationship has been observed between increasing ethanol content in gasoline and increased particulate matter (PM) emissions from vehicles equipped with spark ignition engines. The fundamental cause of the PM increase seen for moderate ethanol concentrations is not well understood. Ethanol features a greater heat of vaporization (HOV) than gasoline and also influences vaporization by altering the liquid and vapor composition throughout the distillation process. A droplet vaporization model was developed to explore ethanol's effect on the evaporation of aromatic compounds known to be PM precursors. The evolving droplet composition is modeled as a distillation process, withmore » non-ideal interactions between oxygenates and hydrocarbons accounted for using UNIFAC group contribution theory. Predicted composition and distillation curves were validated by experiments. Detailed hydrocarbon analysis was applied to fuel samples and to distillate fractions, and used as input for the initial droplet composition. With composition calculated throughout the distillation, the changing HOV and other physical properties can be found using reference data. The droplet can thus be modeled in terms of energy transfer, which in turn provides the transient mass transfer, droplet temperature, and droplet diameter. Model predictions suggest that non-ideal vapor-liquid equilibrium along with an increase in HOV can alter the droplet composition evolution. Results predict that the presence of ethanol causes enrichment of the higher boiling fractions (T90+) in the aromatic components as well as lengthens the droplet lifetime. A simulation of the evaporation process in a transient environment as experienced within an engine cylinder predicts a decrease in mixing time of the heaviest fractions of the fuel prior to spark initiation, possibly explaining observations linking ethanol to PM.« less

The Dosage Form of Aragh in Treatment, from the Iranian Traditional Medicine Perspective.

PubMed

Adl, Mehdi; Emtiazi, Majid

2016-05-01

The Iranian traditional medicine is one of the branches of complementary medicine and it is based on using the dosage forms of plants. One of the most common forms of pharmaceutical plants is Aragh. Due to ease-of-use, distillate is a more acceptable form among the public. In this article, it is attempted to study the usage forms and effects of Aragh according to the valid traditional medicine resources. This article is a review of Iranian traditional medicine textbooks such as Makhzan-ul-dawiah, Gharabadin Kabir, Cannon of Medicine, and other recent texts on medical plants. According to the traditional medicine, the process of getting Aragh is a kind of distillation, which is performed by using Ghar and Alembic (the equipment that are used in distillation). Distillation is the process of extracting and refining the fluid of a plant. Aragh of the plants is much more effective on the body than the plant itself. Traditional medicine regards Aragh as a new kind of drug (medicine) that is rarely mentioned in older texts (except for golab). However, the modern medicine regards it as a dosage form of essence, which is dissolved in water. The more the essence, the better the distillate gets. According to the traditional medicine sources, since the time of Hakim Aghil Khorasani, Aragh was used more and more every day. About 100 kinds of Araghs are mentioned in ancient texts, which are extracted from simple plants. Considering the distillation process and the way it performs, and by knowing that Aragh is a plant's softest and the most influential entity, it seems that it has a huge effect on Arvah and Ghova, the main parts like heart and brain and nervous parts.

The Dosage Form of Aragh in Treatment, from the Iranian Traditional Medicine Perspective

PubMed Central

Adl, Mehdi; Emtiazi, Majid

2016-01-01

Background: The Iranian traditional medicine is one of the branches of complementary medicine and it is based on using the dosage forms of plants. One of the most common forms of pharmaceutical plants is Aragh. Due to ease-of-use, distillate is a more acceptable form among the public. In this article, it is attempted to study the usage forms and effects of Aragh according to the valid traditional medicine resources. Methods: This article is a review of Iranian traditional medicine textbooks such as Makhzan-ul-dawiah, Gharabadin Kabir, Cannon of Medicine, and other recent texts on medical plants. Results: According to the traditional medicine, the process of getting Aragh is a kind of distillation, which is performed by using Ghar and Alembic (the equipment that are used in distillation). Distillation is the process of extracting and refining the fluid of a plant. Aragh of the plants is much more effective on the body than the plant itself. Traditional medicine regards Aragh as a new kind of drug (medicine) that is rarely mentioned in older texts (except for golab). However, the modern medicine regards it as a dosage form of essence, which is dissolved in water. The more the essence, the better the distillate gets. Conclusion: According to the traditional medicine sources, since the time of Hakim Aghil Khorasani, Aragh was used more and more every day. About 100 kinds of Araghs are mentioned in ancient texts, which are extracted from simple plants. Considering the distillation process and the way it performs, and by knowing that Aragh is a plant’s softest and the most influential entity, it seems that it has a huge effect on Arvah and Ghova, the main parts like heart and brain and nervous parts. PMID:27840528

The Dosage Form of Aragh in Treatment, from the Iranian Traditional Medicine Perspective

PubMed Central

Adl, Mehdi; Emtiazi, Majid

2016-01-01

Background: The Iranian traditional medicine is one of the branches of complementary medicine and it is based on using the dosage forms of plants. One of the most common forms of pharmaceutical plants is Aragh. Due to ease-of-use, distillate is a more acceptable form among the public. In this article, it is attempted to study the usage forms and effects of Aragh according to the valid traditional medicine resources. Methods: This article is a review of Iranian traditional medicine textbooks such as Makhzan-ul-dawiah, Gharabadin Kabir, Cannon of Medicine, and other recent texts on medical plants. Results: According to the traditional medicine, the process of getting Aragh is a kind of distillation, which is performed by using Ghar and Alembic (the equipment that are used in distillation). Distillation is the process of extracting and refining the fluid of a plant. Aragh of the plants is much more effective on the body than the plant itself. Traditional medicine regards Aragh as a new kind of drug (medicine) that is rarely mentioned in older texts (except for golab). However, the modern medicine regards it as a dosage form of essence, which is dissolved in water. The more the essence, the better the distillate gets. Conclusion: According to the traditional medicine sources, since the time of Hakim Aghil Khorasani, Aragh was used more and more every day. About 100 kinds of Araghs are mentioned in ancient texts, which are extracted from simple plants. Considering the distillation process and the way it performs, and by knowing that Aragh is a plant’s softest and the most influential entity, it seems that it has a huge effect on Arvah and Ghova, the main parts like heart and brain and nervous parts. PMID:27516693

Liquefaction Of Coal With Surfactant And Disposable Catalyst

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hickey, Gregory S.; Sharma, Pramod K.

1996-01-01

Fuels derived from coal more competitive with petroleum products. Improved coal-liquefaction process exploits synergistic effects of disposable iron oxide catalyst and cheap anionic surfactant. Efficiency of conversion achieved in significantly higher than efficiencies obtained with addition of either surfactant or catalyst alone. No costly pretreatment necessary, and increase in conversion achieved under processing conditions milder than those used heretofore in liquefaction of coal. Quality of distillates obtained after liquefaction in process expected superior to distillates obtained after liquefaction by older techniques.

Collagen-chitosan-glycerol bio-composite as artificial tympanic membrane for ruptured inner ear organ

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Widiyanti, Prihartini; Setya Angtika, Rara; Githanadi, Brillyana; Hanif Kharisma, Ditya; Asyraf, Tarikh Omar; Wardani, Adita

2017-05-01

WHO data in 2012 shows that 5.3% of world population highly suffers from hearing loss and deafness. One of the deafness causes is rupture of tympanic membrane. Tympanic membrane damage which occurs often is perforated tympanic membrane, and it is also commonly known in medical term as tympanic membrane perforation. The causes, for instance, are high frequency of using earphones, traumatic accidents, noise, bacteria, viruses, and infectious microorganism. Tympanoplasty becomes the only treatment that can be widely accepted despite of deficiencies in postoperative complications. Therefore, this research aims to create artificial tympanic membrane made of natural materials such as type I collagen composited with chitosan and made of addition of glycerol to improve its mechanical strength and biodegradability. The method included the process of dissolving acetic acid in distilled water and mixation with chitosan. The solution is next added with glycerol and stirred to be homogeneous. After that, it was minted in petri dish and aerated before characterized. The sample characterization included tensile strength of which tensile test results showed that the value of the elasticity modulus tended to decrease with an increase in collagen concentration. The elasticity modulus values in a row for the variations of 7: 3, 8: 2, and 9: 1 were 35.10 MPa, 54,52MPa, and 47,45MPa respectively. The morphological test with 1000x, 2500x, and 5000x magnification showed their interaction in the formation of pores. Cytotoxicity results, moreover, showed that those samples were non-toxic and safe for the body due to the percentage of living cells. The sound absorption coefficient was between 1000 Hz - 2000 Hz which means that it could use as sound absorbing material. The antibacterial test results showed that all the sample variations were anti-bacterial due to the diameter of the clear zone. In conclusion, collagen and chitosan composite with addition of glycerol could be used for potential artificial tympanic for to its characterization

Distillation of bose-einstein condensates in a double-well potential.

PubMed

Shin, Y; Saba, M; Schirotzek, A; Pasquini, T A; Leanhardt, A E; Pritchard, D E; Ketterle, W

2004-04-16

Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium atoms, prepared in an optical dipole trap, were distilled into a second empty dipole trap adjacent to the first one. The distillation was driven by thermal atoms spilling over the potential barrier separating the two wells and then forming a new condensate. This process serves as a model system for metastability in condensates, provides a test for quantum kinetic theories of condensate formation, and also represents a novel technique for creating or replenishing condensates in new locations.

Dielectric spectroscopy of solutions of amino silicone emulsion in distilled water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, K. N.; Rana, V. A.; Trivedi, C. M.; Vankar, H. P.

2016-05-01

Complex permittivity spectra ɛ*(ω) = ɛ' - jɛ″ of solutions of amino silicone emulsion in distilled water in the frequency range 100 Hz to 2 MHz were obtained using precision LCR meter. Complex permittivity data is used to find out complex impedance z*(ω) and complex electric conductivity σ*(ω). All these spectra are used to gain information about various polarization processes taking place in the solutions of amino silicone emulsion in distilled water under the effect of ac electric field. The frequency and concentration dependent behavior of the solutions of amino silicone emulsion in distilled waterhave beenalso investigated. Density and refractive index of the samples are also measured and are reported.

DISTILLATION OF CALCIUM

DOEpatents

Barton, J.

1954-07-27

This invention relates to an improvement in the process for the purification of caicium or magnesium containing an alkali metal as impurity, which comprises distiiling a batch of the mixture in two stages, the first stage distillation being carried out in the presence of an inert gas at an absolute pressure substantially greater than the vapor pressure of calcium or maguesium at the temperature of distillation, but less than the vaper pressure at that temperature of the alkali metal impurity so that only the alkali metal is vaporized and condensed on a condensing surface. A second stage distilso that substantially only the calcium or magnesium distills under its own vapor pressure only and condenses in solid form on a lower condensing surface.

A reactive distillation process for the treatment of LiCl-KCl eutectic waste salt containing rare earth chlorides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eun, H. C.; Choi, J. H.; Kim, N. Y.; Lee, T. K.; Han, S. Y.; Lee, K. R.; Park, H. S.; Ahn, D. H.

2016-11-01

The pyrochemical process, which recovers useful resources (U/TRU metals) from used nuclear fuel using an electrochemical method, generates LiCl-KCl eutectic waste salt containing radioactive rare earth chlorides (RECl3). It is necessary to develop a simple process for the treatment of LiCl-KCl eutectic waste salt in a hot-cell facility. For this reason, a reactive distillation process using a chemical agent was achieved as a method to separate rare earths from the LiCl-KCl waste salt. Before conducting the reactive distillation, thermodynamic equilibrium behaviors of the reactions between rare earth (Nd, La, Ce, Pr) chlorides and the chemical agent (K2CO3) were predicted using software. The addition of the chemical agent was determined to separate the rare earth chlorides into an oxide form using these equilibrium results. In the reactive distillation test, the rare earth chlorides in LiCl-KCl eutectic salt were decontaminated at a decontamination factor (DF) of more than 5000, and were mainly converted into oxide (Nd2O3, CeO2, La2O3, Pr2O3) or oxychloride (LaOCl, PrOCl) forms. The LiCl-KCl was purified into a form with a very low concentration (<1 ppm) for the rare earth chlorides.

Quality Evaluation of Agricultural Distillates Using an Electronic Nose

PubMed Central

Dymerski, Tomasz; Gębicki, Jacek; Wardencki, Waldemar; Namieśnik, Jacek

2013-01-01

The paper presents the application of an electronic nose instrument to fast evaluation of agricultural distillates differing in quality. The investigations were carried out using a prototype of electronic nose equipped with a set of six semiconductor sensors by FIGARO Co., an electronic circuit converting signal into digital form and a set of thermostats able to provide gradient temperature characteristics to a gas mixture. A volatile fraction of the agricultural distillate samples differing in quality was obtained by barbotage. Interpretation of the results involved three data analysis techniques: principal component analysis, single-linkage cluster analysis and cluster analysis with spheres method. The investigations prove the usefulness of the presented technique in the quality control of agricultural distillates. Optimum measurements conditions were also defined, including volumetric flow rate of carrier gas (15 L/h), thermostat temperature during the barbotage process (15 °C) and time of sensor signal acquisition from the onset of the barbotage process (60 s). PMID:24287525

Progress in donor assisted coal liquefaction: Hydroaromatic compound formation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kottenstette, R.J.; Stephens, H.P.

1993-12-31

The role of hydrogen donor compounds in coal liquefaction has been extensively investigated since the mid 1960`s using model compounds and process derived hydrogen donor solvents. Our recent research and that of other investigators have shown that two model compounds in particular have great efficacy in solvating low rank coals. 1,2,3,10b tetrahydrofluoranthene (H{sub 4}Fl) and 1,2,3,6,7,8 hexahydropyrene (H{sub 6}Py) have been used to dissolve Wyodak coal to > 95% soluble material as measured by tetrahydrofuran (THF). Although these hydrogen donors are very effective, they may not be found in any significant concentrations in actual liquefaction process recycle solvents. Therefore, studiesmore » with process derived recycle materials are necessary to understand donor solvent chemistry. The objective of this paper is to present results of solvent hydrogenation experiments using heavy distillate solvents produced during testing at the Wilsonville Advanced Coal Liquefaction Test Facility. We evaluated the impact of hydrogenation conditions upon hydrogen donor formation in process derived distillates and compared these process derived solvents with the highly effective H{sub 4}Fl and H{sub 6}Py donors in coal liquefaction tests. This paper presents data on reaction conditions used for distillate hydrotreating and subsequent coal liquefaction, with an aim toward understanding the relationship between reaction conditions and donor solvent quality in recycle distillates.« less

Optimized Co-Processing of Algae Bio-Crude through a Petroleum Refinery

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saydah, Ben; Behnke, Craig

2014-03-14

A middle distillate algal oil blend and red diesel algal oil blend from Sapphire Energy, Inc. were hydrotreated and distilled. The middle distillate feedstock blend was 8.0 wt.% biocrude and 92.0 wt.% middle distillate. The red diesel feedstock blend was 12.6 wt.% biocrude and 87.4 wt.% red diesel. During steady state, 151.4 kilograms of hydrotreated middle distillate/algal oil blend product was collected. During steady state, 312.6 kilograms of red diesel/algal oil blend hydrotreated product was collected. From the liquid product of the hydrotreated middle distillate/algal oil blend, 9.75 wt.% of the jet fuel cut is estimated to be from themore » algal oil. From the liquid product of the hydrotreated red diesel/algal oil blend, 11.3 wt.% of the diesel cut is estimated to be from the algal oil. The jet fuel cut of the middle distillate algal oil blend hydrotreated liquid product was analyzed using ASTM D1655, Standard Specification for Aviation Turbine Fuels. The diesel cut of the red diesel algal oil blend hydrotreated liquid product was analyzed using ASTM D975, Standard Specification for Diesel Fuel Oils.« less

Future perspectives of using hollow fibers as structured packings in light hydrocarbon distillation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Dali; Orler, Bruce; Tornga, Stephanie

2011-01-26

Olefin and paraffin are the largest chemical commodities. Furthermore, they are major building blocks for the petrochemical industry. Each year, petroleum refining, consumes 4,500 TBtu/yr in separation energy, making it one of the most energy-intensive industries in the United States). Just considering liquefied petroleum gas (ethane/propane/butane) and olefins (ethylene and propylene) alone, the distillation energy consumption is about 400 TBtu/yr in the US. Since petroleum distillation is a mature technology, incremental improvements in column/tray design will only provide a few percent improvements in the performance. However, each percent saving in net energy use amounts to savings of 10 TBtu/yr andmore » reduces CO{sub 2} emissions by 0.2 MTon/yr. In practice, distillation columns require 100 to 200 trays to achieve the desired separation. The height of a transfer unit (HTU) of conventional packings is typical in the range of 36-60 inch. Since 2006, we had explored using several non-selective membranes as the structured packings to replace the conventional packing materials used in propane and propylene distillation. We obtained the lowest HTU of < 8 inch for the hollow fiber column, which was >5 times shorter than that of the conventional packing materials. In 2008, we also investigated this type of packing materials in iso-/n-butane distillation. Because of a slightly larger relative volatility of iso-/n-butane than that of propane/propylene, a wider and a more stable operational range was obtained for the iso-/n-butane pair. However, all of the experiments were conducted on a small scale with flowrate of < 25 gram/min. Recently, we demonstrated this technology on a larger scale (<250 gram/min). Within the loading range of F-factor < 2.2 Pa{sup 0.5}, a pressure drop on the vapor side is below 50 mbar/m, which suggests that the pressure drop of hollow fibers packings is not an engineering barrier for the applications in distillations. The thermal stability study suggests that polypropylene hollow fibers are stable after a long time exposure to C{sub 2} - C{sub 4} mixtures. The effects of packing density on the separation efficiency will be discussed.« less

Mass production of chemicals from biomass-derived oil by directly atmospheric distillation coupled with co-pyrolysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xue-Song; Yang, Guang-Xi; Jiang, Hong; Liu, Wu-Jun; Ding, Hong-Sheng

2013-01-01

Production of renewable commodity chemicals from bio-oil derived from fast pyrolysis of biomass has received considerable interests, but hindered by the presence of innumerable components in bio-oil. In present work, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated an innovative approach combining atmospheric distillation of bio-oil with co-pyrolysis for mass production of renewable chemicals from biomass, in which no waste was produced. It was estimated that 51.86 wt.% of distillate just containing dozens of separable organic components could be recovered using this approach. Ten protogenetic and three epigenetic compounds in distillate were qualitatively identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and quantified by gas chromatography. Among them, the recovery efficiencies of acetic acid, propanoic acid, and furfural were all higher than 80 wt.%. Formation pathways of the distillate components in this process were explored. This work opens up a fascinating prospect for mass production of chemical feedstock from waste biomass.

Vacuum distillation of a mixture of LiCl-KCl eutectic salts and RE oxidative precipitates and a dechlorination and oxidation of RE oxychlorides.

PubMed

Eun, Hee Chul; Yang, Hee Chul; Cho, Yung Zun; Lee, Han Soo; Kim, In Tae

2008-12-30

In this study, a vacuum distillation of a mixture of LiCl-KCl eutectic salt and rare-earth oxidative precipitates was performed to separate a pure LiCl-KCl eutectic salt from the mixture. Also, a dechlorination and oxidation of the rare-earth oxychlorides was carried out to stabilize a final waste form. The mixture was distilled under a range of 710-759.5Torr of a reduced pressure at a fixed heating rate of 4 degrees C/min and the LiCl-KCl eutectic salt was completely separated from the mixture. The required time for the salt distillation and the starting temperature for the salt vaporization were lowered with a reduction in the pressure. Dechlorination and oxidation of the rare-earth oxychlorides was completed at a temperature below 1300 degrees C and this was dependent on the partial pressure of O2. The rare-earth oxychlorides (NdOCl/PrOCl) were transformed to oxides (Nd2O3/PrO2) during the dechlorination and oxidation process. These results will be utilized to design a concept for a process for recycling the waste salt from an electrorefining process.

