A NOVEL MEMBRANE SYSTEM FOR RECOVERING VOLATILE ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS FROM AIR

THE CONTROL OF VOLATILE ORGANIC CONTAMINANT (VOC) EMISSIONS FROM INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES AND FUEL SOURCES IS AN IMPORTANT ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM. STRINGENT REGULATIONS HAVE BEEN ENACTED THAT WILL LIMIT SUCH EMISSIONS, HEIGHTENING THE NEED FOR SMALL, SIMPLE UNITS THAT CAN RECOVER VOCS AND RETURN THEM AS REUSABLE COMPOUNDS. CURRENT VOC-REMOVAL TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS INCINERATION, CARBON ADSORPTION, AND CONDENSATION, HAVE LIMITATIONS. IN SOME CASES, THESE TECHNOLOGIES REPLACE THE ORIGINAL AIR-POLLUTION PROBLEM WITH A DIFFERENT AIR- OR WATER- POLLUTION PROBLEM. IN OTHERS, THE VOCS ARE DESTROYED AND CANNOT BE REUSED. FINALLY, IT CAN BE COST-PROHIBITIVE TO USE THESE CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES TO REDUCE VOCS TO LEVELS REQUIRED BY ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP A NOVEL MEMBRANE SYSTEM FOR RECOVERING VOCS FROM AIR. THIS SYSTEM WOULD BE BASED ON A SOLVENT-RESISTANT HOLLOW-FIBER MODULE THAT MAXIMIZES THE DRIVING FORCE FOR TRANSPORT OF VOCS ACROSS THE MEMBRANE. PRELIMINARY CALCULATIONS SHOW THAT THE SYSTEM DESIGN TO BE INVESTIGATED HERE WOULD BE MORE COST-EFFECTIVE THAN CURRENT MEMBRANE-BASED VOC- RECOVERY PROCESSES. IN PHASE I, BEND RESEARCH, INC. WOULD FOCUS ON ESTABLISHING TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY. DURING PHASE II, THEY WOULD FURTHER DEVELOP THIS TECHNOLOGY AND TEST A SMALL PILOT-SCALE SYSTEM.