Electro-dewatering of Cellulosic Nanomaterials

Cellulosic nanomaterials exhibit great potential in various applications due to their unique properties. Additionally, abundant availability of feedstock has led to realization of industrial manufacturing of nanocellulose. Although in excess, a significant cost-limiting factor to utilize cellulosic nanomaterials, however, is separation of the nanomaterials from the suspensions in which they are grown. A need has been identified for technologies to enable solid-liquid separation associated with cellulosic nanomaterials production, “as cellulosic nanomaterials are not economical to ship long distances while containing significant water content”. This cost represents a critical driver for capital, energy, shipping, and resource costs of nanocellulose products. Interest has been expressed in the development of a technology for dewatering of cellulosic nanomaterials, which can be dried and redispersed without any changes in functional properties. The operation is anticipated to be one of the candidate electrochemical ‘dewatering’ technologies among ElectroDecomposition of water or ElectroConcentration. This program will investigate these electro-assisted dewatering technologies against performance constraints and develop individual cost models, including the candidate dewatering technology utilizing pulsed waveforms to achieve separation of cellulosic nanomaterials from its suspension. The cost models will be designed to interface with an overarching optimization tool, to identify a promising technology. A continuous-flow apparatus for a novel pulsed-waveform electro- chemical solids separation technology will be designed and constructed, and used to generate energy input and separation performance data. The proposed Phase I effort will demonstrate the feasibility of electrochemical dewatering of cellulosic nanomaterials, and elucidate the advantages of pulse reverse processing on properties and performance metrics, and development of a preliminary technology transition plan. This data will be incorporated along with literature data for other technologies into Excel- based cost analysis modules. These modules will in turn be integrated with a custom-developed optimization tool for screening promising dewatering technology with detailed cost analysis.