Prototype of an Interface for Hyphenating Distillation with Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry

PubMed Central

Tang, Ya-Ru; Yang, Hui-Hsien; Urban, Pawel L.

2017-01-01

Chemical analysis of complex matrices—containing hundreds of compounds—is challenging. Two-dimensional separation techniques provide an efficient way to reduce complexity of mixtures analyzed by mass spectrometry (MS). For example, gasoline is a mixture of numerous compounds, which can be fractionated by distillation techniques. However, coupling conventional distillation with other separations as well as MS is not straightforward. We have established an automatic system for online coupling of simple microscale distillation with gas chromatography (GC) and electron ionization MS. The developed system incorporates an interface between the distillation condenser and the injector of a fused silica capillary GC column. Development of this multidimensional separation (distillation-GC-MS) was preceded by a series of preliminary off-line experiments. In the developed technique, the components with different boiling points are fractionated and instantly analyzed by GC-MS. The obtained data sets illustrate dynamics of the distillation process. An important advantage of the distillation-GC-MS technique is that raw samples can directly be analyzed without removal of the non-volatile matrix residues that could contaminate the GC injection port and the column. Distilling the samples immediately before the injection to the GC column may reduce possible matrix effects—especially in the early phase of separation, when molecules with different volatilities co-migrate. It can also reduce losses of highly volatile components (during fraction collection and transfer). The two separation steps are partly orthogonal, what can slightly increase selectivity of the entire analysis. PMID:28337400

Low-energy route for alcohol/gasohol recovery from fermentor beer. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mix, T.W.

1982-03-01

The production of gasohol directly from fermentor beer and gasoline is feasible and will enable a major reduction in the energy requirements for gasohol production. The fermentor beer is first enriched in a beer still to a 69 mol % ethanol, 31 mol % water product which is then dehydrated by extractive distillation with gasoline as the extractive agent. Gasohol is produced directly. In one version of the process, a heavy cut of gasoline, presumed available at a refinery before blending in of light components, is used as the extractive agent. The enriching column overhead vapors are used to reboilmore » the extractive distillation and steam stripping columns and to contribute to the preheating of the fermentor beer feed. Light components are blended into the heavy cut-ethanol bottom product from the extractive distillation column to form the desired gasohol. Energy requirements, including feed preheat, are 11,000 Btu per gallon of ethanol in the product gasohol. One hundred and fifty pound steam is required. In a second version, full range gasoline is used as the extractive agent. The enriching column overhead vapors are again used to reboil the extractive distillation and steam stripping columns and to contribute to the preheating of the fermentor beer feed. Light gasoline components recovered from the decanter following the overhead condenser of the extractive distillation column are blended in with the gasoline-ethanol product leaving the bottom of the extractive distillation column to form the desired gasohol. Energy requirements in this case are 13,000 Btu/gallon of ethanol in the product gasohol. In both of the above cases it is energy-conservative and desirable from a process standpoint to feed the enriched alcohol to the extractive distillation column as a liquid rather than as a vapor.« less

FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION SEPARATION OF PLUTONIUM VALUES FROM LIGHT ELEMENT VALUES

DOEpatents

Cunningham, B.B.

1957-12-17

A process is described for removing light element impurities from plutonium. It has been found that plutonium contaminated with impurities may be purified by converting the plutonium to a halide and purifying the halide by a fractional distillation whereby impurities may be distilled from the plutonium halide. A particularly effective method includes the step of forming a lower halide such as the trior tetrahalide and distilling the halide under conditions such that no decomposition of the halide occurs. Molecular distillation methods are particularly suitable for this process. The apparatus may comprise an evaporation plate with means for heating it and a condenser surface with means for cooling it. The condenser surface is placed at a distance from the evaporating surface less than the mean free path of molecular travel of the material being distilled at the pressure and temperature used. The entire evaporating system is evacuated until the pressure is about 10/sup -4/ millimeters of mercury. A high temperuture method is presented for sealing porous materials such as carbon or graphite that may be used as a support or a moderator in a nuclear reactor. The carbon body is subjected to two surface heats simultaneously in an inert atmosphere; the surface to be sealed is heated to 1500 degrees centigrade; and another surface is heated to 300 degrees centigrade, whereupon the carbon vaporizes and flows to the cooler surface where it is deposited to seal that surface. This method may be used to seal a nuclear fuel in the carbon structure.

Carbon Dioxide Separation from Flue Gases: A Technological Review Emphasizing Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions

PubMed Central

Songolzadeh, Mohammad; Soleimani, Mansooreh; Takht Ravanchi, Maryam; Songolzadeh, Reza

2014-01-01

Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as CO2 in the atmosphere is a global warming. Human activities are a major cause of increased CO2 concentration in atmosphere, as in recent decade, two-third of greenhouse effect was caused by human activities. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a major strategy that can be used to reduce GHGs emission. There are three methods for CCS: pre-combustion capture, oxy-fuel process, and post-combustion capture. Among them, post-combustion capture is the most important one because it offers flexibility and it can be easily added to the operational units. Various technologies are used for CO2 capture, some of them include: absorption, adsorption, cryogenic distillation, and membrane separation. In this paper, various technologies for post-combustion are compared and the best condition for using each technology is identified. PMID:24696663

Carbon dioxide separation from flue gases: a technological review emphasizing reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

PubMed

Songolzadeh, Mohammad; Soleimani, Mansooreh; Takht Ravanchi, Maryam; Songolzadeh, Reza

2014-01-01

Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as CO2 in the atmosphere is a global warming. Human activities are a major cause of increased CO2 concentration in atmosphere, as in recent decade, two-third of greenhouse effect was caused by human activities. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a major strategy that can be used to reduce GHGs emission. There are three methods for CCS: pre-combustion capture, oxy-fuel process, and post-combustion capture. Among them, post-combustion capture is the most important one because it offers flexibility and it can be easily added to the operational units. Various technologies are used for CO2 capture, some of them include: absorption, adsorption, cryogenic distillation, and membrane separation. In this paper, various technologies for post-combustion are compared and the best condition for using each technology is identified.

Investigations for the Recycle of Pyroprocessed Uranium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westphal, B. R.; Price, J. C.; Chambers, E. E.; Patterson, M. N.

Given the renewed interest in uranium from the pyroprocessing of used nuclear fuel in a molten salt system, the two biggest hurdles for marketing the uranium are radiation levels and transuranic content. A radiation level as low as possible is desired so that handling operations can be performed directly with the uranium. The transuranic content of the uranium will affect the subsequent waste streams generated and, thus also should be minimized. Although the pyroprocessing technology was originally developed without regard to radiation and transuranic levels, adaptations to the process have been considered. Process conditions have been varied during the distillation and casting cycles of the process with increasing temperature showing the largest effect on the reduction of radiation levels. Transuranic levels can be reduced significantly by incorporating a pre-step in the salt distillation operation to remove a majority of the salt prior to distillation.

Reducing CO2 emissions and energy consumption of heat-integrated distillation systems.

PubMed

Gadalla, Mamdouh A; Olujic, Zarko; Jansens, Peter J; Jobson, Megan; Smith, Robin

2005-09-01

Distillation systems are energy and power intensive processes and contribute significantly to the greenhouse gases emissions (e.g. carbon dioxide). Reducing CO2 emissions is an absolute necessity and expensive challenge to the chemical process industries in orderto meetthe environmental targets as agreed in the Kyoto Protocol. A simple model for the calculation of CO2 emissions from heat-integrated distillation systems is introduced, considering typical process industry utility devices such as boilers, furnaces, and turbines. Furnaces and turbines consume large quantities of fuels to provide electricity and process heats. As a result, they produce considerable amounts of CO2 gas to the atmosphere. Boilers are necessary to supply steam for heating purposes; besides, they are also significant emissions contributors. The model is used in an optimization-based approach to optimize the process conditions of an existing crude oil atmospheric tower in order to reduce its CO2 emissions and energy demands. It is also applied to generate design options to reduce the emissions from a novel internally heat-integrated distillation column (HIDiC). A gas turbine can be integrated with these distillation systems for larger emissions reduction and further energy savings. Results show that existing crude oil installations can save up to 21% in energy and 22% in emissions, when the process conditions are optimized. Additionally, by integrating a gas turbine, the total emissions can be reduced further by 48%. Internal heat-integrated columns can be a good alternative to conventional heat pump and other energy intensive close boiling mixtures separations. Energy savings can reach up to 100% with respect to reboiler heat requirements. Emissions of these configurations are cut down by up to 83%, compared to conventional units, and by 36%, with respect to heat pump alternatives. Importantly, cost savings and more profit are gained in parallel to emissions minimization.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jacobsen, A. J.

In a method of the type where petrol is recovered from a mixture of petrol vapor and air by absorption of the petrol in a cooled petroleum distillate, a petroleum distillate having a boiling point range higher than that of the petrol is used, and this petroleum distillate is in sequence cooled by heat exchange with a cold reservoir, brought into direct contact with the petrol/air mixture to absorb petrol, transferred to a buffer tank and transferred from the buffer tank to a stripping means which may be a distillation column. By combining cooling condensation and absorption of the petrolmore » vapor and controlling the amount of cooled petroleum distillate brought into contact with the petrol/air mixture so that the petrol concentration in the petroleum distillate transferred to the buffer tank is substantially constant, an unprecedented optimum control of the petrol absorbing process can be obtained both in peak load and in average load operations. A system for carrying out the method is advantageous in that only the absorption means need be dimensioned for peak load operation, while the other components, such as the distillation column or a heat exchanger with associated conduits can be dimensioned for average loads, a buffer tank being provided to temporarily receive the petroleum distillate which owing to the above-mentioned control has a substantially constant, maximum petrol concentration so that the system can cope with peak loads with a surprisingly small buffer tank.« less

Waste Heat Recovery and Recycling in Thermal Separation Processes: Distillation, Multi-Effect Evaporation (MEE) and Crystallization Processes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Emmanuel A. Dada; Chandrakant B. Panchal; Luke K. Achenie

Evaporation and crystallization are key thermal separation processes for concentrating and purifying inorganic and organic products with energy consumption over 1,000 trillion Btu/yr. This project focused on a challenging task of recovering low-temperature latent heat that can have a paradigm shift in the way thermal process units will be designed and operated to achieve high-energy efficiency and significantly reduce the carbon footprint as well as water footprint. Moreover, this project has evaluated the technical merits of waste-heat powered thermal heat pumps for recovery of latent heat from distillation, multi-effect evaporation (MEE), and crystallization processes and recycling into the process. Themore » Project Team has estimated the potential energy, economics and environmental benefits with the focus on reduction in CO2 emissions that can be realized by 2020, assuming successful development and commercialization of the technology being developed. Specifically, with aggressive industry-wide applications of heat recovery and recycling with absorption heat pumps, energy savings of about 26.7 trillion Btu/yr have been estimated for distillation process. The direct environmental benefits of this project are the reduced emissions of combustible products. The estimated major reduction in environmental pollutants in the distillation processes is in CO2 emission equivalent to 3.5 billion lbs/year. Energy consumption associated with water supply and treatments can vary between 1,900 kWh and 23,700 kWh per million-gallon water depending on sources of natural waters [US DOE, 2006]. Successful implementation of this technology would significantly reduce the demand for cooling-tower waters, and thereby the use and discharge of water treatment chemicals. The Project Team has also identified and characterized working fluid pairs for the moderate-temperature heat pump. For an MEE process, the two promising fluids are LiNO3+KNO3+NANO3 (53:28:19 ) and LiNO3+KNO3+NANO2(53:35:12). And for an H2O2 distillation process, the two promising fluids are Trifluoroethanol (TFE) + Triethylene Glycol Dimethyl ether (DMETEG) and Ammonia+ Water. Thermo-physical properties calculated by Aspen+ are reasonably accurate. Documentation of the installation of pilot-plants or full commercial units were not found in the literature for validating thermo-physical properties in an operating unit. Therefore, it is essential to install a pilot-scale unit to verify thermo-physical properties of working fluid pairs and validate the overall efficiency of the thermal heat pump at temperatures typical of distillation processes. For an HO2 process, the ammonia-water heat pump system is more compact and preferable than the TFE-DMETEG heat pump. The ammonia-water heat pump is therefore recommended for the H2O2 process. Based on the complex nature of the heat recovery system, we anticipated that capital costs could make investments financially unattractive where steam costs are low, especially where co-generation is involved. We believe that the enhanced heat transfer equipment has the potential to significantly improve the performance of TEE crystallizers, independent of the absorption heat-pump recovery system. Where steam costs are high, more detailed design/cost engineering will be required to verify the economic viability of the technology. Due to the long payback period estimated for the TEE open system, further studies on the TEE system are not warranted unless there are significant future improvements to heat pump technology. For the H2O2 distillation cycle heat pump waste heat recovery system, there were no significant process constraints and the estimated 5 years payback period is encouraging. We therefore recommend further developments of application of the thermal heat pump in the H2O2 distillation process with the focus on the technical and economic viability of heat exchangers equipped with the state-of-the-art enhancements. This will require additional funding for a prototype unit to validate enhanced thermal performances of heat transfer equipment, evaluate the fouling characteristics in field testing, and remove the uncertainty factors included in the estimated payback period for the H2O2 distillation system.« less

Recovery of water and minerals from shale gas produced water by membrane distillation crystallization.

PubMed

Kim, Junghyun; Kim, Jungwon; Hong, Seungkwan

2018-02-01

Shale gas produced water (SGPW) treatment imposes greater technical challenges because of its high concentration of various contaminants. Membrane distillation crystallization (MDC) has a great potential to manage SGPW since it is capable of recovering both water and minerals at high rates, up to near a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) condition. To evaluate the feasibility of MDC for SGPW treatment, MDC performance indicators, such as water recovery rate, solid production rate (SPR) and specific energy consumption (SEC), were systematically investigated, to our knowledge for the first time, by using actual SGPW from Eagle Ford Shale (USA). The main operating parameters including feed cross-flow velocity (CFV) and crystallization temperature (T Cr ) were optimized by performing a series of MDC experiments. The results reported that water and minerals were effectively recovered with 84% of recovery rate and 2.72 kg/m 2 day of SPR under respective optimal operating conditions. Furthermore, the scale mechanism was firstly identified as limiting factor for MDC performance degradation. Lastly, SEC of MDC was estimated to be as low as 28.2 kWh/m 3 under ideal optimal operating conditions. Our experimental observations demonstrated that MDC could sustainably and effectively recover water and mineral with low energy consumption from SGPW by optimizing operating condition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Corn Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS): Opportunities and Challenges

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Corn-based ethanol in the U.S. has dramatically increased in recent years; so has the quantity of associated coproducts. Nonfermentable components are removed from the process as whole stillage, centrifuged to remove water – which is then evaporated to produce condensed distillers solubles (CDS), a...

Chemical composition of distillers grains, a review

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In recent years, increasing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive and decreasing dependency on fossil fuels have resulted in a dramatic increase in the amount of grains used for ethanol production. Dry-grind is the major process, resulting in distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) as a major ...

Nutrient transport in runoff as affected by diet, tillage and manure application rate

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Including distillers grains in feedlot finishing diets may increase feedlot profitability. However the nutrient content of by-products are concentrated about three during the distillation process. Manure can be applied to meet single or multiple year crop nutrient requirements. The water quality eff...

Purifying Aluminum by Vacuum Distillation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Du Fresne, E. R.

1985-01-01

Proposed method for purifying aluminum employs one-step vacuum distillation. Raw material for process impure aluminum produced in electrolysis of aluminum ore. Impure metal melted in vacuum. Since aluminum has much higher vapor pressure than other constituents, boils off and condenses on nearby cold surfaces in proportions much greater than those of other constituents.

Modeling evaporation using models that are not boundary-layer regulated.

PubMed

Fingas, Merv F

2004-02-27

Experimentation shows that oil is not strictly air boundary-layer regulated. The fact that oil evaporation is not strictly boundary-layer regulated implies that a simplistic evaporation equation suffices to describe the process. The following processes do not require consideration: wind velocity, turbulence level, area, thickness, and scale size. The factors important to evaporation are time and temperature. The equation parameters found experimentally for the evaporation of oils can be related to commonly available distillation data for the oil. Specifically, it has been found that the distillation percentage at 180 degrees C correlates well with the equation parameters. Relationships have been developed enabling calculation of evaporation equations directly from distillation data: percentage evaporated = 0.165 (%D)ln(t) where %D is the percentage (by weight) distilled at 180 degrees C and t is the time in minutes. These equations were combined with the equations generated to account for the temperature variations: percentage evaporated = [0.165(%D)+0.045(T-15))ln(t) The results have application in oil spill prediction and modeling. The simple equations can be applied using readily available data such as sea temperature and time. Old equations required oil vapour pressure, specialized distillation data, spill area, wind speed, and mass transfer coefficients, all of which are difficult to obtain.

Benzene and cyclohexane separation using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonfa, Girma; Ismail, Marhaina; Bustam, Mohamad Azmi

2017-09-01

Cyclohexane is mainly produced by catalytic hydrogenation of benzene. Removal of unreacted benzene from the product stream is very important in this process. However, due to their close boiling points and azeotrope formation, it is very difficult to separate cyclohexane and benzene by conventional distillation. Currently, special separation processes such as processes extractive distillation is commercially used for this separation. However, this extractive distillation suffers from process complexity and higher energy consumption due to their low extractive selectivity of molecular entrainers used. The aim of the present work is to investigate the applicability of ionic liquids as entrainer in extractive distillation of benzene and cyclohexane mixture. In this study, we investigated 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate ([BMIM][SCN]) ionic liquid for separation of benzene and cyclohexane by measuring the Vapor Liquid Equilibrium data of the two components in the presence of the ionic liquid. As green and potential environmentally friendly solvents, ionic liquids have attracted increasing attention as alternative conventional entrainers in extractive distillation. Isothermal Vapor Liquid Equilibrium for the benzene + cyclohexane + [BMIM][SCN] ternary system was obtained at 353.15 K using a Head Space Gas Chromatography. The addition of [BMIM][SCN] breaks the benzene-cyclohexane azeotrope and increased the relative volatility cyclohexane to benzene in the mixture. The effect of [BMIM][SCN] on the relative volatility cyclohexane to benzene was studied at various benzene and cyclohexane compositions and solvent to feed ratios. The performance of [BMIM][SCN] was compared with typical conventional solvents, dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). The results show that the relative volatility of cyclohexane to benzene in the presence of [BMIM][SCN] is higher compared that of DMSO and DMF.

