Grantee Research Project Results
A New Membrane Process for Air Pollution Minimization in Chlor-Alkali Plants
EPA Contract Number: 68D40070Title: A New Membrane Process for Air Pollution Minimization in Chlor-Alkali Plants
Investigators: Lokhandwala, K. A.
Small Business: Membrane Technology and Research Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: II
Project Period: September 1, 1994 through November 1, 1997
Project Amount: $165,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (1994) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: SBIR - Pollution Prevention , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
Description:
Chlorine ranks among the ten most important commodity chemicals. Chlorine manufacture produces a number of chlorine-contaminated vent gas streams from which the chlorine must be removed before the vent gases can be discharged. The current treatment technology is scrubbing with carbon tetrachloride, which is estimated to release 8.8X106 lb of carbon tetrachloride annually. As a result of the legislation arising from the Montreal Protocol, carbon tetrachloride use is scheduled for rapid phase-out.
This SBIR Phase II proposal covers the development of an alternative chlorine vent-gas treatment technology based on permselective membranes. In the Phase I program, membranes and laboratory-scale membrane modules were developed and shown to have adequate selectivity and flux for this separation and to be stable for 65 days in a pure chlorine gas environment. Based on these membrane properties, a membrane system design was prepared; it appears that the membrane process could be easily integrated into the existing chlorine vent-gas treatment process. The operating cost of the membrane process is significantly lower than both the existing carbon tetrachloride scrubbers and the alternative gas treatment technologies being considered by the industry.
In the Phase II program, MTR will build a test system and demonstrate the process in the laboratory and at a field site. Two chlorine manufacturers are willing to provide field sites. If the results are successful, industry adoption would be rapid, because the industry must replace the existing equipment, and MTR has already produced membrane separation systems for other applications.
Supplemental Keywords:
Chlorine Vent Gas, Carbon Tetrachloride, Membranes, Drop-in Replacement., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Air, Toxics, Sustainable Industry/Business, National Recommended Water Quality, Chemical Engineering, air toxics, cleaner production/pollution prevention, Sustainable Environment, Environmental Chemistry, HAPS, Technology for Sustainable Environment, tropospheric ozone, 33/50, Engineering, Chemistry, & Physics, Environmental Engineering, chlor-alkali plants, carbon tetrachloride, stratospheric ozone, chlorine vent gas, membranes, chlorinated vent gas treatment, membrane modules, membrane process, chlorine vent gas treatment, chlorine vent gas , chlorine vent gas treament, membrane technologyProgress and Final Reports:
SBIR Phase I:
A New Membrane Process for Air Pollution Minimization in Chlor-Alkali PlantsThe 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.