CONCENTRATION OF SYNFUEL PROCESS CONDENSATES BY REVERSE OSMOSIS

LIQUID AND GASEOUS FUELS PRODUCED FROM COAL OR SHALE OIL, I.E., "SYNTHETIC" FUELS, WILL BE MAJOR SUBSTITUTES IN THE FUTURE FOR THE DIMINISHING SUPPLY OF PETROLEUM-BASED FUELS. A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM IN THE PRODUCTION OF SYNFUELS IS THE GENERATION OF LARGE VOLUMES OF AQUEOUS WASTES, CLASSIFIED ASPROCESS CONDENSATES. THESE CONTAIN ORGANIC AND INORGANIC COMPOUNDS THAT CAN ONLY BE REMOVED BY A SERIES OF UNIT OPERATIONS. WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF REVERSE OSMOSIS WITH A NOVEL MEMBRANE MODULE THAT WOULD PERMIT CONCENTRATION OF PROCESS CONDENSATES PRIOR TO TREATMENT BY OTHER UNIT OPERATIONS. THIS WOULD REDUCE THE VOLUME THROUGHPUT OF THESE SUBSEQUENT PROCESSES AND SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THE OVERALL WASTE TREATMENT COST. IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM WE WOULD DEVELOP MEMBRANES THAT ARE OPTIMIZED FOR THIS APPLICATION AND CONDUCT SOME PRELIMINARY TESTS WITH SYNTHETIC PROCESS CONDENSATES. THE RESULTS WOULD FORM THE BASIS OF A TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ALSO TO BE PERFORMED IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM. IF THE RESULTS ARE FAVORABLE, THE NEXT LOGICAL STAGE WOULD BE CONTINUATION INTO A PHASE II PROGRAM CONSISTING OF LABORATORY TESTS OF A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM ON ACTUAL WASTES.