Model-based Extracted Water Desalination System for Carbon Sequestration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gettings, Rachel; Dees, Elizabeth

The focus of this research effort centered around water recovery from high Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) extracted waters (180,000 mg/L) using a combination of water recovery (partial desalination) technologies. The research goals of this project were as follows: 1. Define the scope and test location for pilot-scale implementation of the desalination system, 2.Define a scalable, multi-stage extracted water desalination system that yields clean water, concentrated brine, and, salt from saline brines, and 3. Validate overall system performance with field-sourced water using GE pre-pilot lab facilities. Conventional falling film-mechanical vapor recompression (FF-MVR) technology was established as a baseline desalination process. Amore » quality function deployment (QFD) method was used to compare alternate high TDS desalination technologies to the base case FF-MVR technology, including but not limited to: membrane distillation (MD), forward osmosis (FO), and high pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO). Technoeconomic analysis of high pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO) was performed comparing the following two cases: 1. a hybrid seawater RO (SWRO) plus HPRO system and 2. 2x standard seawater RO system, to achieve the same total pure water recovery rate. Pre-pilot-scale tests were conducted using field production water to validate key process steps for extracted water pretreatment. Approximately 5,000 gallons of field produced water was processed through, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and steam regenerable sorbent operations. Improvements in membrane materials of construction were considered as necessary next steps to achieving further improvement in element performance at high pressure. Several modifications showed promising results in their ability to withstand close to 5,000 PSI without gross failure.« less

Molecular Adaptation Mechanisms Employed by Ethanologenic Bacteria in Response to Lignocellulose-derived Inhibitory Compounds

PubMed Central

Ibraheem, Omodele; Ndimba, Bongani K.

2013-01-01

Current international interest in finding alternative sources of energy to the diminishing supplies of fossil fuels has encouraged research efforts in improving biofuel production technologies. In countries which lack sufficient food, the use of sustainable lignocellulosic feedstocks, for the production of bioethanol, is an attractive option. In the pre-treatment of lignocellulosic feedstocks for ethanol production, various chemicals and/or enzymatic processes are employed. These methods generally result in a range of fermentable sugars, which are subjected to microbial fermentation and distillation to produce bioethanol. However, these methods also produce compounds that are inhibitory to the microbial fermentation process. These compounds include products of sugar dehydration and lignin depolymerisation, such as organic acids, derivatised furaldehydes and phenolic acids. These compounds are known to have a severe negative impact on the ethanologenic microorganisms involved in the fermentation process by compromising the integrity of their cell membranes, inhibiting essential enzymes and negatively interact with their DNA/RNA. It is therefore important to understand the molecular mechanisms of these inhibitions, and the mechanisms by which these microorganisms show increased adaptation to such inhibitors. Presented here is a concise overview of the molecular adaptation mechanisms of ethanologenic bacteria in response to lignocellulose-derived inhibitory compounds. These include general stress response and tolerance mechanisms, which are typically those that maintain intracellular pH homeostasis and cell membrane integrity, activation/regulation of global stress responses and inhibitor substrate-specific degradation pathways. We anticipate that understanding these adaptation responses will be essential in the design of 'intelligent' metabolic engineering strategies for the generation of hyper-tolerant fermentation bacteria strains. PMID:23847442

Chemical composition of distillers grains, a review.

PubMed

Liu, KeShun

2011-03-09

In recent years, increasing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive and decreasing dependency on fossil fuels have resulted in a dramatic increase in the amount of grains used for ethanol production. Dry-grind is the major process, resulting in distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) as a major coproduct. Like fuel ethanol, DDGS has quickly become a global commodity. However, high compositional variation has been the main problem hindering its use as a feed ingredient. This review provides updated information on the chemical composition of distillers grains in terms of nutrient levels, changes during dry-grind processing, and causes for large variation. The occurrence in grain feedstock and the fate of mycotoxins during processing are also covered. During processing, starch is converted to glucose and then to ethanol and carbon dioxide. Most other components are relatively unchanged but concentrated in DDGS about 3-fold over the original feedstock. Mycotoxins, if present in the original feedstock, are also concentrated. Higher fold of increases in S, Na, and Ca are mostly due to exogenous addition during processing, whereas unusual changes in inorganic phosphorus (P) and phytate P indicate phytate hydrolysis by yeast phytase. Fermentation causes major changes, but other processing steps are also responsible. The causes for varying DDGS composition are multiple, including differences in feedstock species and composition, process methods and parameters, the amount of condensed solubles added to distiller wet grains, the effect of fermentation yeast, and analytical methodology. Most of them can be attributed to the complexity of the dry-grind process itself. It is hoped that information provided in this review will improve the understanding of the dry-grind process and aid in the development of strategies to control the compositional variation in DDGS.

Ethanol production in a membrane bioreactor: pilot-scale trials in a corn wet mill.

PubMed

Escobar, J M; Rane, K D; Cheryan, M

2001-01-01

Pilot plant trials were conducted in a corn wet mill with a 7000-L membrane recycle bioreactor (MRB) that integrated ceramic microfiltration membranes in a semi-closed loop configuration with a stirred-tank reactor. Residence times of 7.5-10 h with ethanol outputs of 10-11.5% (v/v) were obtained when the cell concentration was 60-100 g/L dry wt of yeast, equivalent to about 10(9)-10(10) cells/mL. The performance of the membrane was dependent on the startup mode and pressure management techniques. A steady flux of 70 L/(m2 x h) could be maintained for several days before cleaning was necessary. The benefits of the MRB include better productivity; a clear product stream containing no particulates or yeast cells, which should improve subsequent stripping and distillation operations; and substantially reduced stillage handling. The capital cost of the MRB is $21-$34/(m3 x yr) ($0.08-$0.13/[gal x yr]) of ethanol capacity. Operating cost, including depreciation, energy, membrane replacement, maintenance, labor, and cleaning, is $4.5-9/m3 ($0.017-$0.034/gal) of ethanol.

Entanglement distillation by dissipation and continuous quantum repeaters.

PubMed

Vollbrecht, Karl Gerd H; Muschik, Christine A; Cirac, J Ignacio

2011-09-16

Even though entanglement is very vulnerable to interactions with the environment, it can be created by purely dissipative processes. Yet, the attainable degree of entanglement is profoundly limited in the presence of noise sources. We show that distillation can also be realized dissipatively, such that a highly entangled steady state is obtained. The schemes put forward here display counterintuitive phenomena, such as improved performance if noise is added to the system. We also show how dissipative distillation can be employed in a continuous quantum repeater architecture, in which the resources scale polynomially with the distance.

Hollow Fiber Flight Prototype Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator Design and Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bue, Grant; Vogel, Matt; Makinen, Janice; Tsioulos, Gus

2010-01-01

The spacesuit water membrane evaporator (SWME) is being developed to perform thermal control for advanced spacesuits and to take advantage of recent advances in micropore membrane technology. This results in a robust heat-rejection device that is potentially less sensitive to contamination than is the sublimator. The Membrana Celgard X50-215 microporous hollow-fiber (HoFi) membrane was selected after recent extensive testing as the most suitable candidate among commercial alternatives for continued SWME prototype development. The current design was based on a previous design that grouped the fiber layers into stacks, which were separated by small spaces and packaged into a cylindrical shape. This was developed into a full-scale prototype consisting of 14,300 tube bundled into 30 stacks, each of which is formed into a chevron shape and separated by spacers and organized into three sectors of 10 nested stacks. The new design replaced metal components with plastic ones, and has a custom built flight like backpressure valve mounted on the side of the SWME housing to reduce backpressure when fully open. The spacers that provided separation of the chevron fiber stacks were eliminated. Vacuum chamber testing showed improved heat rejection as a function of inlet water temperature and water vapor backpressure compared with the previous design. Other tests pushed the limits of tolerance to freezing and showed suitability to reject heat in a Mars pressure environment with and without a sweep gas. Tolerance to contamination by constituents expected to be found in potable water produced by distillation processes was tested in a conventional way by allowing constituents to accumulate in the coolant as evaporation occurs. For this purpose, the SWME cartridge has endured an equivalent of 30 EVAs exposure and demonstrated minimal performance decline.

Development Of Sustainable Biobased Products And Bioenergy In Cooperation With The Midwest Consortium For Sustainable Biobased Products And Energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Michael Ladisch; Randy Woodson

2009-03-18

Collaborative efforts of Midwest Consortium have been put forth to add value to distiller's grains by further processing them into fermentable sugars, ethanol, and a protein rich co-product consistent with a pathway to a biorenewables industry (Schell et al, 2008). These studies were recently published in the enclosed special edition (Volume 99, Issue 12) of Bioresource Technology journal. Part of them have demonstrated the utilization of distillers grains as additional feedstock for increased ethanol production in the current dry grind process (Kim et al., 2008a, b; Dien et al.,2008, Ladisch et al., 2008a, b). Results showed that both liquid hotmore » water (LHW) pretreatment and ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) were effective for enhancing digestibility of distiller's grains. Enzymatic digestion of distiller's grains resulted in more than 90% glucose yield under standard assay conditions, although the yield tends to drop as the concentration of dry solids increases. Simulated process mass balances estimated that hydrolysis and fermentation of distillers grains can increase the ethanol yield by 14% in the current dry milling process (Kim et al., 2008c). Resulting co-products from the modified process are richer in protein and oil contents than conventional distiller's grains, as determined both experimentally and computationally. Other research topics in the special edition include water solubilization of DDGS by transesterification reaction with phosphite esters (Oshel el al., 2008) to improve reactivity of the DDGS to enzymes, hydrolysis of soluble oligomers derived from DDGS using functionalized mesoporous solid catalysts (Bootsma et al., 2008), and ABE (acetone, butanol, ethanol) production from DDGS by solventogenic Clostridia (Ezeji and Blaschek, 2008). Economic analysis of a modified dry milling process, where the fiber and residual starch is extracted and fermented to produce more ethanol from the distillers grains while producing highly concentrated protein co-product, has shown that the process is economically viable resulting in an increase in net present value (Perkis et al., 2008). According to the study, the revenue is expected to increase further with improved amino acid profile of the protein rich co-products and lower cost of cellulase enzyme mixture. Also, Kim and Dale (2008) discuss using life cycle analysis to enhance the environmental performance of the corn based ethanol. On the second phase of the research, concerted efforts were directed on assessing compositional variability of dry milling co-products collected from 4 different dry grind ethanol plants has been measured and its effect on enzymatic digestibility and fermentability. Fermentation utilized a recombinant glucose/xylose co-fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A (LNH-ST)). No significant compositional variability among the samples was found. Simultaneous saccharification and glucose/xylose co-fermentation of the pretreated distillers grains at solids and cellulase loadings of 150 g dry solids per liter and 6.4 mg protein per g dry substrate, respectively, yielded 74-801% of theoretical maximum ethanol concentration using recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A (LNH-ST). The paper summarizing the results from the second phase of the Midwest Consortium is currently submitted to Bioresource Technology journal. The copy of the paper submitted is enclosed.« less

Removal of metal ions and humic acids through polyetherimide membrane with grafted bentonite clay.

PubMed

Hebbar, Raghavendra S; Isloor, Arun M; Prabhu, Balakrishna; Inamuddin; Asiri, Abdullah M; Ismail, A F

2018-03-16

Functional surfaces and polymers with branched structures have a major impact on physicochemical properties and performance of membrane materials. With the aim of greener approach for enhancement of permeation, fouling resistance and detrimental heavy metal ion rejection capacity of polyetherimide membrane, novel grafting of poly (4-styrenesulfonate) brushes on low cost, natural bentonite was carried out via distillation-precipitation polymerisation method and employed as a performance modifier. It has been demonstrated that, modified bentonite clay exhibited significant improvement in the hydrophilicity, porosity, and water uptake capacity with 3 wt. % of additive dosage. SEM and AFM analysis showed the increase in macrovoides and surface roughness with increased additive concentration. Moreover, the inclusion of modified bentonite displayed an increase in permeation rate and high anti-irreversible fouling properties with reversible fouling ratio of 75.6%. The humic acid rejection study revealed that, PEM-3 membrane having rejection efficiency up to 87.6% and foulants can be easily removed by simple hydraulic cleaning. Further, nanocomposite membranes can be significantly employed for the removal of hazardous heavy metal ions with a rejection rate of 80% and its tentative mechanism was discussed. Conspicuously, bentonite clay-bearing poly (4-styrenesulfonate) brushes are having a synergistic effect on physicochemical properties of nanocomposite membrane to enhance the performance in real field applications.

Effect of deacetylation on property of electrospun chitosan/PVA nanofibrous membrane and removal of methyl orange, Fe(III) and Cr(VI) ions.

PubMed

Habiba, Umma; Siddique, Tawsif A; Talebian, Sepehr; Lee, Jacky Jia Li; Salleh, Areisman; Ang, Bee Chin; Afifi, Amalina M

2017-12-01

In this study, effect of degree of deacetylation on property and adsorption capacity of chitosan/polyvinyl Alcohol electrospun membrane has been investigated. Resulting nanofibers were characterized by FESEM, FTIR, XRD, TGA, tensile testing, weight loss test and adsorption test. FESEM result shows, finer nanofiber was fabricated from 42h hydrolyzed chitosan and PVA blend solution. FTIR and XRD result showed a strong interaction between chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol. Higher tensile strength was observed for the nanofiber having 42h hydrolyzed chitosan. Blend solution of chitosan/PVA having low DD chitosan had higher viscosity. The nanofibrous membrane was stable in distilled water, acidic and basic medium. The isotherm study shows that the adsorption capacity (q m ) of nanofiber containing higher DD chitosan was higher for Cr(VI). In contrary, the membrane containing chitosan with lower DD showed the higher adsorption capacity for Fe(III) and methyl orange. Moreover, the effect of DD on removal percentage of adsorbate was dependent on the initial concentration of the adsorbate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Insight into the effect of organic and inorganic draw solutes on the flux stability and sludge characteristics in the osmotic membrane bioreactor.

PubMed

Siddique, Muhammad Saboor; Khan, Sher Jamal; Shahzad, Muhammad Aamir; Nawaz, Muhammad Saqib; Hankins, Nicholas P

2018-02-01

In this study, chloride based (CaCl 2 and MgCl 2 ) and acetate based (NaOAc and MgOAc) salts in comparison with NaCl were investigated as draw solutions (DS) to evaluate their viability in the osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR). Membrane distillation was coupled with an OMBR setup to develop a hybrid OMBR-MD system, for the production of clean water and DS recovery. Results demonstrate that organic DS were able to mitigate the salinity buildup in the bioreactor as compared to inorganic salts. Prolonged filtration runs were observed with MgCl 2 and MgOAc in contrast with other draw solutes at the same molar concentration. Significant membrane fouling was observed with NaOAc while rapid flux decline due to increased salinity build-up was witnessed with NaCl and CaCl 2 . Improved characteristics of mixed liquor in terms of sludge filterability, particle size, and biomass growth along with the degradation of soluble microbial products (SMP) were found with organic DS. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Compatibilized Immiscible Polymer Blends for Gas Separations

PubMed Central

Panapitiya, Nimanka; Wijenayake, Sumudu; Nguyen, Do; Karunaweera, Chamaal; Huang, Yu; Balkus, Kenneth; Musselman, Inga; Ferraris, John

2016-01-01

Membrane-based gas separation has attracted a great deal of attention recently due to the requirement for high purity gasses in industrial applications like fuel cells, and because of environment concerns, such as global warming. The current methods of cryogenic distillation and pressure swing adsorption are energy intensive and costly. Therefore, polymer membranes have emerged as a less energy intensive and cost effective candidate to separate gas mixtures. However, the use of polymeric membranes has a drawback known as the permeability-selectivity tradeoff. Many approaches have been used to overcome this limitation including the use of polymer blends. Polymer blending technology synergistically combines the favorable properties of different polymers like high gas permeability and high selectivity, which are difficult to attain with a single polymer. During polymer mixing, polymers tend to uncontrollably phase separate due to unfavorable thermodynamics, which limits the number of completely miscible polymer combinations for gas separations. Therefore, compatibilizers are used to control the phase separation and to obtain stable membrane morphologies, while improving the mechanical properties. In this review, we focus on immiscible polymer blends and the use of compatibilizers for gas separation applications. PMID:28773766

Silicon production process evaluations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Chemical engineering analysis was continued for the HSC process (Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation) in which solar cell silicon is produced in a 1,000 MT/yr plant. Progress and status are reported for the primary engineering activities involved in the preliminary process engineering design of the plant base case conditions (96%), reaction chemistry (96%), process flow diagram (85%), material balance (85%), energy balance (60%), property data (60%), equipment design (40%), major equipment list (30%) and labor requirements (10%). Engineering design of the second distillation column (D-02, TCS column) in the process was completed. The design is based on a 97% recovery of the light key (TCS, trichlorosilane) in the distillate and a 97% recovery of the heavy key (TET, silicon tetrachloride) in the bottoms. At a reflux ratio of 2, the specified recovery of TCS and TET is achieved with 20 trays (equilibrium stages, N=20). Respective feed tray locations are 9, 12 and 15 (NF sub 1 = 9, NF sub 2 = 12,, and NF sub 3 = 15). A total condenser is used for the distillation which is conducted at a pressure of 90 psia.

Development of Optical Crystals for High Power and Tunable Visible and Infrared Light Generation

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-02-11

ultra high chemical purity (5N), 95% isotopically enriched 6Li was purified in a multi-stage vacuum distillation process previously reported by...enriched 6Li was purified in a multi-stage vacuum distillation process previously reported by Stowe et al.[4]. 6LiIn alloy was synthesized in a... quantum mechanics, it has been determined that atoms, molecules, ions have discrete energy levels. Therefore there exists allowed atomic transitions

Simulation of Pressure-swing Distillation for Separation of Ethyl Acetate-Ethanol-Water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jing; Zhou, Menglin; Wang, Yujie; Zhang, Xi; Wu, Gang

2017-12-01

In the light of the azeotrope of ethyl acetate-ethanol-water, a process of pressure-swing distillation is proposed. The separation process is simulated by Aspen Plus, and the effects of theoretical stage number, reflux ratio and feed stage about the pressure-swing distillation are optimized. Some better process parameters are as follows: for ethyl acetate refining tower, the pressure is 500.0 kPa, theoretical stage number is 16, reflux ratio is 0.6, feed stage is 5; for crude ethanol tower, the pressure is 101.3 kPa, theoretical stage number is 15, reflux ratio is 0.3, feed stage is 4; for ethanol tower, the pressure is 101.3 kPa, theoretical stage number is 25, reflux ratio is 1.2, feed stage is 10. The mass fraction of ethyl acetate in the bottom of the ethyl acetate refining tower reaches 0.9990, the mass fraction of ethanol in the top of the ethanol tower tower reaches 0.9017, the mass fraction of water in the bottom of the ethanol tower tower reaches 0.9622, and there is also no ethyl acetate in the bottom of the ethanol tower. With laboratory tests, experimental results are in good agreement with the simulation results, which indicates that the separation of ethyl acetate ethanol water can be realized by the pressure-swing distillation separation process. Moreover, it has certain practical significance to industrial practice.

A Comparative Analysis of Phase-Change Wastewater Processing Approaches for Microgravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lange, Kevin

2016-01-01

Two phase-change wastewater processing candidates, the ISS Vapor Compression Distillation (VCD) System and the Cascade Distiller System (CDS), are compared based on dynamic modeling of both technologies. Differences in fluid handling and energy recovery for the technologies are described and contrasted. Model predictions are presented showing how temperatures, pressures, and compositions vary locally within each distiller. These dynamic variations are difficult to observe experimentally and have implications regarding non-condensable buildup and salt precipitation potential. Alternative architectures involving VCD and CDS components are analyzed in terms of predicted performance and equivalent system mass (ESM). The addition of a downstream brine processor to increase water recovery is also evaluated. Options for reducing overall ESM are discussed, including the possibility of developing a single precipitation-tolerant primary wastewater processor.

Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) – A Key to the Fuel Ethanol Industry

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Corn-based ethanol in the U.S. has dramatically increased in recent years; so has the quantity of associated coproducts. Nonfermentable components are removed from the process as whole stillage, centrifuged to remove water – which is then evaporated to produce condensed distillers solubles (CDS), a...

Resistant starch and dietary fibers from cereal by-products

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Dried distillers grains (DDG) are a cereal byproduct from ethanol distillation process. On a dry weight basis, DDG is composed of 13% fat, 30% protein, 33% fiber, with the remainder various carbohydrates. Only 6-8% of starch in DDG is in resistant form (dietary fiber). Because only about 6% of DD...

Effects of steam distillation on extraction, composition, and functional properties of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) proteins

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is a summer annual plant commonly used as fresh green herb, spice, or for its essential oil. A newly-developed process combined steam distillation and mechanical pressing to recover the essential oil and edible oil, respectively, from dehulled coriander seeds. The c...

27 CFR 19.315 - Removal or destruction of distilling material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Removal or destruction of distilling material. 19.315 Section 19.315 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND...) spirits, (2) alcoholic beverages, or (3) vinegar by the vaporizing process; or (c) for destruction. The...

VIEW LOOKING EAST, SA WETSIDE (DISTILLATION BUILDING) ON THE RIGHT, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

VIEW LOOKING EAST, SA WETSIDE (DISTILLATION BUILDING) ON THE RIGHT, STD (SODA TOWER DRYERS?), SA DRYSIDE ON RIGHT. BEHIND STD BUILDING IS SHD BUILDING (SODA HORIZONTAL DRYERS?) THE ENTIRE DRYING COMPLEX WAS KNOWN AS THE DRYSIDE. - Solvay Process Company, SA Wetside Building, Between Willis & Milton Avenue, Solvay, Onondaga County, NY

Treating thin stillage or condensed distillers solubles with phytase for production of low phytate co-products

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Fuel ethanol production from grains is mainly based on dry grind processing, during which phytate is concentrated about three fold in distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a major co-product. For reducing phyate in DDGS, two industrial phytase preparations (Natuphos and Ronozyme) were used ...

Fate of Fumonisin B1 in Naturally Contaminated Corn during Ethanol Fermentation

PubMed Central

Bothast, R. J.; Bennett, G. A.; Vancauwenberge, J. E.; Richard, J. L.

1992-01-01

Two lots of corn naturally contaminated with fumonisin B1 (15 and 36 ppm) and a control lot (no fumonisin B1 detected) were used as substrates for ethanol production in replicate 8.5-liter yeast fermentations. Ethanol yields were 8.8% for both the control and low-fumonisin corn, while the high-fumonisin corn contained less starch and produced 7.2% ethanol. Little degradation of fumonisin occurred during fermentation, and most was recovered in the distillers' grains, thin stillage, and distillers' solubles fractions. No toxin was detected in the distilled alcohol or centrifuge solids. Ethanol fermentation of fumonisin-contaminated corn coupled with effective detoxification of distillers' grains and aqueous stillage is suggested as a practical process strategy for salvaging contaminated corn. PMID:16348623

Antibacterial potential assessment of jasmine essential oil against e. Coli.

PubMed

Rath, C C; Devi, S; Dash, S K; Mishra, R K

2008-01-01

The antibacterial activity of Jasmine (Jasminum sambac L.) flower hydro steam distilled essential oil, synthetic blends and six major individual components was assessed against Escherichia coli (MTCC-443) strain. The activity was bactericidal. Minimum inhibitory concentration was determined by tube dilution technique, and the Minimum inhibitory concentration ranged between 1.9-31.25 mul/ml. Phenolcoefficient of the oil, synthetic blends and components varied between 0.6-1.7. The activity of the chemicals was possibly due to the inhibition of cell membrane synthesis.

Mass production of chemicals from biomass-derived oil by directly atmospheric distillation coupled with co-pyrolysis

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xue-Song; Yang, Guang-Xi; Jiang, Hong; Liu, Wu-Jun; Ding, Hong-Sheng

2013-01-01

Production of renewable commodity chemicals from bio-oil derived from fast pyrolysis of biomass has received considerable interests, but hindered by the presence of innumerable components in bio-oil. In present work, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated an innovative approach combining atmospheric distillation of bio-oil with co-pyrolysis for mass production of renewable chemicals from biomass, in which no waste was produced. It was estimated that 51.86 wt.% of distillate just containing dozens of separable organic components could be recovered using this approach. Ten protogenetic and three epigenetic compounds in distillate were qualitatively identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and quantified by gas chromatography. Among them, the recovery efficiencies of acetic acid, propanoic acid, and furfural were all higher than 80 wt.%. Formation pathways of the distillate components in this process were explored. This work opens up a fascinating prospect for mass production of chemical feedstock from waste biomass. PMID:23350028

Study of the repartition of phthalate esters during distillation of wine for spirit production.

PubMed

Montevecchi, Giuseppe; Masino, Francesca; Di Pascale, Nicolas; Vasile Simone, Giuseppe; Antonelli, Andrea

2017-12-15

Due to health concerns and legal matters, an investigation to limit phthalates esters (PEAs) in spirits is necessary. A lab still was used to perform pilot distillations according to the official method for brandy production in order to explore the repartition into the distilled fractions of each PAE. The process was divided in two steps: a première chauffe and a bonne chauffe. The former step included the cut into heads, heart and tails, while the latter into heads, brandy, secondes, and tails. The behaviour of each PAE during distillation was affected by its own chemical nature. Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) was entirely carried over into the distillate, while bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) only partially, and diisononyl phthalate (DINP) accumulated in the stillage. During the bonne chauffe, DBP and DEHP accumulated in the secondes more than in the brandy. A rectification step of the secondes was demonstrated to considerably reduce PAEs concentration. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Removal of Salmonella Enteritidis from commercial unpasteurized liquid egg white using pilot scale cross flow tangential microfiltration.

PubMed

Mukhopadhyay, Sudarsan; Tomasula, Peggy M; Luchansky, John B; Porto-Fett, Anna; Call, Jeffrey E

2010-09-01

Effectiveness of a cross flow microfiltration (MF) process for removal of a cocktail of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis species from commercial unpasteurized liquid egg white (LEW) from a local egg breaking plant, while maintaining its functional properties was evaluated. To facilitate MF, LEW was wedge screened, homogenized and then diluted (1:2 w/w) with distilled water containing 0.5% sodium chloride. Diluted unpasteurized LEW was inoculated with five strains of S. Enteritidis (ATCC 4931, ATCC BAA-708, ATCC 49215, ATCC 49218, and ATCC BAA-1045) to a level of approximately 10(7)CFU/mL of LEW and microfiltered using a ceramic membrane. Process parameters influencing egg white functional properties and pathogen removal efficiency were evaluated. Average permeates flux increased by almost 126% when pH of LEW was adjusted from pH 8 to pH 7 at 25 degrees C. Microbial removal efficiency was at least, on average, 6.8Log(10)CFU/mL (limit of detection < or =0.5Log(10)CFU/mL). Functional property analysis indicated that the MF process did not alter the foaming power of LEW. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Super-hydrophobic self-cleaning bead-like SiO2@PTFE nanofiber membranes for waterproof-breathable applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Yueyao; Ju, Jingge; Deng, Nanping; Zhou, Xinghai; Yan, Jing; Kang, Weimin; Cheng, Bowen

2018-06-01

Superhydrophobic waterproof-breathable membranes, which possess a huge superiority in multi-functional applications including self-cleaning, anti-icing, anticorrosion and protective clothing, have aroused considerable attention owing to their excellent performance. Herein, the robust superhydrophobic microporous fibrous membranes were efficiently prepared via a facile and environmental-friendly electro-blown spinning (EBS) technique followed by calcination. Compared with hydrophobic pure PTFE fibrous membranes, the bead-like SiO2@PTFE nanofiber membranes (BLNFMs) exhibited superhydrophobic surface with the advancing water angle (θadv) and the water contact angle (WCA) up to 161° and 155°, respectively. The SiO2 nanoparticles were introduced as fillers which can alter the pore structure and form the multilevel rough surface. The BLNFMs could maintain superhydrophobic surface even after abrasion for 30 times or exposing to a strong corrosive solution with PH from 0 to 12 for 24 h. Besides, the BLNFMs were endowed with the modest vapor permeability (9.7 kg·m-2·d-1) and air permeability (7.2 mm·s-1) when the concentration of SiO2 nanoparticles reached to 7.3 wt%. In addition, a potential relationship among θadv, maximum pore size (dmax) and breathability (effective breathing area) was proposed in order to design the waterproof-breathable membranes with excellent properties. Furthermore, the superhydrophobic membranes with durable self-cleaning property provided the advantages of potential applications in the fields of membrane distillation, versatile protective clothing, etc.

The effect of acid hydrolysis pretreatment on crystallinity and solubility of kenaf cellulose membrane

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saidi, Anis Syuhada Mohd; Zakaria, Sarani; Chia, Chin Hua

2015-09-25

Cellulose was extracted from kenaf core pulp (KCP) by series of bleaching steps in the sequence (DEED) where D and E are referred as acid and alkali treatment. The bleached kenaf pulp (BKCP) is then pretreated with acid hydrolysis at room temperature for 1 and 3 h respectively. The pretreated cellulose is dissolved in lithium hydroxide/urea (LiOH/urea) and cellulose solution produced was immersed in distilled water bath. BKCP without treatment was also conducted for comparison purpose. The effects of acid hydrolysis pretreatment on solubility and crystallinity are investigated. Higher solubility of cellulose solution is achieved for treated samples. Cellulose II formationmore » and crystallinity index of the cellulose membrane were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD)« less

Review of various treatment methods for the abatement of phenolic compounds from wastewater.

PubMed

Girish, C R; Murty, V Ramachandra

2012-04-01

Phenol and its derivatives are considered among the most hazardous organic pollutants from industrial wastewater and they are toxic even at low concentrations. Besides the existence of phenol in natural water source it can lead to the formation of other toxic substituted compounds. So this has led to growing concern on setting up of rigid limits on the acceptable level of phenol in the environment. The various methods for the treatment of phenol from wastewater streams are briefly reviewed. The various technologies like distillation, liquid-liquid extraction with different solvents, adsorption over activated carbons and polymeric and inorganic adsorbents, membrane pervaporation and membrane-solvent extraction, have been elucidated. The advantages and disadvantages of the various methods are illustrated and their performances are compared.

Preprototype Vapor Compression Distillation Subsystem development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, C. D.; Ellis, G. S.; Schubert, F. H.

1981-01-01

Vapor Compression Distillation (VCD) has evolved as the most promising approach to reclaim potable water from wastewater for future long-term manned space missions. Life Systems, Inc. (LSI), working with NASA, has developed a preprototype Vapor Compression Distillation Subsystem (VCDS) which processes wastewater at 1.4 kg/h. The preprototype unit weighs 143 kg, occupies a volume of 0.47 cu m, and will reclaim 96 percent of the available wastewater. This unit has been tested by LSI and is scheduled for further testing at NASA-JSC. This paper presents the preprototype VCDS design, configuration, performance data, test results and flight system projections.

Distillation Kinetics of Solid Mixtures of Hydrogen Peroxide and Water and the Isolation of Pure Hydrogen Peroxide in Ultrahigh Vacuum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Teolis, B. D.; Baragiola, R. A.

2006-01-01

We present results of the growth of thin films of crystalline H2O2 and H2O2.2H2O (dihydrate) in ultrahigh vacuum by distilling an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide. We traced the process using infrared reflectance spectroscopy, mass loss on a quartz crystal microbalance, and in a few cases ultraviolet-visible reflectance. We find that the different crystalline phases-water, dihydrate, and hydrogen peroxide-have very different sublimation rates, making distillation efficient to isolate the less volatile component, crystalline H2O2.

Process for preparing lubricating oil from used waste lubricating oil

DOEpatents

Whisman, Marvin L.; Reynolds, James W.; Goetzinger, John W.; Cotton, Faye O.

1978-01-01

A re-refining process is described by which high-quality finished lubricating oils are prepared from used waste lubricating and crankcase oils. The used oils are stripped of water and low-boiling contaminants by vacuum distillation and then dissolved in a solvent of 1-butanol, 2-propanol and methylethyl ketone, which precipitates a sludge containing most of the solid and liquid contaminants, unspent additives, and oxidation products present in the used oil. After separating the purified oil-solvent mixture from the sludge and recovering the solvent for recycling, the purified oil is preferably fractional vacuum-distilled, forming lubricating oil distillate fractions which are then decolorized and deodorized to prepare blending stocks. The blending stocks are blended to obtain a lubricating oil base of appropriate viscosity before being mixed with an appropriate additive package to form the finished lubricating oil product.

Microstructure Analyses of NA-Nanodiamond Particles

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-01

approximately 5 to 6 nm in diameter, similar to those obtained by distilled water purification . The energy dispersive analyzer from these perfectly well...NOTES 14. ABSTRACT The purification process of detonation diamond nanoparticles was perfectly accomplished using nitric acid at high...pressure nitric acid, whereas the previous detonation diamond nanoparticle was washed with distilled water and purified by oxidation

System for high throughput water extraction from soil material for stable isotope analysis of water

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A major limitation in the use of stable isotope of water in ecological studies is the time that is required to extract water from soil and plant samples. Using vacuum distillation the extraction time can be less than one hour per sample. Therefore, assembling a distillation system that can process m...

Effects of steam distillation and screw-pressing on extraction, composition and functional properties of protein in dehulled coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is a summer annual plant commonly used as fresh green herb, spice, or for its essential oil. An integrated process combined steam distillation, dehulling, and screw pressing to recover the essential oil and edible oil from coriander fruit. The current work determine...

Arsenic Removal and Its Chemistry in Batch Electrocoagulation Studies.

PubMed

Sharma, Anshul; Adapureddy, Sri Malini; Goel, Sudha

2014-04-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different oxidizing agents like light, aeration (by mixing) and electrocoagulation (EC) on the oxidation of As (III) and its subsequent removal in an EC batch reactor. Arsenic solutions prepared using distilled water and groundwater were evaluated. Optimum pH and the effect of varying initial pH on As removal efficiency were also evaluated. MaximumAs (III) removal efficiency with EC, light and aeration was 97% from distilled water and 71% from groundwater. Other results show that EC alone resulted in 90% As removal efficiency in the absence of light and mixing from distilled water and 53.6% from groundwater. Removal with light and mixing but without EC resulted in only 26% As removal from distilled water and 29% from groundwater proving that electro-oxidation and coagulation were more effective in removing arsenic compared to the other oxidizing agents examined. Initial pH was varied from 5 to 10 in distilled water and from 3 to 12 in groundwater for evaluating arsenic removal efficiency by EC. The optimum initial pH for arsenic removal was 7 for distilled water and groundwater. For all initial pHs tested between 5 and 10 in distilled water, the final pH ranged between 7 and 8 indicating that the EC process tends towards near neutral pH under the conditions examined in this study.

Asymptotic violation of Bell inequalities and distillability.

PubMed

Masanes, Lluís

2006-08-04

A multipartite quantum state violates a Bell inequality asymptotically if, after jointly processing by general local operations an arbitrarily large number of copies of it, the result violates the inequality. In the bipartite case we show that asymptotic violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality is equivalent to distillability. Hence, bound entangled states do not violate it. In the multipartite case we consider the complete set of full-correlation Bell inequalities with two dichotomic observables per site. We show that asymptotic violation of any of these inequalities by a multipartite state implies that pure-state entanglement can be distilled from it, although the corresponding distillation protocol may require that some of the parties join into several groups. We also obtain the extreme points of the set of distributions generated by measuring N quantum systems with two dichotomic observables per site.

Selective distillation phenomenon in two-species Bose-Einstein condensates in open boundary optical lattices.

PubMed

Bai, Xiao-Dong; Zhang, Mei; Xiong, Jun; Yang, Guo-Jian; Deng, Fu-Guo

2015-11-24

We investigate the formation of discrete breathers (DBs) and the dynamics of the mixture of two-species Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in open boundary optical lattices using the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations. The results show that the coupling of intra- and interspecies interaction can lead to the existence of pure single-species DBs and symbiotic DBs (i.e., two-species DBs). Furthermore, we find that there is a selective distillation phenomenon in the dynamics of the mixture of two-species BECs. One can selectively distil one species from the mixture of two-species BECs and can even control dominant species fraction by adjusting the intra- and interspecies interaction in optical lattices. Our selective distillation mechanism may find potential application in quantum information storage and quantum information processing based on multi-species atoms.

Selective distillation phenomenon in two-species Bose-Einstein condensates in open boundary optical lattices

PubMed Central

Bai, Xiao-Dong; Zhang, Mei; Xiong, Jun; Yang, Guo-Jian; Deng, Fu-Guo

2015-01-01

We investigate the formation of discrete breathers (DBs) and the dynamics of the mixture of two-species Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in open boundary optical lattices using the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations. The results show that the coupling of intra- and interspecies interaction can lead to the existence of pure single-species DBs and symbiotic DBs (i.e., two-species DBs). Furthermore, we find that there is a selective distillation phenomenon in the dynamics of the mixture of two-species BECs. One can selectively distil one species from the mixture of two-species BECs and can even control dominant species fraction by adjusting the intra- and interspecies interaction in optical lattices. Our selective distillation mechanism may find potential application in quantum information storage and quantum information processing based on multi-species atoms. PMID:26597592

Single-Step Syngas-to-Distillates (S2D) Process Based on Biomass-Derived Syngas – A Techno-Economic Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhu, Yunhua; Jones, Susanne B.; Biddy, Mary J.

2012-08-01

This study reports the comparison of biomass gasification based syngas-to-distillate (S2D) systems using techno-economic analysis (TEA). Three cases, state of technology (SOT) case, goal case, and conventional case, were compared in terms of performance and cost. The SOT case and goal case represent technology being developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for a process starting with syngas using a single-step dual-catalyst reactor for distillate generation (S2D process). The conventional case mirrors the two-step S2D process previously utilized and reported by Mobil using natural gas feedstock and consisting of separate syngas-to-methanol and methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) processes. Analysis of the three cases revealedmore » that the goal case could indeed reduce fuel production cost over the conventional case, but that the SOT was still more expensive than the conventional. The SOT case suffers from low one-pass yield and high selectivity to light hydrocarbons, both of which drive up production cost. Sensitivity analysis indicated that light hydrocarbon yield, single pass conversion efficiency, and reactor space velocity are the key factors driving the high cost for the SOT case.« less

Steam distillation extraction of ginger essential oil: Study of the effect of steam flow rate and time process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fitriady, Muhammad Arifuddin; Sulaswatty, Anny; Agustian, Egi; Salahuddin, Aditama, Deska Prayoga Fauzi

2017-01-01

In Indonesia ginger was usually used as a seasoning for dishes, an ingredient for beverage and a source of herbal medicines. Beside raw usage, ginger can be processed to obtain the essential oil which has many advantages such as proven to be an active antimicrobial and having an antioxidant ability. There are a lot of methods to extract essential oil from ginger, one of which is steam distillation. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of variation of time process and steam flow rate in the yield on ginger essential oil steam distillation extraction process. It was found that the best operation condition was 0.35 ml/s as the steam flow rate which yields 2.43% oil. The optimum time process was predicted at 7.5 hours. The composition of the oil was varied depend on the flow rate and every flow rate has its own major component contained in the oil. Curcumene composition in the oil was increased as increased steam flow rate applied, but the composition of camphene was decreased along with the increasing steam flow rate.

