Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Enhanced Processing of Green Solvents
EPA Contract Number: EPD15004Title: Enhanced Processing of Green Solvents
Investigators: Bowser, John
Small Business: Compact Membrane Systems Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: II
Project Period: November 1, 2014 through October 31, 2016 (Extended to October 31, 2018)
Project Amount: $300,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase II (2014) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) , SBIR - Innovation in Manufacturing
Description:
The CMS EPA Phase II Program met program goals in a timely manner. The program will impact the application of our technology specifically twenty-one separate organizations have asked to collaborate with us on the overall program goals.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Solvents are a valuable processing tool in the chemical and related industries. Solvents are used to enhance mass transfer, heat transfer and in most cases are a processing aid and eventually are not used in the final product but to enhance the fabrication of the final product. While solvents are very valuable, they also cause a significant problem with their volatility and associated emissions. Manufacturing processes that utilize green technology or in this case green solvents while improving processing and reducing emissions are very desirable.
In Phase II we will scale up the membrane system and build a pilot test unit to demonstrate the concept in pilot scale. We will optimize the membrane system and process conditions to achieve optimal dehydration for recycle.
Conclusions:
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CMS in collaboration with MSC Filtration Technologies (MSC) has developed significant commercial sales of the Phoenix membrane dehydrator. Through October 2018 dehydrator module sales by CMS have been $199,650. Through the same time period sales of the Phoenix in collaboration with MSC at the system level have been $740,171. These are MSC systems-level sales that have been enabled by CMS’s Membrane Module dehydrator technology.
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CMS designed, built, and delivered to Department of Energy’s Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI) the pilot system capable of processing five gallons of wet solvent daily. The front-and-back of the JBEI unit is shown in the adjacent figure. We have further developed a second generation solvent dehydrator with enhanced capacity. JBEI has purchased this system. The system is now installed at JBEI.
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A major pharmaceutical company has requested that CMS provide key basic data on the capability of CMS membranes to recover wet and unusable solvents for reprocessing and further use in their commercial process. The pharmaceutical company has paid CMS for this development effort and has purchased a scaled-up green solvent dehydration system. We have completed design and construction of the scaled-up pilot unit for green solvent dehydration, and we shipped the unit to the pharmaceutical company in early November 2017. Additional membrane modules are being acquired by the pharmaceutical company.
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In July 2017, the pharmaceutical company acknowledged CMS’s unique solvent dehydration technology with the acceptance of their technical paper at the ACS Fall National Meeting. The CMS solvent dehydration process supported the discovery and development of a potent, selective inhibitor of Interleukin-1 receptor using fragment based drug design. The CMS dehydration technology enables more effective solvent use and recovery in the API manufacturer’s Continuous Flow Oxidation process. To date the membrane dehydration technology has been used by the pharma company in three drug campaigns under development. They are also looking for other dehydration applications within the company
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A major petrochemical company is evaluating the CMS solvent dehydration system for at least two valuable solvents. A continuous pervaporation membrane system design was completed, specifying 18 four-inch membrane modules required for drying 0.5 gal/min of the valuable Solvent #1 from ~2% to < 0.1% wt. water by weight.
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A multinational specialty chemical manufacturer is considering the CMS Pervaporation System for drying a proprietary mixture. The results were that CMS technology is effective at drying a surrogate mixture effectively by pervaporation. We were able to successfully dry the mixture from ~13% wt. to 2.5% wt. The test was run using a CMS 2” commercial membrane module in the Pervaporation Pilot System.
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Dr. Leland Vane of EPA has approached CMS to discuss potential collaboration for recovering aggressive solvents by removing water.
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For possible application in the semiconductor industry, dehydration of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) using the continuous pervaporation skid-mounted system resulted in 99.99+ IPA in less than two hours.
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A company that sells paint thinner to the automobile industry is interested in dewatering paint thinner material in general. Our results with the CMS dewatering system were very successful.
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We have scaled up the 2” (OD) membrane module to 2x the standard length. This provides 3x of active membrane area of the standard module. It also cuts the cost of production in fiber winding and potting. The membrane housing has been redesigned with an integrated heating jacket. This allows inter-stage heating of the feed to each module without the need for external heat exchangers.
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A preliminary example for process economic evaluation, based on: 20 membrane skid processing 2000 cc/min of 85% IPA/15% H2O. Membrane area allows continuous drying material to 1% H2O. Ran high-fidelity economic model valuing the fresh IPA at $5/gal taking into account. Payback times between 9 and 18 months and Internal rates of return between 80 and 90%
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A major pharma company is interested in purchasing a benchtop membrane drying system to gauge the feasibility of using pervaporation for a number of their reactions involving water. We are working on the design of two solvent dehydration laboratory testing systems for two different pharmaceutical companies.
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Major agricultural chemical producer: CMS is now in design phase for a hybrid distillation- membrane drying system for a large volume alcohol-water waste recovery project. We are now embarking on the engineering phase for a full skid hybrid distillation membrane system for the dehydration of an IPA solution
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Major petrochemical producer: We had inquiries from a major petrochemical producer for dehydration of a THF stream.
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Specialty chemical/lubricant manufacturer : Tests are continuing at CMS to determine feasibility of dehydration of C4-C6 alcohols for specialty chemical company. Drying to very dry levels has been proven for multiple different samples from the actual manufacturing site.
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Fertilizer manufacturer: CMS has received interest from a major player in pesticides to use pervaporation membranes to improve the effectiveness of a major fertilizer product by removing water.
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A significant new interest that has resulted in inquiries for CMS dewatering technology. A Norwegian subsidiary of a major global gas producer has expressed interest. New regulations are requiring ship-board lubricants to be biodegradable; however these EALs are hydrophilic and require dewatering while in service. This could be a huge market for CMS and MSC.
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Table 1
ID |
Task Name | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
Q4
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Q1
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1 | Scale-up membrane |
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2 | Develop/refine analytical method |
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3 | Build pilot test system |
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4 | Scale-up/optimize membrane modules |
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5 | Optimize process conditions |
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6 | Demonstrate module drying capability |
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7 | Run extended module test |
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8 | Economic Evaluation |
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9 | Lab scale field demonstration (Comm. Option) |
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10 | Pilot scale field demonstration (Comm. Option) |
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11 | Commercialization Option Period |
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SBIR Phase I:
Enhanced Processing of Green Solvents | 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.