Chemical Engineering July 2021 - 8

purpose, which is more powerful and easier to
handle in comparison with other fuels.
PP FROM CARPET WASTE
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for
Building Physics (IBP; Stuttgart, Germany; www.
ibp.fraunhofer.de) and partners have developed
a solvent-based process that recycles carpet
waste into virgin-grade polypropylene (PP). Developed
as part of the Isoprep project, which is
funded under the E.U.'s Horizon 2020 program,
the process is based on an ionic liquid that selectively
dissolves PP, leaving behind dyes and other
additives. As a result, the PP can be reused for
making new products rather than the standard
practice of being incinerated, or down-cycled for
lower-grade products.
The process has been demonstrated at the laboratory
scale involving several liters of the solvent.
A pilot plant capable of recycling 1 ton/d of carpet
waste is planned to start up by the end of the
project in March 2022.
BIOSURFACTANTS
A process that integrates fermentation and
separation is being scaled up to produce biosurfactants.
Developed by Holiferm (Manchester,
U.K.; www.holiferm.com), the process is
based on a fermentation using a natural yeast
derived from a Canadian honey bee hive, using
vegetable oil and glucose as raw materials.
Sophorolipids, the product of the fermentation,
are subsequently recovered by an integrated
separation process based on gravity
and phase separation.
Last April, the company installed a 600-L pilot
production plant in Daresbury and completed
its
first batch, which produced hundreds of
kilograms of sophorolipid. The products have
been purified and shipped. The pilot plant
has an annual production capacity of 25 metric
tons. The next step being planned is for a
" Commercial 1 " production facility that will produce
1,000 m.t./yr.
Sophorolipid has been shown to be an effective
surfactant that has no toxicity and is completely
biodegradable. The surfactant could be
an alternative to petroleum-derived surfactants
used in homecare and cosmetics products.
CYBERSECURITY GUIDANCE
Last month, the International Society of Automation
(ISA; Research Triangle Park, N.C.; www.
isa.org) Global Cybersecurity Alliance (ISAGCA),
along with admeritia GmbH (Langenfld, Germany;
www.admeritia.de), released the Top 20
Secure PLC Coding Practices document. The
document, which can be downloaded at www.
plc-security.com, aims to provide a list of coding
practices for programable logic controler (PLC)
programmers that have benefits for the information
technology (IT) security of PLCs and the
plants they control.
This public-sourced document utilized ISA
members and leaders, many of whom have volunteered
their time, to join forces with other colleagues
and experts from around the world to
help develop this grassroots list.
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8
New AI tool allows predictive maintenance
on heat transfer fluids
A
new predictive analytics tool
for heat-transfer-fluid (HTF)
life expectancy uses artificial
intelligence (AI) algorithms
built around HTF sample analysis
data. The tool, known as Fluid Genius,
is designed to provide recommendations
for extending fluid life
and maintaining HTF systems. Developed
by Eastman Chemical Co.
(Kingsport, Tenn.; eastman.com),
Fluid Genius has been validated at
both Eastman sites, as well as external
user facilities.
" Engineers don't necessarily receive
extensive information about
heat transfer fluids in their undergraduate
training, so many people
working in plants need more information
on how HTF systems operate on
a day-to-day basis, " explains Mark
Brucks, segment marketing manager
for HTFs at Eastman. " The AI-enabled
Fluid Genius tool combines theoretical
information with real-world experiential
data to fill in the knowledge
gaps for those working with HTFs. "
Fluid Genius generates a fluid
condition score, a unique measure
of the overall fluid condition, as well
as notifications about fluid trends
and customized recommendations
for proactive maintenance actions.
These could include system venting,
inert-gas blanket system installation
and inspection, fluid replacement, the
implementation of side-stream filtration
and alerts for possible contamination,
says Sharon Dunn, Eastman
global commercial director for heat
transfer fluids.
" Eastman has long-term technical
experience in this area, along with
decades-worth of sample analysis
data on HTFs, " adds Dunn. " We have
leveraged those in our algorithms,
which can provide specific recommendations
for how to extend the
performance of the HTF until the next
scheduled shutdown. "
Fluid Genius is accompanied by
an easy-to-use, complimentary sampling
kit. It has been deployed at a
number of operating sites to date.
Extraction of plant products with
supercritical glycerin
C
onstruction is underway of a
prototype system designed
to extract natural product
compounds from plants
using supercritical glycerin as the
extraction solvent. The initial target
for the process is to extract cannabidiol
(CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC) from Cannabis sativa plants.
" Most processes using supercritical
fluids - such as carbon dioxide
- to extract plant products end up
with highly viscous products that are
difficult to work with, " explains inventor
Demetri Hopkins. " The glycerin
concentrates generated from
this system can be used directly in
a range of products, and allow standardized
concentrations of the target
compounds. "
The intellectual property behind
Hopkins' glycerin extraction technology
has been licensed to incubator
platform ECO Innovation Group
Inc. (Van Nuys, Calif.; www.ecoig.
com), and the prototype is being
fabricated by high-pressure equipment
specialist Fluitron Inc. (Ivyland,
Pa.; www.fluitron.com).
While glycerin (propane-1,2,3-triol)
is used as the supercritical extraction
solvent, the process depends on a
set of proprietary co-factors required
to maintain glycerin in a supercritical
state, and that promote the efficient
dissolution of the desired molecules.
In the system, the cofactors are separated
from the products after the
extraction step and recycled back to
the process.
" The technology is amenable to
automation, and allows users to
standardize the product extraction
and obtain consistent concentrations
across different batches, "
Hopkins says, " which are features
not present in the Cannabis market
to date. " Although Cannabis
products, including vaping pens,
are among the first planned by the
team, the supercritical glycerin extraction
technology can be applied
to other end markets as well, including
pharmaceuticals, herbal
supplements, cosmetics, beverages
and others.
n
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM JULY 2021
http://ibp.fraunhofer.de http://www.eastman.com http://www.holiferm.com http://www.fluitron.com http://www.isa.org http://www.admeritia.de http://www.plc-security.com http://www.ecoig http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering July 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering July 2021