The SRC-II process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmid, B. K.; Jackson, D. M.

1981-03-01

The Solvent Refined Coal (SRC-II) process which produces low-sulfur distillate fuel oil from coal is discussed. The process dissolves coal in a process-derived solvent at elevated temperature and pressure in the presence of hydrogen, separates the undissolved mineral residue, then recovers the original solvent by vacuum distillation. The distillate fuel oil produced is for use largely as a nonpolluting fuel for generating electrical power and steam and is expected to be competitive with petroleum fuels during the 1980s. During this period, the SRC-II fuel oil is expected to be attractive compared with combustion of coal with flue gas desulfurization in U.S. East Coast oil-burning power plants, as well as in small and medium-sized industrial boilers. The substantial quantities of methane, light hydrocarbons and naphtha produced by the process have value as feedstocks for preparation of pipeline gas, ethylene and high-octane unleaded gasoline, and can replace petroleum fractions in many applications. The liquid and gas products from a future large-scale plant, such as the 6000 t/day plant planned for Morgantown, West Virginia, are expected to have an overall selling price of $4.25 to $4.75/GJ.

Optimization of squalene produced from crude palm oil waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wandira, Irda; Legowo, Evita H.; Widiputri, Diah I.

2017-01-01

Squalene is a hydrocarbon originally and still mostly extracted from shark liver oil. Due to environmental issues over shark hunting, there have been efforts to extract squalene from alternative sources, such as Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD), one of crude palm oil (CPO) wastes. Previous researches have shown that squalene can be extracted from PFAD using saponification process followed with liquid-liquid extraction process although the method had yet to be optimized in order to optimize the amount of squalene extracted from PFAD. The optimization was done by optimizing both processes of squalene extraction method: saponification and liquid-liquid extraction. The factors utilized in the saponification process optimization were KOH concentration and saponification duration while during the liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) process optimization, the factors used were the volumes of distilled water and dichloromethane. The optimum percentage of squalene content in the extract (24.08%) was achieved by saponifying the PFAD with 50%w/v KOH for 60 minutes and subjecting the saponified PFAD to LLE, utilizing 100 ml of distilled water along with 3 times addition of fresh dichloromethane, 75 ml each; those factors would be utilized in the optimum squalene extraction method.

Air Stripping Designs and Reactive Water Purification Processes for the Lunar Surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boul, Peter J.; Lange, Kevin; Conger, Bruce; Anderson, Molly

2010-01-01

Air stripping designs are considered to reduce the presence of volatile organic compounds in the purified water. Components of the wastewater streams are ranked by Henry's Law Constant and the suitability of air stripping in the purification of wastewater in terms of component removal is evaluated. Distillation processes are modeled in tandem with air stripping to demonstrate the potential effectiveness and utility of these methods in recycling wastewater on the Moon. Scaling factors for distillation and air stripping columns are presented to account for the difference in the lunar gravitation environment. Commercially available distillation and air stripping units which are considered suitable for Exploration Life Support are presented. The advantages to the various designs are summarized with respect to water purity levels, power consumption, and processing rates. An evaluation of reactive distillation and air stripping is presented with regards to the reduction of volatile organic compounds in the contaminated water and air. Among the methods presented, an architecture is presented for the evaluation of the simultaneous oxidation of organics in air and water. These and other designs are presented in light of potential improvements in power consumptions and air and water purities for architectures which include catalytic activity integrated into the water processor. In particular, catalytic oxidation of organics may be useful as a tool to remove contaminants that more traditional distillation and/or air stripping columns may not remove. A review of the current leading edge at the commercial level and at the research frontier in catalytically active materials is presented. Themes and directions from the engineering developments in catalyst design are presented conceptually in light of developments in the nanoscale chemistry of a variety of catalyst materials.

Silicon production process evaluations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Engineering design of the third distillation column in the process was accomplished. The initial design is based on a 94.35% recovery of dichlorosilane in the distillate and a 99.9% recovery of trichlorosilane in the bottoms. The specified separation is achieved at a reflux ratio of 15 with 20 trays (equilibrium stages). Additional specifications and results are reported including equipment size, temperatures and pressure. Specific raw material requirements necessary to produce the silicon in the process are presented. The primary raw materials include metallurgical grade silicon, silicon tetrachloride, hydrogen, copper (catalyst) and lime (waste treatment). Hydrogen chloride is produced as by product in the silicon deposition. Cost analysis of the process was initiated during this reporting period.

Effectiveness of cross-flow microfiltration for removal of microorganisms associated with unpasteurized liquid egg white from process plant.

PubMed

Mukhopadhyay, S; Tomasula, P M; Van Hekken, D; Luchansky, J B; Call, J E; Porto-Fett, A

2009-08-01

Thermal preservation is used by the egg industry to ensure the microbiological safety of liquid egg white (LEW); however, it does not eliminate all microorganisms and impairs some of the delicate functional properties of LEW. In this study, a pilot-scale cross-flow microfiltration (MF) process was designed to remove the natural microflora present in commercial LEW, obtained from a local egg-breaking plant, while maintaining the nutritional and functional properties of the LEW. LEW, containing approximately 10(6 +/- 1.7) colony forming units (CFU) per milliliter of total aerobic bacteria, was microfiltered using a ceramic membrane with a nominal pore size of 1.4 microm, at a cross-flow velocity of 6 m/s. To facilitate MF, LEW was screened, homogenized, and then diluted (1 : 2, w/w) with distilled water containing 0.5% sodium chloride. Homogenized LEW was found to have a threefold lower viscosity than unhomogenized LEW. Influence of MF temperature (25 and 40 degrees C) and pH (6 and 9) on permeate flux, transmission of egg white nutrients across the membrane, and microbial removal efficiency were evaluated. The pH had a significantly greater influence on permeate flux than temperature. Permeate flux increased by almost 148% when pH of LEW was adjusted from pH 9 to pH 6 at 40 degrees C. Influence of temperature on permeate flux, at a constant pH, however, was found to be inconclusive. Microbial removal efficiency was at least 5 log(10) CFU/mL. Total protein and SDS-PAGE analysis indicated that this MF process did not alter the protein composition of the permeate, compared to that of the feed LEW, and that the foaming properties of LEW were retained in the postfiltered samples.

Effect of salinity and temperature on treatment of concentrated wastewater from RO by FO-MD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yingru; Huang, Manhong; Deng, Qian

2018-02-01

In this study the appropriate temperature of the membrane distillation (MD) hot side (the permeation flux of MD was controlled by adjusting the hot side temperature) was selected according to the water flux of FO process so that the water transfer rate on both sides of FO and MD was consistent and the FO-MD process could be stable operation. When the salt concentration of feed solution was 30, 55, 80 and 100 g/L, the desalination rates changed little, which were 99.1%, 98.4%, 98.9% and 98.7%, respectively. The removal rate of COD was 93.8%, 94.2%, 91.6% and 92.7% which also changed little like the desalination rates. The removal rate of chromaticity increased with the increase of salinity, which attained 96.6%, 97.0%, 97.2% and 97.9%, respectively. This study proved that salinity of the feed solution affected little on the removal rate of contaminants but great on the water flux, with the increase of salinity from 30 to 100 g/L, the water flux was 6.05, 4.81, 4.33 and 3.87 LMH with the appropriate temperature (67.5±0.5, 64.5±0.5, 62.5±0.5 and 60.5±0.5 °C) of MD hot side. In a word, FO-MD was first used to treat the high salinity RO water with over 30 g/L total dissolved solids (TDS), FO-MD was a promising new process for high salinity wastewater treatment, and the hybrid system can solve the problem of lower draw solution concentration, and the high-quality production water will be obtained directly by this hybrid system with low membrane fouling tendency.

Process integration of crude oil distillation with technological and economic restrictions.

PubMed

Ulyev, Leonid; Vasiliev, Mikhail; Boldyryev, Stanislav

2018-09-15

The petrochemical industry is one of the most important industries in the world economy. In the largest oil-producing countries, more than half of GDP is generated by hydrocarbons production and refining. Reduction of oil prices and new environmental regulations are forcing petrochemical companies to improve their energy efficiency. Improvement of the energy efficiency of Crude oil distillation process at atmospheric vacuum distillation unit (AVDU) with a capacity of 3.3 million ton per year is considered in this paper. The amount of fuel spent for reprocessing of one ton of crude oil has been defined and it is 3.79 kg of natural gas. This paper shows the ways to achieve the objectives of retrofit in the context of administrative and technical restrictions. The retrofit goal was achieved by the retrofit of the heat exchange network, which allowed reducing gas consumption by 0.98 t/h (natural gas). The provided case studies show the pathway for efficient retrofit of crude oil distillation and most profitable ways for investment taking into account various administrative and technical constraints. The results of this work allow achieving reduction of energy consumption by 26%. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced direct coal liquefaction concepts. Quarterly report, January 1, 1994--March 31, 1994

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berger, D.J.; Parker, R.J.; Simpson, P.L.

A detailed evaluation of the bench unit data on Black Thunder feedstocks was completed. The results show that in a once-through operation using counterflow, reactor technology coal conversions in excess of 90% could be obtained, giving distillable oil yields in the range 60--65 wt % on MAF coal. The remaining non-distillable oil fraction which represents 20--25 wt % on MAF coal is a source of additional distillable oil in further processing, for example, bottoms recycle operation. C{sub 1}-C{sub 3} gas yields were generally in the order of 6--8 wt %. In autoclave studies, Illinois No. 6 coal was found tomore » be much less reactive than Black Thunder coal, and did not respond well to solubilization with carbon monoxide/steam. Process severity was, therefore, increased for bench unit operations on Illinois No. 6 coal, and work has concentrated on the use of hydrogen rather than carbon monoxide for solubilization. Preliminary coking studies on the resid from bench unit runs on Black Thunder coal were also carried out. Distillable liquid yields of 55--60 wt % were obtained. The technical and economic study to be carried out by Kilborn Engineering Company has been initiated.« less

Optimization and modeling for the synthesis of sterol esters from deodorizer distillate by lipase-catalyzed esterification.

PubMed

Zhang, Xinyu; Yu, Jiang; Zeng, Aiwu

2017-03-01

In this paper, cotton seed oil deodorizer distillate (CSODD), was recovered to obtain fatty acid sterol ester (FASE), which is one of the biological activated substances added as human therapeutic to lower cholesterol. Esterification reactions were carried out using Candida rugosa lipase as a catalyst, and the conversion of phytosterol was optimized using response surface methodology. The highest conversion (90.8 ± 0.4%) was reached at 0.84 wt% enzyme load, 1:25 solvent/CSODD mass ratio, and 44.2 °C after 12 H reaction. A kinetic model based on the reaction rate equation was developed to describe the reaction process. The activation energy of the reaction was calculated to be 56.9 kJ/mol and the derived kinetic parameters provided indispensable basics for further study. The optimization and kinetic research of synthesizing FASE from deodorizer distillate provided necessary information for the industrial applications in the near future. Experimental results showed that the proposed process is a promising alternative to recycle sterol esters from vegetable oil deodorizer distillates in a mild, efficient, and environmental friendly method. © 2016 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Production of bio-fuel ethanol from distilled grain waste eluted from Chinese spirit making process.

PubMed

Tan, Li; Sun, Zhaoyong; Zhang, Wenxue; Tang, Yueqin; Morimura, Shigeru; Kida, Kenji

2014-10-01

Distilled grain waste eluted from Chinese spirit making is rich in carbohydrates, and could potentially serve as feedstock for the production of bio-fuel ethanol. Our study evaluated two types of saccharification methods that convert distilled grain waste to monosaccharides: enzymatic saccharification and concentrated H2SO4 saccharification. Results showed that enzymatic saccharification performed unsatisfactorily because of inefficient removal of lignin during pretreatment. Concentrated H2SO4 saccharification led to a total sugar recovery efficiency of 79.0 %, and to considerably higher sugar concentrations than enzymatic saccharification. The process of ethanol production from distilled grain waste based on concentrated H2SO4 saccharification was then studied. The process mainly consisted of concentrated H2SO4 saccharification, solid-liquid separation, decoloration, sugar-acid separation, oligosaccharide hydrolysis, and continuous ethanol fermentation. An improved simulated moving bed system was employed to separate sugars from acid after concentrated H2SO4 saccharification, by which 95.8 % of glucose and 85.8 % of xylose went into the sugar-rich fraction, while 83.3 % of H2SO4 went into the acid-rich fraction. A flocculating yeast strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae KF-7, was used for continuous ethanol fermentation, which produced an ethanol yield of 91.9-98.9 %, based on glucose concentration.

Combination of supercritical CO2 and vacuum distillation for the fractionation of bergamot oil.

PubMed

Fang, Tao; Goto, Motonobu; Sasaki, Mitsuru; Hirose, Tsutomu

2004-08-11

Supercritical CO2 can be used to separate oxygenated compounds from essential oils. This technique still cannot replace vacuum distillation as an industrial process because of low recoveries and inconsistent results. In the present work, a comparison between the two methods was made in terms of composition, recovery, and color. Vacuum distillation and supercritical CO2 are complementary processes for producing high quality oxygenated compounds with high recovery rates. The former is more suitable for removing monoterpenes at low fraction temperatures (< or =308 K), and the latter is more suitable for separating oxygenated compounds from pigments and waxes. Consequently, the two methods were combined. For supercritical CO2 fractionation, the parameters of pressure, temperature gradient, and the ratio of solvent to feed were investigated for the fractionation of oxygenated compounds with high recoveries (> or =85%) and without other macromolecules, such as pigments and waxes.

Methods of producing transportation fuel

DOEpatents

Nair, Vijay [Katy, TX; Roes, Augustinus Wilhelmus Maria [Houston, TX; Cherrillo, Ralph Anthony [Houston, TX; Bauldreay, Joanna M [Chester, GB

2011-12-27

Systems, methods, and heaters for treating a subsurface formation are described herein. At least one method for producing transportation fuel is described herein. The method for producing transportation fuel may include providing formation fluid having a boiling range distribution between -5.degree. C. and 350.degree. C. from a subsurface in situ heat treatment process to a subsurface treatment facility. A liquid stream may be separated from the formation fluid. The separated liquid stream may be hydrotreated and then distilled to produce a distilled stream having a boiling range distribution between 150.degree. C. and 350.degree. C. The distilled liquid stream may be combined with one or more additives to produce transportation fuel.

Integrated butanol recovery for an advanced biofuel: current state and prospects.

PubMed

Xue, Chuang; Zhao, Jing-Bo; Chen, Li-Jie; Bai, Feng-Wu; Yang, Shang-Tian; Sun, Jian-Xin

2014-04-01

Butanol has recently gained increasing interest due to escalating prices in petroleum fuels and concerns on the energy crisis. However, the butanol production cost with conventional acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation by Clostridium spp. was higher than that of petrochemical processes due to the low butanol titer, yield, and productivity in bioprocesses. In particular, a low butanol titer usually leads to an extremely high recovery cost. Conventional biobutanol recovery by distillation is an energy-intensive process, which has largely restricted the economic production of biobutanol. This article thus reviews the latest studies on butanol recovery techniques including gas stripping, liquid-liquid extraction, adsorption, and membrane-based techniques, which can be used for in situ recovery of inhibitory products to enhance butanol production. The productivity of the fermentation system is improved efficiently using the in situ recovery technology; however, the recovered butanol titer remains low due to the limitations from each one of these recovery technologies, especially when the feed butanol concentration is lower than 1 % (w/v). Therefore, several innovative multi-stage hybrid processes have been proposed and are discussed in this review. These hybrid processes including two-stage gas stripping and multi-stage pervaporation have high butanol selectivity, considerably higher energy and production efficiency, and should outperform the conventional processes using single separation step or method. The development of these new integrated processes will give a momentum for the sustainable production of industrial biobutanol.

Evaluation of Biomass-Derived Distillate Fuel as Renewable Heating Oil

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mante, Ofei D.; Butcher, Thomas A.; Wei, George

The utilization of advanced biofuels in stationary applications, such as home heating, is considered as an early entry point for biomass-derived fuels into the distillate fuel market sector. Two renewable fuels produced by a biomass fluidized catalytic cracking (BFCC) process, followed by hydroprocessing and fractionation, were tested. The evaluation was performed on a pure (100%) distillate fraction, 50% blend of the distillate fraction with petroleum-based heating oil, and 20% blend of a heavier gas oil fraction. Combustion experiments were carried out in a transparent quartz chamber and a typical oil-fired residential boiler. The flame stability, size, and shape produced bymore » the fuels were examined. The flue gas was analyzed for O 2, CO, NO x, and smoke. The elastomer compatibility test was performed with nitrile slabs at 43 °C for 1 month. Fuel stability was examined at 80 °C for 1 week. The results from the combustion studies suggest that the distillate fuel blends could be used as alternative fuels to No. 2 heating oil, even up to 100% without any operational issues. The distillate fuels were found to be stable. and the nitrile slab volume swell (~10%) suggests that the fuel could be compatible to legacy elastomers.« less

Compact sieve-tray distillation column for ammonia-water absorption heat pump: Part 1 -- Design methodology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anand, G.; Erickson, D.C.

1999-07-01

The distillation column is a key component of ammonia-water absorption units including advanced generator-absorber heat exchange (GAX) cycle heat pumps. The design of the distillation column is critical to unit performance, size, and cost. The distillation column can be designed with random packing, structured packing, or various tray configurations. A sieve-tray distillation column is the least complicated tray design and is less costly than high-efficiency packing. Substantial literature is available on sieve tray design and performance. However, most of the correlations and design recommendations were developed for large industrial hydrocarbon systems and are generally not directly applicable to the compactmore » ammonia-water column discussed here. The correlations were reviewed and modified as appropriate for this application, and a sieve-tray design model was developed. This paper presents the sieve-tray design methodology for highly compact ammonia-water columns. A conceptual design of the distillation column for an 8 ton vapor exchange (VX) GAX heat pump is presented, illustrating relevant design parameters and trends. The design process revealed several issues that have to be investigated experimentally to design the final optimized rectifier. Validation of flooding and weeping limits and tray/point efficiencies are of primary importance.« less

Evaluation of Biomass-Derived Distillate Fuel as Renewable Heating Oil

DOE PAGES

Mante, Ofei D.; Butcher, Thomas A.; Wei, George; ...

2015-09-18

The utilization of advanced biofuels in stationary applications, such as home heating, is considered as an early entry point for biomass-derived fuels into the distillate fuel market sector. Two renewable fuels produced by a biomass fluidized catalytic cracking (BFCC) process, followed by hydroprocessing and fractionation, were tested. The evaluation was performed on a pure (100%) distillate fraction, 50% blend of the distillate fraction with petroleum-based heating oil, and 20% blend of a heavier gas oil fraction. Combustion experiments were carried out in a transparent quartz chamber and a typical oil-fired residential boiler. The flame stability, size, and shape produced bymore » the fuels were examined. The flue gas was analyzed for O 2, CO, NO x, and smoke. The elastomer compatibility test was performed with nitrile slabs at 43 °C for 1 month. Fuel stability was examined at 80 °C for 1 week. The results from the combustion studies suggest that the distillate fuel blends could be used as alternative fuels to No. 2 heating oil, even up to 100% without any operational issues. The distillate fuels were found to be stable. and the nitrile slab volume swell (~10%) suggests that the fuel could be compatible to legacy elastomers.« less

Cascade Distillation Subsystem Development: Progress Toward a Distillation Comparison Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callahan, M. R.; Lubman, A.; Pickering, Karen D.

