Chemical Engineering August 2018 - 5

Chementator
Vacuum-aided membrane distillation
results in ultra-pure water
A
t Achema
2018 (June
11-15; Frankfurt
am Main,
Germany), EvCon
GmbH (PlieningLandsham,
Germany;
www.evcon-water.
com) showcased its
new UPWater treatment
system,
Vapor
Feed
from last effect
Foil
to next effect
TPA FROM PET BOTTLES
A chemical method previously
developed for recovering
monomers from polyester
blend fabrics and textiles has
now been adapted for use with
waste plastic
bottles made
which
employs a patented
vacuum multi-effect
membrane distillation
(VMEMD) technology
to obtain ultra-pure
Vapor
from previous effect
Distillate
water using less energy than comparable
water-treatment processes. VMEMD uses
a hydrophobic membrane constructed of
corrosion-resistant plastics with 0.1- to 0.5μm
pores fine-tuned to be permeable only to
high-purity steam. The membrane selectively
rejects any impurities in the feedwater stream
along with the water itself. At vacuum conditions,
water and pure steam are passed
through different membrane stages, or effects
(diagram). The steam and water progressively
condense and evaporate as they
pass through the system, and as more water
impurities are trapped by the membranes,
a stream of pure water is created. Steam
flows through the system efficiently due to
the pressure and temperature differentials
between the membrane effects, which also
help to induce controlled condensation.
" The heating steam condenses, transferring
its heat to the feed, which is evaporated.
Steam is collected within the effect
and is used for heating in the next step, "
says Norbert Borgmann, development and
project manager for EvCon. Lower operating
temperatures further contribute to UpWater's
thermal efficiency. " The multi-effect
distillation process is run in a vacuum so
that evaporation can occur at temperatures
under 100°C, " explains Borgmann.
EvCon has run prototype systems for
pharmaceutical manufacturers and also
demonstrated the system's robustness in
handling sugar-containing solutions. The
first company to utilize this technology commercially
is
Rochem Separation Systems
India Ltd. (Mumbai; www.rochemindia.com).
According to Prerak Goel, director of Rochem
Separation Systems, the company
operates five UpWater units across India,
including installations treating wastewater
from a steel mill and a pharmaceutical production
site. " One benefit is the possibility to
have a metal-free concentration unit that can
handle different kinds of chemistries with no
corrosion issues, " says Goel. He mentions
that Rochem plans to add several additional
UpWater units later this year.
Australian minerals shipped to South Korea
SK Innovation will use the samples
in its electric-vehicle manufacturing
plants. SK Innovation will assist Australian
Mines in optimizing the Sconi
bankable feasibility study and help
with enhancing the proposed processing
plant and mining operation
through sample validation.
The shipment ore was transported
from Queensland to Australian Mines'
demonstration plant in Western Australia
for trial processing via high-pressure
acid leach and solvent extraction.
The plant produces samples containAUGUST
2018
Feed
to next effect
from polyethylene terephthalate
(PET). The BCD Group
(Cincinnati, Ohio; www.bcdinternational.com)
developed a
modified base-catalyzed decomposition
(BCD) process
that takes place in stirred-tank
reactors using a base and a
proprietary
phase-transfer
catalyst to separate cottonpolyester
blend fabric components
and depolymerize
polyesters (Chem. Eng., November
2016, p. 9). The company
has tested the process
at laboratory and pilot scales.
Now, the modified BCD process
has been optimized for
the recovery of terephthalic
acid (TPA) from waste PET
bottles. The advantage of this
process over alternatives is
that it is carried out rapidly at
low temperatures and with inexpensive
reagents, the company
says. The TPA can be
used as raw material for other
polymer products.
RENEWABLE NH3
Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions
(see also story on p. 6)
has recently been awarded a
(Continues on p. 6)
Edited by:
EvCon Gerald Ondrey
B
attery metals producer Australian
Mines (Perth, Western
Australia; www.australianmines.com.au)
is scheduled
to export the largest sample of battery-grade
cobalt and nickel sulfate
ever recorded from Australian mined
and processed ore. The company
will send 40 kg of nickel sulfate and 4
kg of cobalt sulfate samples from its
Sconi cobalt-nickel-scandium project
in northern Queensland to SK Innovation
(Seoul, South Korea; www.
skinnovation.com).
ing more than 98%-purity cobalt sulfate
and 99%-purity nickel sulfate,
without using a third-party commercial
laboratory and exceeding SK Innovation's
specifications for electric
vehicle feed materials.
Under the terms of an agreement
with SK Innovation, Australian Mines
will supply up to 12,000 metric tons
(m.t.) of cobalt sulfite and up to
60,000 m.t. of nickel sulfate per year
from the Sconi project for an initial period
of seven years, with the option of
a six-year extension.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
5
Membrane frame
Foil frame
Membrane frame
Foil frame
Membrane frame
http://www.evcon-water http://www.bcdin http://www.ternational.com http://www.rochemindia.com http://www.australian http://mines.com.au http://www.skinnovation.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering August 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering August 2018
