A NOVEL ENERGY-EFFICIENT MEMBRANE SYSTEM FOR THE RECOVERY OF VOLATILE ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS FROM INDUSTRIAL PROCESS GASES

LARGE QUANTITIES OF VOLATILE ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS (VOCS) ARE DISCHARGED FROM INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. THE RECOVERY OF VOCS OFFERS BOTH ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS: EACH KILOGRAM OF ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS RECOVERED AND REUSED REPRESENTS ONE LESS KILOGRAM THAT MUST BE MANUFACTURED. THIS OPERATION REDUCES RAW-MATERIAL COSTS AND THE ENERGY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYNTHESIS AND PURIFICATION OF THE ORGANIC MATERIALS. THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT, MEMBRANE-BASED SYSTEM FOR THE RECOVERY OF VOCS FROM GASEOUS INDUSTRIAL PROCESS STREAMS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS BASED ON A NEW GENERATION OF CHEMICALLY RESISTANT HOLLOW-FIBER MODULES. PRELIMINARY CALCULATIONS INDICATE THAT THIS SYSTEM COULD SAVE VERY LARGE AMOUNTS OF ENERGY AND PROCESSING COSTS. IN PHASE I THE PROJECT DEVELOPS, FABRICATES, AND TESTS SEVERAL OF THESE NEW HOLLOW-FIBER MODULES. THE CHEMICALLY RESISTANT FIBERS IN THESE MODULES ARE COATED WITH A MATERIAL THAT IS HIGHLY SELECTIVE FOR VOCS OVER THE GAS DISCHARGE. THE MODULES ARE THEN TESTED ON A FEED STREAM OF VOCS IN AIR. IN PHASE II, THERE WOULD BE A SCALE-UP OF THESE SECOND-GENERATION MEMBRANE MODULES WHICH WILL BE TESTED IN A BENCH-SCALE VOC-RECOVERY SYSTEM.