2009-01-01

Recovery of potable water from wastewater is essential for the success of long-duration manned missions to the Moon and Mars. Honeywell International and a team from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) are developing a wastewater processing subsystem that is based on centrifugal vacuum distillation. The wastewater processor, referred to as the Cascade Distillation Subsystem (CDS), utilizes an innovative and efficient multistage thermodynamic process to produce purified water. The rotary centrifugal design of the system also provides gas/liquid phase separation and liquid transport under microgravity conditions. A five-stage subsystem unit has been designed, built, delivered and integrated into the NASA JSC Advanced Water Recovery Systems Development Facility for performance testing. A major test objective of the project is to demonstrate the advancement of the CDS technology from the breadboard level to a subsystem level unit. An initial round of CDS performance testing was completed in fiscal year (FY) 2008. Based on FY08 testing, the system is now in development to support an Exploration Life Support (ELS) Project distillation comparison test expected to begin in early 2009. As part of the project objectives planned for FY09, the system will be reconfigured to support the ELS comparison test. The CDS will then be challenged with a series of human-gene-rated waste streams representative of those anticipated for a lunar outpost. This paper provides a description of the CDS technology, a status of the current project activities, and data on the system s performance to date.

[Eosin Y-water test for sperm function examination].

PubMed

Zha, Shu-wei; Lü, Nian-qing; Xu, Hao-qin

2015-06-01

Based on the principles of the in vitro staining technique, hypotonic swelling test, and water test, the Eosin Y-water test method was developed to simultaneously detect the integrity of the sperm head and tail and sperm membrane structure and function. As a widely used method in clinical laboratories in China, the Eosin Y-water test is methodologically characterized by three advantages. Firstly, both the sperm head and tail can be detected at the same time, which allows easy and comprehensive assessment of membrane damage in different parts of sperm. Secondly, distilled water is used instead of the usual formula solution to simplify and standardize the test by eliminating any potential effects on the water molecules through the sperm membrane due to different osmotic pressure or different sugar proportions and electrolyte solutions. Thirdly, the test takes less time and thus can be repeated before and after treatment. This article focuses on the fundamental principles and modification of the Eosin Y-water test and its application in sperm function examination and routine semen analysis for male infertility, assessment of the quality of sperm retrieved by testicular fine needle aspiration, semen cryopreservation program development, and evaluation of sperm membrane integrity after microwave radiation.

Honeywell Cascade Distiller System Performance Testing Interim Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callahan, Michael R.; Sargusingh, Miriam

2014-01-01

The ability to recover and purify water through physiochemical processes is crucial for realizing long-term human space missions, including both planetary habitation and space travel. Because of their robust nature, distillation systems have been actively pursued as one of the technologies for water recovery. The Cascade Distillation System (CDS) is a vacuum rotary distillation system with potential for greater reliability and lower energy costs than existing distillation systems. The CDS was previously under development through Honeywell and NASA. In 2009, an assessment was performed to collect data to support down-selection and development of a primary distillation technology for application in a lunar outpost water recovery system. Based on the results of this testing, an expert panel concluded that the CDS showed adequate development maturity, TRL-4, together with the best product water quality and competitive weight and power estimates to warrant further development. The Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Water Recovery Project (WRP) worked to address weaknesses identified by The Panel; namely bearing design and heat pump power efficiency. Testing at the NASA-JSC Advanced Exploration System Water Laboratory (AES Water Lab) using a prototype Cascade Distillation Subsystem (CDS) wastewater processor (Honeywell International, Torrance, Calif.) with test support equipment and control system developed by Johnson Space Center was performed to evaluate performance of the system with the upgrades. The CDS will also have been challenged with ISS analog waste streams and a subset of those being considered for Exploration architectures. This paper details interim results of the AES WRP CDS performance testing.

Application of vacuum reduction and chlorinated distillation to enrich and prepare pure germanium from coal fly ash.

PubMed

Zhang, Lingen; Xu, Zhenming

2017-01-05

Germanium, as strategic reserve metal, plays critical role in high-tech industry. However, a contradiction of increasing consumption and scarcity of germanium resource is becoming more and more prominent. This paper proposed an integrated process to recycle germanium from coal fly ash. This technological process mainly consisted of two procedures: vacuum reduction with the purposes of enriching germanium and chlorinated distillation with the purposes of purifying germanium. Several highlights are summarized as follows: (i) Separation principle and reaction mechanism were discussed to understand this integrated process. (ii) Optimum designs and product analysis were developed to guide industrial recycling. The appropriate parameters for vacuum reduction process on the basis of response surface methodology (RSM) were 920.53°C and 259.63Pa, with 16.64wt.% reductant, and for the chlorinated distillation process, adding 8mol/l HCl and L/S 7, 8wt.% MnO 2 . The global recovery rate of germanium was 83.48±0.36% for the integrated process. (iii) This process overcomes the shortages of traditional process and shows its efficiency and environmental performance. It is significant in accordance with the "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Principle" for solid waste and further provides a new opportunity for germanium recovery from waste by environment-friendly way. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Antibacterial Potential Assessment of Jasmine Essential Oil Against E. Coli

PubMed Central

Rath, C. C.; Devi, S.; Dash, S. K.; Mishra, R. K.

2008-01-01

The antibacterial activity of Jasmine (Jasminum sambac L.) flower hydro steam distilled essential oil, synthetic blends and six major individual components was assessed against Escherichia coli (MTCC-443) strain. The activity was bactericidal. Minimum inhibitory concentration was determined by tube dilution technique, and the Minimum inhibitory concentration ranged between 1.9-31.25 μl/ml. Phenolcoefficient of the oil, synthetic blends and components varied between 0.6-1.7. The activity of the chemicals was possibly due to the inhibition of cell membrane synthesis. PMID:20046722

Effects of corn processing method and dietary inclusion of wet distiller's grains with solubles on energy metabolism, carbon-nitrogen balance, and methane emissions of cattle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The growing ethanol industry in the Southern Great Plains has increased the use of wet distiller's grains with solubles (WDGS) in beef cattle finishing diets. Few studies have used steam-flaked corn (SFC)-based diets to evaluate the effects of WDGS in finishing cattle diets, and a reliable estimate ...

Pretreatment of dried distillers grains with solubles by soaking in aqueous ammonia and subsequent enzymatic/dilute acid hydrolysis to produce fermentable sugars

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), a co-product of corn ethanol production in the dry-grind process, was pretreated by soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA) using a 15% w/w NH4OH solution at a solid:liquid ratio of 1:10. The effect of pretreatment on subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis was studied...

Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) physiochemical waste management systems evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oleson, M.; Slavin, T.; Liening, F.; Olson, R. L.

1986-01-01

Parametric data for six waste management subsystems considered for use on the Space Station are compared, i.e.: (1) dry incineration; (2) wet oxidation; (3) supercritical water oxidation; (4) vapor compression distillation; (5) thermoelectric integrated membrane evaporation system; and (6) vapor phase catalytic ammonia removal. The parameters selected for comparison are on-orbit weight and volume, resupply and return to Earth logistics, power consumption, and heat rejection. Trades studies are performed on subsystem parameters derived from the most recent literature. The Boeing Engineering Trade Study (BETS), an environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) trade study computer program developed by Boeing Aerospace Company, is used to properly size the subsystems under study. The six waste treatment subsystems modeled in this program are sized to process the wastes for a 90-day Space Station mission with an 8-person crew, and an emergency supply period of 28 days. The resulting subsystem parameters are compared not only on an individual subsystem level but also as part of an integrated ECLSS.

40 CFR 80.513 - What provisions apply to transmix processing facilities?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... processing. This section applies to refineries that produce diesel fuel from transmix by distillation or other refining processes but do not produce diesel fuel by processing crude oil. This section only...

Vacuum distillation residue upgrading by an indigenous bacillus cereus

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Biological processing of heavy fractions of crude oils offers less severe process conditions and higher selectivity for refining. Biochemical Processes are expected to be low demand energy processes and certainly ecofriendly. Results A strain of biosurfactant producing bacterium was isolated from an oil contaminated soil at Tehran refinery distillation unit. Based on selected phenotypic and genotypic characteristic including morphology, biochemical proprety, and 16 SrRNA sequencing identified as a novel strain of Bacillus cereus (JQ178332). This bacterium endures a wide range of pH, salinity and temperature. This specific strain utilizes both paraffin and anthracene as samples of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The ability of this bacterium to acquire all its energy and chemical requirements from Vacuum Distillation Residue (VR), as a net sample of problematic hydrocarbons in refineries, was studied. SARA test ASTM D4124-01 revealed 65.5% decrease in asphaltenic, 22.1% in aliphatics and 30.3% in Aromatics content of the VR in MSM medium. Further results with 0.9% saline showed 55% decrease in asphaltene content and 2.1% Aromatics respectively. Conclusion Remarkable abilities of this microorganism propose its application in an ecofriendly technology to upgrade heavy crude oils. PMID:24499629

Vacuum distillation residue upgrading by an indigenous Bacillus cereus.

PubMed

Tabatabaee, Mitra Sadat; Mazaheri Assadi, Mahnaz

2013-07-16

Biological processing of heavy fractions of crude oils offers less severe process conditions and higher selectivity for refining. Biochemical Processes are expected to be low demand energy processes and certainly ecofriendly. A strain of biosurfactant producing bacterium was isolated from an oil contaminated soil at Tehran refinery distillation unit. Based on selected phenotypic and genotypic characteristic including morphology, biochemical proprety, and 16 SrRNA sequencing identified as a novel strain of Bacillus cereus (JQ178332). This bacterium endures a wide range of pH, salinity and temperature. This specific strain utilizes both paraffin and anthracene as samples of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The ability of this bacterium to acquire all its energy and chemical requirements from Vacuum Distillation Residue (VR), as a net sample of problematic hydrocarbons in refineries, was studied. SARA test ASTM D4124-01 revealed 65.5% decrease in asphaltenic, 22.1% in aliphatics and 30.3% in Aromatics content of the VR in MSM medium. Further results with 0.9% saline showed 55% decrease in asphaltene content and 2.1% Aromatics respectively. Remarkable abilities of this microorganism propose its application in an ecofriendly technology to upgrade heavy crude oils.

Life Testing of the Vapor Compression Distillation/Urine Processing Assembly (VCD/UPA) at the Marshall Space Flight Center (1993 to 1997)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wieland, P.; Hutchens, C.; Long, D.; Salyer, B.

1998-01-01

Wastewater and urine generated on the International Space Station will be processed to recover pure water using vapor compression distillation (VCD). To verify the long-term reliability and performance of the VCD Urine Processor Assembly (UPA), life testing was performed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) from January 1993 to April 1996. Two UPA'S, the VCD-5 and VCD-5A, were tested for 204 days and 665 days, respectively. The compressor gears and the distillation centrifuge drive belt were found to have operating lives of approximately 4,800 hours, equivalent to 3.9 years of operation on ISS for a crew of three at an average processing rate of 1.76 kg/h (3.97 lb/h). Precise alignment of the flex-splines of the fluids and purge pump motor drives is essential to avoid premature failure after about 400 hours of operation. Results indicate that, with some design and procedural modifications and suitable quality control, the required performance and operational life can be met with the VCD/UPA.

Life Testing of the Vapor Compression Distillation Urine Processing Assembly (VCD/UPA) at the Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wieland, Paul O.

1998-01-01

Wastewater and urine generated on the International Space Station will be processed to recover pure water. The method selected is vapor compression distillation (VCD). To verify the long-term reliability and performance of the VCD Urine Processing Assembly (UPA), accelerated life testing was performed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) from January 1993 to April 1996. Two UPAS, the VCD-5 and VCD-5A, were tested for 204 days and 665 days, respectively. The compressor gears and the distillation centrifuge drive belt were found to have an operating life of approximately 4800 hours. Precise alignment of the flex-spline of the fluids pump is essential to avoid failure of the pump after about 400 hours of operation. Also, leakage around the seals of the drive shaft of the fluids pump and purge pump must be eliminated for continued good performance. Results indicate that, with some design and procedural modifications and suitable quality control, the required performance and operational life can be met with the VCD/UPA.

Fractional Multistage Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Biomass and Catalytic Conversion into Hydrocarbons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cortright, Randy; Rozmiarek, Robert; Dally, Brice

2017-08-31

The objective of this project was to develop an improved multistage process for the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of biomass to serve as a new front-end, deconstruction process ideally suited to feed Virent’s well-proven catalytic technology, which is already being scaled up. This process produced water soluble, partially de-oxygenated intermediates that are ideally suited for catalytic finishing to fungible distillate hydrocarbons. Through this project, Virent, with its partners, demonstrated the conversion of pine wood chips to drop-in hydrocarbon distillate fuels using a multi-stage fractional conversion system that is integrated with Virent’s BioForming® process. The majority of work was in the liquefactionmore » task and included temperature scoping, solvent optimization, and separations.« less

Sterilization of fermentation vessels by ethanol/water mixtures

DOEpatents

Wyman, Charles E.

1999-02-09

A method for sterilizing process fermentation vessels with a concentrated alcohol and water mixture integrated in a fuel alcohol or other alcohol production facility. Hot, concentrated alcohol is drawn from a distillation or other purification stage and sprayed into the empty fermentation vessels. This sterilizing alcohol/water mixture should be of a sufficient concentration, preferably higher than 12% alcohol by volume, to be toxic to undesirable microorganisms. Following sterilization, this sterilizing alcohol/water mixture can be recovered back into the same distillation or other purification stage from which it was withdrawn. The process of this invention has its best application in, but is not limited to, batch fermentation processes, wherein the fermentation vessels must be emptied, cleaned, and sterilized following completion of each batch fermentation process.

Sequential Elution of Essential Oil Constituents during Steam Distillation of Hops (Humulus lupulus L.) and Influence on Oil Yield and Antimicrobial Activity.

PubMed

Jeliazkova, Ekaterina; Zheljazkov, Valtcho D; Kačániova, Miroslava; Astatkie, Tess; Tekwani, Babu L

2018-06-07

The profile and bioactivity of hops (Humulus lupulus L.) essential oil, a complex natural product extracted from cones via steam distillation, depends on genetic and environmental factors, and may also depend on extraction process. We hypothesized that compound mixtures eluted sequentially and captured at different timeframes during the steam distillation process of whole hop cones would have differential chemical and bioactivity profiles. The essential oil was collected sequentially at 8 distillation time (DT) intervals: 0-2, 2-5, 5-10, 10-30, 30-60, 60-120, 120-180, and 180-240 min. The control was a 4-h non-interrupted distillation. Nonlinear regression models described the DT and essential oil compounds relationship. Fractions yielded 0.035 to 0.313% essential oil, while control yielded 1.47%. The oil eluted during the first hour was 83.2%, 9.6% during the second hour, and only 7.2% during the second half of the distillation. Essential oil (EO) fractions had different chemical profile. Monoterpenes were eluted early, while sequiterpenes were eluted late. Myrcene and linalool were the highest in 0-2 min fraction, β-caryophyllene, β-copaene, β-farnesene, and α-humulene were highest in fractions from middle of distillation, whereas α- bergamotene, γ-muurolene, β- and α-selinene, γ- and δ-cadinene, caryophyllene oxide, humulne epoxide II, τ-cadinol, and 6-pentadecen-2-one were highest in 120-180 or 180-240 min fractions. The Gram-negative Escherichia coli was strongly inhibited by essential oil fractions from 2-5 min and 10-30 min, followed by oil fraction from 0-2 min. The strongest inhibition activity against Gram-negative Yersinia enterocolitica, and Gram-positive Clostridium perfringens, Enterococcus faecalis, and Staphylococcus aureus subs. aureus was observed with the control essential oil. This is the first study to describe significant activity of hops essential oils against Trypanosoma brucei, a parasitic protozoan that causes African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in other animals). Hops essential oil fractions or whole oil may be used as antimicrobial agents or for the development of new drugs.

Compact continuous-variable entanglement distillation.

PubMed

Datta, Animesh; Zhang, Lijian; Nunn, Joshua; Langford, Nathan K; Feito, Alvaro; Plenio, Martin B; Walmsley, Ian A

2012-02-10

We introduce a new scheme for continuous-variable entanglement distillation that requires only linear temporal and constant physical or spatial resources. Distillation is the process by which high-quality entanglement may be distributed between distant nodes of a network in the unavoidable presence of decoherence. The known versions of this protocol scale exponentially in space and doubly exponentially in time. Our optimal scheme therefore provides exponential improvements over existing protocols. It uses a fixed-resource module-an entanglement distillery-comprising only four quantum memories of at most 50% storage efficiency and allowing a feasible experimental implementation. Tangible quantum advantages are obtainable by using existing off-resonant Raman quantum memories outside their conventional role of storage.

Process design and optimization of novel wheat-based continuous bioethanol production system.

PubMed

Arifeen, Najmul; Wang, Ruohang; Kookos, Ioannis K; Webb, Colin; Koutinas, Apostolis A

2007-01-01

A novel design of a wheat-based biorefinery for bioethanol production, including wheat milling, gluten extraction as byproduct, fungal submerged fermentation for enzyme production, starch hydrolysis, fungal biomass autolysis for nutrient regeneration, yeast fermentation with recycling integrated with a pervaporation membrane for ethanol concentration, and fuel-grade ethanol purification by pressure swing distillation (PSD), was optimized in continuous mode using the equation-based software General Algebraic Modelling System (GAMS). The novel wheat biorefining strategy could result in a production cost within the range of dollars 0.96-0.50 gal(-1) ethanol (dollars 0.25-0.13 L(-1) ethanol) when the production capacity of the plant is within the range of 10-33.5 million gal y(-1) (37.85-126.8 million L y(-1)). The production of value-added byproducts (e.g., bran-rich pearlings, gluten, pure yeast cells) was identified as a crucial factor for improving the economics of fuel ethanol production from wheat. Integration of yeast fermentation with pervaporation membrane could result in the concentration of ethanol in the fermentation outlet stream (up to 40 mol %). The application of a PSD system that consisted of a low-pressure and a high-pressure column and employing heat integration between the high- and low-pressure columns resulted in reduced operating cost (up to 44%) for fuel-grade ethanol production.

Glycerol extracting dealcoholization for the biodiesel separation process.

PubMed

Ye, Jianchu; Sha, Yong; Zhang, Yun; Yuan, Yunlong; Wu, Housheng

2011-04-01

By means of utilizing sunflower oil and Jatropha oil as raw oil respectively, the biodiesel transesterification production and the multi-stage extracting separation were carried out experimentally. Results indicate that dealcoholized crude glycerol can be utilized as the extracting agent to achieve effective separation of methanol from the methyl ester phase, and the glycerol content in the dealcoholized methyl esters is as low as 0.02 wt.%. For the biodiesel separation process utilizing glycerol extracting dealcoholization, its technical and equipment information were acquired through the rigorous process simulation in contrast to the traditional biodiesel distillation separation process, and results show that its energy consumption decrease about 35% in contrast to that of the distillation separation process. The glycerol extracting dealcoholization has sufficient feasibility and superiority for the biodiesel separation process. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF VACUUM SALT DISTILLATION AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pierce, R.; Pak, D.; Edwards, T.

