Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: An Innovative Transport Membrane Condenser Water Recovery from Flue Gas and its Reuse
EPA Contract Number: EPD08063Title: An Innovative Transport Membrane Condenser Water Recovery from Flue Gas and its Reuse
Investigators: Liu, Paul K.T.
Small Business: Media and Process Technology Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: II
Project Period: May 1, 2008 through July 31, 2011
Project Amount: $225,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase II (2008) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) , SBIR - Water and Wastewater
Description:
Although water recycle and reuse is considered good environmental practice, its implementation is highly dependent upon the economics and hence can be challenging to implement. An example is the recovery of low-quality heat as water condensate from industrial flue gases and exhaust streams. Tremendous quantities of energy and water currently are lost out of the stack in the United States because there is no economically viable conventional condensing technology for the recovery of this relatively low-quality heat. In this project, the Transport Membrane Condenser (TMC) concept was further developed to recover water with concomitant energy recovery from these low-quality industrial emissions. Prior to this project, technical feasibility of the TMC had been demonstrated on a commercial scale for industrial boilers firing natural gas. However, this gas stream is an ideal case, given the cleanliness of the flue gas. Further, the payback period for the technology exceeded the targeted 1 year set by Media and Process Technology Inc.'s (MPT) commercialization partner. This project focused on these two areas with the specific objectives of: (i) applying the TMC technology to “dirty” gas streams, and (ii) reducing the cost and enhancing the performance of the TMC via modification of MPT's existing commercial membranes and system configuration. In this project, MPT successfully developed this modified membrane and operating configuration, verified its functional performance in a finalized module configuration and conducted membrane manufacturing development while assisting commercialization partners in preparing the technology/product/system for field demonstration.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
During this EPA SBIR project, a number of research tasks were completed, specifically: (i) applying the TMC technology to “dirty” gas streams, and (ii) reducing the cost of the TMC system. Verification of the performance stability of the membrane elements in a “dirty” gas stream was conducted. Several thousand hours of membrane testing was conducted in a pilot-scale TMC system using 28 standard 18” TMC membrane tubes exposed to flue gas generated from a used oil burning furnace. In addition, a membrane cleaning protocol was developed. TMC cost reduction efforts focused on implementing an efficiency improving device demonstrated in the single tube bench feasibility testing to improve the overall heat/water transport. In addition, the TMC membrane tube was extended from the standard 18” to the 36” version and tested.
The viability of the TMC technology had been confirmed in the recovery of heat/water from the flue gas of natural gas-fired boilers in previous work. In this SBIR project, this technology was extended to more highly contaminated flue gas streams containing ash, soot, particulate matter, acid gases and other contaminants. MPT successfully has demonstrated that the TMC membranes are very robust in this type of environment. Membrane heat transfer and water recovery performance were very stable following several thousand hours of exposure to a flue gas generated from a furnace fired with used crankcase motor oil. Although no performance decay was found during in situ testing, visual inspection of the membrane tubes showed considerable contaminant buildup on the membrane surface, and it was expected that this buildup ultimately might lead to reduced membrane performance. As a result, a membrane cleaning protocol based on a mild detergent in water wash was developed that could remove this buildup completely in less than 10 minutes. In addition to the long-term performance testing, MPT also demonstrated that the inclusion of a heat transfer efficiency improving device could deliver a 25 to more than 50 percent improvement in the overall heat and water transfer through the membranes. This leads directly to similar reduction in membrane area requirement and hence overall system cost. Based on these results, a patent was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Testing of approximately 36” membranes also was conducted during the program. More than 800 of these tubes were prepared for testing by the Gas Technology Institute and Cannon Boiler Works (CBW), MPT's commercialization partner. The tubes were packaged into two 385 tube bundles. GTI conducted approximately 150 hours of testing with this module with no problems. The performance was comparable to that achieved with the 18” standard tubes.
The primary role of the TMC technology is to recover waste heat and water from low-quality industrial exhaust gas streams. The initial application to natural gas-fired boilers represented an ideal case due to the very low contaminant levels in the flue gas. However, the number of potential customers is modest due to the fact that: (i) many customers fire various fuels in addition to natural gas (e.g., fuel oil, #6 oil, etc.); and (ii) flue gases from various industrial drying operations (calciners, food preparation/packaging, laundry, etc.) are potentially highly contaminated with particulate, soot, ash, acid gases, etc. At present, competing commercial condensing economizers suffer two distinct problems, namely: (i) they simply are too expensive to justify the capital investment for the limited return; and (ii) they do not recover high-quality water. The TMC technology overcomes both of these disadvantages. With the TMC, it is possible to recover both energy and high-quality water from these low-value industrial waste gas streams. With this project, MPT has extended the TMC technology to “dirty” gas streams that represent the vast majority of industrial waste exhaust gas streams.
Conclusions:
Overall, MPT has achieved both of its technical objectives. The company has demonstrated that the TMC technology is highly efficient in highly contaminated gas streams. Further, with the introduction of the heat transfer efficiency increasing device and the 36” membrane element, MPT was able to reduce the overall cost of the TMC system to achieve a capital payback in less than 1 year. Finally, commercialization of the technology is well under way with the help of Cannon Boiler Works. Significant resources in terms of capital and personnel have been dedicated to the project, and the TMC technology, under the trade name Ultramizer, has been introduced as part of CBW’s standard product line.
Supplemental Keywords:
Energy and water recovery from flue gas, transport membrane condenser, boiler efficiency improvement, Sustainable Industry/Business, Scientific Discipline, RFA, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Sustainable Environment, Energy, Environmental Engineering, energy conservation, membranes, flue gas, recycling, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Sustainable Industry/Business, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Sustainable Environment, Energy, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Environmental Engineering, energy conservation, membranes, wastewater reuse, flue gasSBIR Phase I:
An Innovative Transport Membrane Condenser for Water Recovery From Gas and Its Reuse | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.