2010-10-28

The Savannah River Site has a mission to dissolve fissile materials and disposition them. The primary fissile material is plutonium dioxide (PuO{sub 2}). To support dissolution of these materials, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) designed and demonstrated a vacuum salt distillation (VSD) apparatus using both representative radioactive samples and non-radioactive simulant materials. Vacuum salt distillation, through the removal of chloride salts, increases the quantity of materials suitable for processing in the site's HB-Line Facility. Small-scale non-radioactive experiments at 900-950 C show that >99.8 wt % of the initial charge of chloride salt distilled from the sample boat with recoverymore » of >99.8 wt % of the ceric oxide (CeO{sub 2}) - the surrogate for PuO{sub 2} - as a non-chloride bearing 'product'. Small-scale radioactive testing in a glovebox demonstrated the removal of sodium chloride (NaCl) and potassium chloride (KCl) from 13 PuO{sub 2} samples. Chloride concentrations were distilled from a starting concentration of 1.8-10.8 wt % to a final concentration <500 mg/kg chloride. Initial testing of a non-radioactive, full-scale production prototype is complete. A designed experiment evaluated the impact of distillation temperature, time at temperature, vacuum, product depth, and presence of a boat cover. Significant effort has been devoted to mechanical considerations to facilitate simplified operation in a glovebox.« less

Catalytic amino acid production from biomass-derived intermediates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Deng, Weiping; Wang, Yunzhu; Zhang, Sui

Amino acids are the building blocks for protein biosynthesis and find use in myriad industrial applications including in food for humans, in animal feed, and as precursors for bio-based plastics, among others. However, the development of efficient chemical methods to convert abundant and renewable feedstocks into amino acids has been largely unsuccessful to date. To that end, here we report a heterogeneous catalyst that directly transforms lignocellulosic biomass-derived a-hydroxyl acids into a-amino acids, including alanine, leucine, valine, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine in high yields. The reaction follows a dehydrogenation-reductive amination pathway, with dehydrogenation as the rate-determining step. Ruthenium nanoparticles supportedmore » on carbon nanotubes (Ru/CNT) exhibit exceptional efficiency compared with catalysts based on other metals, due to the unique, reversible enhancement effect of NH 3 on Ru in dehydrogenation. Based on the catalytic system, a two-step chemical process was designed to convert glucose into alanine in 43% yield, comparable with the well-established microbial cultivation process, and therefore, the present strategy enables a route for the production of amino acids from renewable feedstocks. Moreover, a conceptual process design employing membrane distillation to facilitate product purification is proposed and validated. Overall, this study offers a rapid and potentially more efficient chemical method to produce amino acids from woody biomass components.« less

Catalytic amino acid production from biomass-derived intermediates

PubMed Central

Deng, Weiping; Zhang, Sui; Gupta, Krishna M.; Hülsey, Max J.; Asakura, Hiroyuki; Liu, Lingmei; Han, Yu; Karp, Eric M.; Jiang, Jianwen; Tanaka, Tsunehiro; Wang, Ye

2018-01-01

Amino acids are the building blocks for protein biosynthesis and find use in myriad industrial applications including in food for humans, in animal feed, and as precursors for bio-based plastics, among others. However, the development of efficient chemical methods to convert abundant and renewable feedstocks into amino acids has been largely unsuccessful to date. To that end, here we report a heterogeneous catalyst that directly transforms lignocellulosic biomass-derived α-hydroxyl acids into α-amino acids, including alanine, leucine, valine, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine in high yields. The reaction follows a dehydrogenation-reductive amination pathway, with dehydrogenation as the rate-determining step. Ruthenium nanoparticles supported on carbon nanotubes (Ru/CNT) exhibit exceptional efficiency compared with catalysts based on other metals, due to the unique, reversible enhancement effect of NH3 on Ru in dehydrogenation. Based on the catalytic system, a two-step chemical process was designed to convert glucose into alanine in 43% yield, comparable with the well-established microbial cultivation process, and therefore, the present strategy enables a route for the production of amino acids from renewable feedstocks. Moreover, a conceptual process design employing membrane distillation to facilitate product purification is proposed and validated. Overall, this study offers a rapid and potentially more efficient chemical method to produce amino acids from woody biomass components. PMID:29712826

Changes in volatile composition and sensory attributes of wines during alcohol content reduction.

PubMed

Longo, Rocco; Blackman, John W; Torley, Peter J; Rogiers, Suzy Y; Schmidtke, Leigh M

2017-01-01

A desirable sensory profile is a major consumer driver for wine acceptability and should be considered during the production of reduced-alcohol wines. Although various viticultural practices and microbiological approaches show promising results, separation technologies such as membrane filtration, in particular reverse osmosis and evaporative perstraction, in addition to vacuum distillation, represent the most common commercial methods used to produce reduced-alcohol wine. However, ethanol removal from wine can result in a significant loss of volatile compounds such as esters (ethyl octanoate, ethyl acetate, isoamyl acetate) that contribute positively to the overall perceived aroma. These losses can potentially reduce the acceptability of the wine to consumers and decrease their willingness to purchase wines that have had their alcohol level reduced. The change in aroma as a result of the ethanol removal processes is influenced by a number of factors: the type of alcohol reduction process; the chemical-physical properties (volatility, hydrophobicity, steric hindrance) of the aroma compounds; the retention properties of the wine non-volatile matrix; and the ethanol level. This review identifies and summarises possible deleterious influences of the dealcoholisation process and describes best practice strategies to maintain the original wine composition. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Catalytic amino acid production from biomass-derived intermediates

DOE PAGES

Deng, Weiping; Wang, Yunzhu; Zhang, Sui; ...

2018-04-30

Amino acids are the building blocks for protein biosynthesis and find use in myriad industrial applications including in food for humans, in animal feed, and as precursors for bio-based plastics, among others. However, the development of efficient chemical methods to convert abundant and renewable feedstocks into amino acids has been largely unsuccessful to date. To that end, here we report a heterogeneous catalyst that directly transforms lignocellulosic biomass-derived a-hydroxyl acids into a-amino acids, including alanine, leucine, valine, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine in high yields. The reaction follows a dehydrogenation-reductive amination pathway, with dehydrogenation as the rate-determining step. Ruthenium nanoparticles supportedmore » on carbon nanotubes (Ru/CNT) exhibit exceptional efficiency compared with catalysts based on other metals, due to the unique, reversible enhancement effect of NH 3 on Ru in dehydrogenation. Based on the catalytic system, a two-step chemical process was designed to convert glucose into alanine in 43% yield, comparable with the well-established microbial cultivation process, and therefore, the present strategy enables a route for the production of amino acids from renewable feedstocks. Moreover, a conceptual process design employing membrane distillation to facilitate product purification is proposed and validated. Overall, this study offers a rapid and potentially more efficient chemical method to produce amino acids from woody biomass components.« less

Present state and perspective of downstream processing of biologically produced 1,3-propanediol and 2,3-butanediol.

PubMed

Xiu, Zhi-Long; Zeng, An-Ping

2008-04-01

1,3-Propanediol and 2,3-butanediol are two promising chemicals which have a wide range of applications and can be biologically produced. The separation of these diols from fermentation broth makes more than 50% of the total costs in their microbial production. This review summarizes the present state of methods studied for the recovery and purification of biologically produced diols, with particular emphasis on 1,3-propoanediol. Previous studies on the separation of 1,3-propanediol primarily include evaporation, distillation, membrane filtration, pervaporation, ion exchange chromatography, liquid-liquid extraction, and reactive extraction. Main methods for the recovery of 2,3-butanediol include steam stripping, pervaporation, and solvent extraction. No single method has proved to be simple and efficient, and improvements are especially needed with regard to yield, purity, and energy consumption. Perspectives for an improved downstream processing of biologically produced diols, especially 1,3-propanediol are discussed based on our own experience and recent work. It is argued that separation technologies such as aqueous two-phase extraction with short chain alcohols, pervaporation, reverse osmosis, and in situ extractive or pervaporative fermentations deserve more attention in the future.

SAPO-34 Membranes for N-2/CH4 separation: Preparation, characterization, separation performance and economic evaluation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, SG; Zong, ZW; Zhou, SJ

2015-08-01

SAPO-34 membranes were synthesized by several routes towards N-2/CH4 separation. Membrane synthesis parameters including water content in the gel, crystallization time, support pore size, and aluminum source were investigated. High performance N-2-selective membranes were obtained on 100-nm-pore alumina tubes by using Al(i-C3H7O)(3) as aluminum source with a crystallization time of 6 h. These membranes separated N-2 from CH, with N-2 permeance as high as 500 GPU with separation selectivity of 8 at 24 degrees C. for a 50/50 N-2/CH4 mixture. Nitrogen and CH, adsorption isotherms were measured on SAPO-34 crystals. The N-2 and CH, heats of adsorption were 11 andmore » 15 kJ/mol, respectively, which lead to a preferential adsorption of CE-H-4 over N-2 in the N-2/CH4 mixture. Despite this, the SAPO-34 membranes were selective for N-2 over CH4 in the mixture because N-2 diffuses much faster than CH4 and differences in diffusivity played a more critical role than the competitive adsorption. Preliminary economic evaluation indicates that the required N-2/CH4 selectivity would be 15 in order to maintain a CH4 loss below 10%. For small nitrogen-contaminated gas wells, our current SAPO-34 membranes have potential to compete with the benchmark technology cryogenic distillation for N-2 rejection. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved,« less

Physical and chemical characterization of petroleum products by GC-MS.

PubMed

Mendez, A; Meneghini, R; Lubkowitz, J

2007-01-01

There is a need for reliable and fast means of monitoring refining, conversion, and upgrading processes aiming to increase the yield of light distillates, and thus, reducing the oil barrel bottoms. By simultaneously utilizing the FID and mass selective detectors while splitting the column effluent in a controlled way, it is possible to obtain identical gas chromatograms and total ion chromatograms from a single run. This means that besides the intensity vs. time graphs, the intensity vs. mass and boiling point can also be obtained. As a result, physical and chemical characterization can be performed in a simple and rapid manner. Experimental results on middle, heavy distillates, and crude oil fractions show clearly the effect of upgrading processes on the chemical composition and yields of diesel, jet fuels, and high vacuum gasoil fractions. The methodology is fully compliant with ASTM D-2887, D-7213, D-6352, and D7169 for simulated distillation and the previously mentioned mass spectrometry standards. The group type analysis correlated satisfactorily with high-performance liquid chromatography data.

Evaluation of tocopherol recovery through simulation of molecular distillation process.

PubMed

Moraes, E B; Batistella, C B; Alvarez, M E Torres; Filho, Rubens Maciel; Maciel, M R Wolf

2004-01-01

DISMOL simulator was used to determine the best possible operating conditions to guide, in future studies, experimental works. This simulator needs several physical-chemical properties and often it is very difficult to determine them because of the complexity of the involved components. Their determinations must be made through correlations and/or predictions, in order to characterize the system and calculate it. The first try is to have simulation results of a system that later can be validated with experimental data. To implement, in the simulator, the necessary parameters of complex systems is a difficult task. In this work, we aimed to determe these properties in order to evaluate the tocopherol (vitamin E) recovery using a DISMOL simulator. The raw material used was the crude deodorizer distillate of soya oil. With this procedure, it is possible to determine the best operating conditions for experimental works and to evaluate the process in the separation of new systems, analyzing the profiles obtained from these simulations for the falling film molecular distillator.

Hollow Fiber Space Water Membrane Evaporator Flight Prototype Design and Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bue, Grant C.; Makinen, Janice; Vogel, Mtthew; Honas, Matt; Dillon, Paul; Colunga, Aaron; Truong, Lily; Porwitz, Darwin; Tsioulos, Gus

2011-01-01

The spacesuit water membrane evaporator (SWME) is being developed to perform thermal control for advanced spacesuits and to take advantage of recent advances in micropore membrane technology. This results in a robust heat-rejection device that is potentially less sensitive to contamination than is the sublimator. The current design was based on a previous design that grouped the fiber layers into stacks, which were separated by small spaces and packaged into a cylindrical shape. This was developed into a full-scale prototype consisting of 14,300 tube bundled into 30 stacks, each of which is formed into a chevron shape and separated by spacers and organized into three sectors of 10 nested stacks. The new design replaced metal components with plastic ones, eliminated the spacers, and has a custom built flight like backpressure valve mounted on the side of the SWME housing to reduce backpressure when fully open. A number of tests were performed in order to improve the strength of the polyurethane header that holds the fibers in place while the system is pressurized. Vacuum chamber testing showed similar heat rejection as a function of inlet water temperature and water vapor backpressure was similar to the previous design. Other tests pushed the limits of tolerance to freezing and showed suitability to reject heat in a Mars pressure environment with and without a sweep gas. Tolerance to contamination by constituents expected to be found in potable water produced by distillation processes was tested in a conventional way by allowing constituents to accumulate in the coolant as evaporation occurs. For this purpose, the SWME cartridge has endured an equivalent of 30 EVAs exposure and demonstrated acceptable performance decline.

Direct liquefaction Proof-of-Concept facility. Final technical progress report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Comolli, A.G.; Lee, L.K.; Pradhan, V.R.

1995-08-01

This report presents the results of work which included extensive modifications to HRI`s existing 3 ton per day Process Development Unit (PDU) and completion of the first PDU run. The 58-day Run 1 demonstrated scale-up of the Catalytic Two-Stage Liquefaction (CTSL Process) on Illinois No. 6 coal to produce distillate liquid products at a rate of up to 5 barrels per to of moisture-ash-free coal. The Kerr McGee Rose-SR unit from Wilsonville was redesigned and installed next to the US Filter installation to allow a comparison of the two solids removal systems. Also included was a new enclosed reactor tower,more » upgraded computer controls and a data acquisition system, an alternate power supply, a newly refurbished reactor, an in-line hydrotreater, interstage sampling system, coal handling unit, a new ebullating pump, load cells and improved controls and remodeled preheaters. Distillate liquid yields of 5 barrels/ton of moisture ash free coal were achieved. Coal slurry recycle rates were reduced from the 2--2.5 to 1 ratio demonstrated at Wilsonville to as low as 0.9 to 1. Coal feed rates were increased during the test by 50% while maintaining process performance at a marginally higher reactor severity. Sulfur in the coal was reduced from 4 wt% to ca. 0.02 wt% sulfur in the clean distillate fuel product. More than 3,500 gallons of distillate fuels were collected for evaluation and upgrading studies. The ROSE-SR Process was operated for the first time with a pentane solvent in a steady-state model. The energy rejection of the ash concentrate was consistently below prior data, being as low as 12%, allowing improved liquid yields and recovery.« less

Sterilization of fermentation vessels by ethanol/water mixtures

DOEpatents

Wyman, C.E.

1999-02-09

A method is described for sterilizing process fermentation vessels with a concentrated alcohol and water mixture integrated in a fuel alcohol or other alcohol production facility. Hot, concentrated alcohol is drawn from a distillation or other purification stage and sprayed into the empty fermentation vessels. This sterilizing alcohol/water mixture should be of a sufficient concentration, preferably higher than 12% alcohol by volume, to be toxic to undesirable microorganisms. Following sterilization, this sterilizing alcohol/water mixture can be recovered back into the same distillation or other purification stage from which it was withdrawn. The process of this invention has its best application in, but is not limited to, batch fermentation processes, wherein the fermentation vessels must be emptied, cleaned, and sterilized following completion of each batch fermentation process. 2 figs.

New Catalyst Reduces Wasted Carbon in Biofuel Process, Lowers Cost

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Researchers at NREL recently developed a catalyst formulation that incorporates more hydrogen into the DME-to-high-octane gasoline process, resulting in a higher yield to gasoline-range products. Further, the researchers developed a secondary process that efficiently couples a portion of the gasoline-range product to yield jet/diesel fuels. The modified catalyst doubles the conversion rate of DME, which can be produced from biomass, to the high-octane gasoline product and significantly decreases the formation of wasted byproducts. For the distillate-range product, 80% of the mixture is in line with ASTM standards for use as a jet fuel blendstock. The increased productivity of high-octane gasolinemore » and the development of a value-added distillate blendstock process further improve the economic viability toward commercially implementing this renewable fuels process.« less

Measurement of rheology of distiller's grain slurries using a helical impeller viscometer.

PubMed

Houchin, Tiffany L; Hanley, Thomas R

2004-01-01

Current research is focused on developing a process to convert the cellulose and hemicellulose in distiller's grains into fermentable sugars, increasing both ethanol yield and the amount of protein in the remaining solid product. The rheologic properties of distiller's grain slurries were determined for concentrations of 21, 23, and 25%. Distiller's grain slurries are non-Newtonian, heterogeneous fluids subject to particle settling. Traditional methods of viscosity measurement, such as cone-and-plate and concentric cylinder viscometers, are not adequate for these fluids. A helical impeller viscometer was employed to measure impeller torque over a range of rotational speeds. Newtonian and non-Newtonian calibration fluids were utilized to obtain constants that relate shear stresses and shear rates to the experimental data. The Newtonian impeller constant, c, was 151; the non-Newtonian shear rate constant, k, was 10.30. Regression analysis of experimental data was utilized for comparison to power law, Herschel-Bulkley, and Casson viscosity models with regression coefficients exceeding 0.99 in all cases.

Use of ammonia to reduce the viscosity of bottoms streams produced in hydroconversion processes

DOEpatents

Zaczepinski, Sioma; Billimoria, Rustom M.; Tao, Frank; Lington, Christopher G.; Plumlee, Karl W.

1984-01-01

Coal, petroleum residuum and similar carbonaceous feed materials are subjected to hydroconversion in the presence of molecular hydrogen to produce a hydroconversion effluent which is then subjected to one or more separation steps to remove lower molecular weight liquids and produce a heavy bottoms stream containing high molecular weight liquids and unconverted carbonaceous material. The viscosity of the bottoms streams produced in the separation step or steps is prevented from increasing rapidly by treating the feed to the separation step or steps with ammonia gas prior to or during the separation step or steps. The viscosity of the heavy bottoms stream produced in the final separation step is also controlled by treating these bottoms with ammonia gas. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the effluent from the hydroconversion reactor is subjected to an atmospheric distillation followed by a vacuum distillation and the feeds to these distillations are contacted with ammonia during the distillations.

Vacuum distillation: vapor filtered-catalytic oxidation water reclamation system utilizing radioisotopes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Honegger, R. J.; Remus, G. A.; Kurg, E. K.

1971-01-01

The development of a functional model water reclamation system is discussed. The system produces potable water by distillation from the urine and respiration-perspiration condensate at the normal rate generated by four men. Basic processes employed are vacuum distillation, vapor filtration, vapor phase catalytic oxidation, and condensation. The system is designed to use four 75-watt isotope heaters for distillation thermal input, and one 45-watt isotope for the catalytic oxidation unit. The system is capable of collecting and storing urine, and provides for stabilizing the urine by chemical pretreatment. The functional model system is designed for operation in a weightless condition with liquid-vapor phase separators for the evaporator still, and centrifugal separators for urine collection and vapor condensation. The system provides for storing and dispensing reclaimed potable water. The system operates in a batch mode for 40 days, with urine residues accumulating in the evaporator. The evaporator still and residue are removed to storage and replaced with a fresh still for the next 40-day period.

Emission factor development for the malt beverage, wine, and distilled spirits industries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lapp, T.; Shrager, B.; Safriet, D.

Midwest Research Institute is currently developing emission factors for inclusion in AP-42 Chapter 9, Food and Agricultural Industries. Three of the sections cover the production of malt beverages, wine, and distilled spirits. The malt beverage segment focuses on the development of ethanol emission factors for filling operations, which were recently identified as the large source of brewery ethanol emissions. The discussion includes a description of the production process and emissions factors for breweries, a history of emission factories for breweries, a description of emission testing conducted at two large breweries, and a presentation of some of the emission factors formore » malt beverage production. The wine industry segment focuses on emissions from the fermentation stage for red and white wines, the pomace screen and pomace press for red wines, and bottling of white wine. Emission factors are presented for ethanol emissions from each of these sources as well as other VOC emissions from the fermentation process. A discussion of the wine production process is presented. A discussion of the emission sources and available emission factors is presented for the distilled spirits industry segment. Factors are presented for the fermentation and aging stages. A process description is presented for the production of Bourbon whisky.« less

Removal of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis after Hand Washing with Antimicrobial and Nonantimicrobial Soap and Persistence of These Bacteria in Rinsates.

PubMed

Pérez-Garza, J; García, S; Heredia, N

2017-10-01

Food handlers are important sources of contamination in the agricultural environment. This study was conducted (i) to evaluate the activity of antimicrobial soaps against Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis using a hand washing model with soiled hands and (ii) to determine the survival and persistence of these bacteria in rinsates. Sterilized agricultural soil from tomato and pepper farms was inoculated with E. coli or E. faecalis at 10 3 or 10 6 CFU/g. Decontaminated hands were placed in contact with contaminated soil for 2 min and were then washed with soaps with or without antimicrobial compounds (citric extracts, chloroxylenol, triclosan, or chlorhexidine gluconate). As the control, hands were washed with sterile distilled water. The levels of bacteria remaining on the hands and recovered from the rinsates were determined using a membrane filtration method and selective media. Antimicrobial soaps removed levels of E. coli similar to those removed by distilled water and nonantimicrobial soap on hands contaminated with E. coli at 10 3 CFU/g. However, when hands were contaminated with E. coli at 10 6 CFU/g, more E. coli was removed with the chlorhexidine gluconate soap. When hands were contaminated with E. faecalis at 10 3 CFU/g, bacteria were removed more effectively with soaps containing chloroxylenol or chlorhexidine gluconate. When hands were contaminated with E. faecalis at 10 6 CFU/g, all of the antimicrobial soaps were more effective for removing the bacteria than were distilled water and nonantimicrobial soap. E. coli grew in all of the hand washing rinsates except that containing triclosan, whereas E. faecalis from the 10 6 CFU/g treatments grew in rinsates containing chlorhexidine gluconate and in the distilled water rinsates. Washing with antimicrobial soap was more effective for reducing bacteria on soiled hands than was washing with water or nonantimicrobial soap. However, persistence or growth of bacteria in these rinsates poses health risks.

Coal liquefaction process streams characterization and evaluation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mitchell, G.; Davis, A.; Burke, F.P.

1991-12-01

This study demonstrated the use of the gold tube carbonization technique and reflectance microscopy analysis for the examination of process-derived materials from direct coal liquefaction. The carbonization technique, which was applied to coal liquefaction distillation resids, yields information on the amounts of gas plus distillate, pyridine-soluble resid, and pyridine-insoluble material formed when a coal liquid sample is heated to 450{degree}C for one hour at 5000 psi in an inert atmosphere. The pyridine-insolubles then are examined by reflectance microscopy to determine the type, amount, and optical texture of isotropic and anisotropic carbon formed upon carbonization. Further development of these analytical methodsmore » as process development tools may be justified on the basis of these results.« less

Distillation irrigation: a low-energy process for coupling water purification and drip irrigation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Constantz, J.

1989-01-01

A method is proposed for combining solar distillation and drip irrigation to simultaneously desalinize water and apply this water to row crops. In this paper, the basic method is illustrated by a simple device constructed primarily of sheets of plastic, which uses solar energy to distill impaired water and apply the distillate to a widely spaced row crop. To predict the performance of the proposed device, an empirical equation for distillate production, dp, is developed from reported solar still production rates, and a modified Jensen-Haise equation is used to calculate the potential evapotranspiration, et, for a row crop. Monthly values for et and dp are calculated by using a generalized row crop at five locations in the Western United States. Calculated et values range from 1 to 22 cm month-1 and calculated dp values range from 2 to 11 cm month-1, depending on the location, the month, and the crop average. When the sum of dp plus precipitation, dp + P, is compared to et for the case of 50% distillation irrigation system coverage, the results indicate that the crop's et is matched by dp + P, at the cooler locations only. However, when the system coverage is increased to 66%, the crop's et is matched by dp + P even at the hottest location. Potential advantages of distillation irrigation include the ability: (a) to convert impaired water resources to water containing no salts or sediments; and (b) to efficiently and automatically irrigate crops at a rate that is controlled primarily by radiation intensities. The anticipated disadvantages of distillation irrigation include: (a) the high costs of a system, due to the large amounts of sheeting required, the short lifetime of the sheeting, and the physically cumbersome nature of a system; (b) the need for a widely spaced crop to reduce shading of the system by the crop; and (c) the production of a concentrated brine or precipitate, requiring proper off-site disposal. ?? 1989.

Conceptual design and optimization for JET water detritiation system cryo-distillation facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lefebvre, X.; Hollingsworth, A.; Parracho, A.

2015-03-15

The aim of the Exhaust Detritiation System (EDS) of the JET Active Gas Handling System (AGHS) is to convert all Q-based species (Q{sub 2}, Q-hydrocarbons) into Q{sub 2}O (Q being indifferently H, D or T) which is then trapped on molecular sieve beds (MSB). Regenerating the saturated MSBs leads to the production of tritiated water which is stored in Briggs drums. An alternative disposal solution to offsite shipping, is to process the tritiated water onsite via the implementation of a Water Detritiation System (WDS) based, in part, on the combination of an electrolyser and a cryo-distillation (CD) facility. The CDmore » system will separate a Q{sub 2} mixture into a de-tritiated hydrogen stream for safe release and a tritiated stream for further processing on existing AGHS subsystems. A sensitivity study of the Souers' model using the simulation program ProSimPlus (edited by ProSim S.A.) has then been undertaken in order to perform an optimised dimensioning of the cryo-distillation system in terms of available cooling technologies, cost of investment, cost of operations, process performance and safety. (authors)« less

A novel design of reactive distillation configuration for 2-methoxy-2-methylheptane process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussain, Arif; Qyyum, Muhammad Abdul; Quang Minh, Le; Jimin, Hong; Lee, Moonyong

2017-11-01

The study aims to reveal the possibility of reactive distillation (RD) in the 2-methoxy-2-methylheptane (MMH) production process. MMH is getting more industrial and academic interests as a gasoline additive to replace methyl tert-butyl ether. Traditionally, MMH is obtained by carrying out the reaction in the reactor followed by three distillation columns. The high yield of MMH could be achieved by keeping the large reactor size or by using the large excess of 2-methyl-1-heptene (MH). Both former and latter strategies are associated with the high capital and operating costs. To solve these problems, this study proposed an innovative RD configuration to take synergistic benefits of reaction and separation involved. This innovative RD configuration allows the production of MMH with significantly lower capital, operating and total annual costs. For desired MMH yield, the result demonstrates that the proposed RD configuration can reduce energy, capital, and total annual costs up to 7.7, 31.3, and 17.1%, respectively, compared to a conventional process. Furthermore, the influence of some important design parameters on the RD column performance was also explored to overcome the temperature limitation of acid resin catalyst inside the reactive zone of the RD column.

Experimental study on pool boiling of distilled water and HFE7500 fluid under microgravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yan-jie; Chen, Xiao-qian; Huang, Yi-yong; Li, Guang-yu

2018-02-01

The experimental study on bubble behavior and heat transfer of pool boiling for distilled water and HFE7500 fluid under microgravity has been conducted by using drop tower in the National Microgravity Laboratory of China (NMLC). Two MCH ceramic plates of 20 mm(L) × 10 mm(W) × 1.2 mm(H) were used as the heaters. The nucleate boiling evolution under microgravity was observed during the experiment. It has been found that at the same heat flux, the bubbles of HFE7500 (which has smaller contact angle) grew faster and bigger, moved quickly on the heater surface, and were easier to merge into a central big bubble with other bubbles than that of distilled water. The whole process of bubbles coalescence from seven to one was recorded by using video camera. For distilled water (with bigger contact angle), the bubbles tended to keep at the nucleate location on heater surface, and the central big bubble evolved at its nucleate cite by absorbing smaller bubbles nearby. Compared with the bubbles under normal gravity, bubble radius of distilled water under microgravity was about 1.4 times bigger and of HFE7500 was about more than 6 times bigger till the end of experiment. At the beginning, pool boiling heat transfer of distilled water was advanced and then impeded under microgravity. As to HFE7500, the pool boiling impedes the heat transfer from heater to liquid under microgravity throughout the experiment.

Development of an Exploration-Class Cascade Distillation System: Flight Like Prototype Preliminary Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callahan, Michael R.; Sargusingh, Miriam J.

2015-01-01

The ability to recover and purify water through physiochemical processes is crucial for realizing long-term human space missions, including both planetary habitation and space travel. Because of their robust nature, distillation systems have been actively pursued as one of the technologies for water recovery. One such technology is the Cascade Distillation System (CDS) a multi-stage vacuum rotary distiller system designed to recover water in a microgravity environment. Its rotating cascading distiller operates similarly to the state of the art (SOA) vapor compressor distiller (VCD), but its control scheme and ancillary components are judged to be straightforward and simpler to implement into a successful design. Through the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Life Support Systems (LSS) Project, the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in collaboration with Honeywell International is developing a second generation flight forward prototype (CDS 2.0). The key objectives for the CDS 2.0 design task is to provide a flight forward ground prototype that demonstrates improvements over the SOA system in the areas of increased reliability and robustness, and reduced mass, power and volume. It will also incorporate exploration-class automation. The products of this task are a preliminary flight system design and a high fidelity prototype of an exploration class CDS. These products will inform the design and development of the third generation CDS which is targeted for on-orbit DTO. This paper details the preliminary design of the CDS 2.0.

Reactive Distillation for Esterification of Bio-based Organic Acids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fields, Nathan; Miller, Dennis J.; Asthana, Navinchandra S.

2008-09-23

The following is the final report of the three year research program to convert organic acids to their ethyl esters using reactive distillation. This report details the complete technical activities of research completed at Michigan State University for the period of October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2006, covering both reactive distillation research and development and the underlying thermodynamic and kinetic data required for successful and rigorous design of reactive distillation esterification processes. Specifically, this project has led to the development of economical, technically viable processes for ethyl lactate, triethyl citrate and diethyl succinate production, and on a larger scalemore » has added to the overall body of knowledge on applying fermentation based organic acids as platform chemicals in the emerging biorefinery. Organic acid esters constitute an attractive class of biorenewable chemicals that are made from corn or other renewable biomass carbohydrate feedstocks and replace analogous petroleum-based compounds, thus lessening U.S. dependence on foreign petroleum and enhancing overall biorefinery viability through production of value-added chemicals in parallel with biofuels production. Further, many of these ester products are candidates for fuel (particularly biodiesel) components, and thus will serve dual roles as both industrial chemicals and fuel enhancers in the emerging bioeconomy. The technical report from MSU is organized around the ethyl esters of four important biorenewables-based acids: lactic acid, citric acid, succinic acid, and propionic acid. Literature background on esterification and reactive distillation has been provided in Section One. Work on lactic acid is covered in Sections Two through Five, citric acid esterification in Sections Six and Seven, succinic acid in Section Eight, and propionic acid in Section Nine. Section Ten covers modeling of ester and organic acid vapor pressure properties using the SPEAD (Step Potential Equilibrium and Dynamics) method.« less

40 CFR 265.1032 - Standards: Process vents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... owner or operator of a fa-cil-ity with process vents associated with distillation, fractionation, thin-film evaporation, solvent extraction or -air or steam stripping operations man-aging haz-ard-ous wastes...

40 CFR 265.1032 - Standards: Process vents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... owner or operator of a fa-cil-ity with process vents associated with distillation, fractionation, thin-film evaporation, solvent extraction or -air or steam stripping operations man-aging haz-ard-ous wastes...

OPTIMIZATION OF COUNTERCURRENT STAGED PROCESSES.

DTIC Science & Technology

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING , OPTIMIZATION), (*DISTILLATION, OPTIMIZATION), INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT, MATHEMATICAL MODELS, DIFFERENCE EQUATIONS, NONLINEAR PROGRAMMING, BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEMS, NUMERICAL INTEGRATION

Development of the Next Generation Type Water Recovery System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oguchi, Mitsuo; Tachihara, Satoru; Maeda, Yoshiaki; Ueoka, Terumi; Soejima, Fujito; Teranishi, Hiromitsu

According to NASA, an astronaut living on the International Space Station (ISS) requires approximately 7 kg of water per day. This includes 2 kg of drinking water as well as sanitary fresh water for hand washing, gargling, etc. This water is carried to the space station from the earth, so when more people are staying on the space station, or staying for a longer period of time, the cost of transporting water increases. Accordingly, water is a valuable commodity, and restrictions are applied to such activities as brushing teeth, washing hair, and washing clothes. The life of an astronaut in space is not necessarily a healthy one. JAXA has experience in the research of water recovery systems. Today, utilizing knowledge learned through experiences living on the space station and space shuttles, and taking advantage of the development of new materials for device construction, it is possible to construct a new water recovery system. Therefore, JAXA and New Medican Tech Corporation (NMT) have created a system for collaborative development. Based on the technologies of both companies, we are proceeding to develop the next generation of water recovery devices in order to contribute to safe, comfortable, and healthy daily life for astronauts in space. The goal of this development is to achieve a water purification system based on reverse osmosis (RO) membranes that can perform the following functions. • Preprocessing that removes ammonia and breaks down organic matter contained in urine. • Post-processing that adds minerals and sterilizes the water. • Online TOC measurement for monitoring water quality. • Functions for measuring harmful substances. The RO membrane is an ultra-low-pressure type membrane with a 0.0001 micron (0.1 nanometer) pore size and an operating pressure of 0.4 to 0.6 MPa. During processing with the RO membrane, nearly all of the minerals contained in the cleaned water are removed, resulting in water that is near the quality of deionized water, so minerals consisting of natural components are added. In regard to techniques for removing the ammonia content of urine, past research has studied methods such as vapor compression and membrane distillation, but these methods have involved problems such as a high level of power consumption and ammonia gas contaminating the water. Therefore, in this research and development project, we examined the direct dissociation of the ammonia. For this research and development project, improvements have been made to hypochlorous acid dissociation processing technology, and in preliminary tests, ammonia at a level of 1000 ppm can be completely dissociated in 70 minutes. As such, the outlook is good for achieving the target specifications of the device being developed.

Distillation of granulated scrap tires in a pilot plant.

PubMed

López, Félix A; Centeno, Teresa A; Alguacil, Francisco José; Lobato, Belén

2011-06-15

This paper reports the pyrolytic treatment of granulated scrap tires (GST) in a pilot distillation unit at moderate temperature (550°C) and atmospheric pressure, to produce oil, char and gas products. Tire-derived oil is a complex mixture of organic C(5)-C(24) compounds, including a very large proportion of aromatic compounds. This oil has a high gross calorific value (∼ 43 MJ kg(-1)) and N and S contents of 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively, falling within the specifications of certain heating fuels. The distillation gas is composed of hydrocarbons; methane and n-butane are the most abundant, investing the distillation gas with a very high gross calorific value (∼ 68 MJ Nm(-3)). This gas is transformed into electric power by a co-generation turbine. The distillation char is mostly made of carbon but with significant inorganic impurities (∼ 12 wt%). The quality of the solid residue of the process is comparable to that of some commercial chars. The quantity of residual solids, and the qualities of the gas, liquid and solid fractions, are similar to those obtained by conventional pyrolytic treatments of waste tires. However, the simplicity of the proposed technology and its low investment costs make it a very attractive alternative. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Conversion of vegetable oils and animal fats into paraffinic cetane enhancers for diesel fuels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wong, A.; Feng, Y.; Hogan, E.

1995-11-01

The two principal methods of producing biodiesel fuels are (a) transesterification of vegetable oils and animal fats with a monohydric alcohol, and (b) direct hydrotreating of tree oils, vegetable oils and animal fats. The patented hydrotreating technology is based on the catalytic processing of biomass oils and fats with hydrogen, under elevated temperature and pressure conditions. The typical mix of hydrotreated products is as follows: 5-15% light distillate (naphta), 40-60% middle distillate (cetane), 5-15% heavy distillate and 5-10% burner gas. The naptha fraction may be used as a gasoline supplement. The middle distillate is designed for use as a cetanemore » booster for diesel fuels. Both heavy distillate and light hydrocarbon gases are usable as power boiler fuels. Typically, the cetane enhancer would be admixed with diesel fuel in the range of 5 to 30% by volume. This new diesel blend meets the essential quality characteristics of the basic diesel fuel, for direct use in diesel engines without any modifications. The basic hydrotreatment technology has been evaluated further in the laboratory on degummed soya oil, yellow grease and animal tallow. The preliminary findings suggest that the technology can provide efficient conversion of these materials into cetane enhancers for diesel fuels.« less

Simulation and flavor compound analysis of dealcoholized beer via one-step vacuum distillation.

PubMed

Andrés-Iglesias, Cristina; García-Serna, Juan; Montero, Olimpio; Blanco, Carlos A

2015-10-01

The coupled operation of vacuum distillation process to produce alcohol free beer at laboratory scale and Aspen HYSYS simulation software was studied to define the chemical changes during the dealcoholization process in the aroma profiles of 2 different lager beers. At the lab-scale process, 2 different parameters were chosen to dealcoholize beer samples, 102mbar at 50°C and 200mbar at 67°C. Samples taken at different steps of the process were analyzed by HS-SPME-GC-MS focusing on the concentration of 7 flavor compounds, 5 alcohols and 2 esters. For simulation process, the EoS parameters of the Wilson-2 property package were adjusted to the experimental data and one more pressure was tested (60mbar). Simulation methods represent a viable alternative to predict results of the volatile compound composition of a final dealcoholized beer. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Entanglement distillation between solid-state quantum network nodes.

PubMed

Kalb, N; Reiserer, A A; Humphreys, P C; Bakermans, J J W; Kamerling, S J; Nickerson, N H; Benjamin, S C; Twitchen, D J; Markham, M; Hanson, R

2017-06-02

The impact of future quantum networks hinges on high-quality quantum entanglement shared between network nodes. Unavoidable imperfections necessitate a means to improve remote entanglement by local quantum operations. We realize entanglement distillation on a quantum network primitive of distant electron-nuclear two-qubit nodes. The heralded generation of two copies of a remote entangled state is demonstrated through single-photon-mediated entangling of the electrons and robust storage in the nuclear spins. After applying local two-qubit gates, single-shot measurements herald the distillation of an entangled state with increased fidelity that is available for further use. The key combination of generating, storing, and processing entangled states should enable the exploration of multiparticle entanglement on an extended quantum network. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.