Search results for "Process intensification"
showing 10 items of 13 documents
Process intensification in a photocatalytic membrane reactor: Analysis of the techniques to integrate reaction and separation
2017
Abstract Different methods to integrate reaction and separation in a membrane reactor are studied in the present work, with the aim being to highlight the pros and cons of the different alternatives and the effects of the intervening parameters. The coupling of the two processes can take place inside a single apparatus or using separate units. If a single apparatus is utilized, the coupling is more direct, but separate units offer higher degrees of freedom for the design with more opportunities to optimize the system without constraints. However, when using separate units, the integration of the two unit operations depends largely on the parameters intervening in the coupling procedure. The…
Photocatalytic ozonation: Maximization of the reaction rate and control of undesired by-products
2015
Abstract In the so-called photocatalytic ozonation (PO) synergistic effects between photocatalysis and ozonation enhance the rate of oxidation of organic compounds, therefore this integrated process is very promising for use in water treatment. In the present work, it is demonstrated that the improvement that can be obtained by the integrated process in comparison with the uncoupled processes depends on the relative weight between photocatalysis and ozonation. In this respect, it has been found that a relatively low rate of photocatalysis (0.3 times the rate of ozonation) is sufficient to get the highest synergy and to maximize the performances in the oxidation of formate, the adopted model…
Electrodialysis with Bipolar Membranes for the Sustainable Production of Chemicals from Seawater Brines at Pilot Plant Scale
2023
Environmental concerns regarding the disposal of seawater reverse osmosis brines require the development of new valorization strategies. Electrodialysis with bipolar membrane (EDBM) technology enables the production of acid and base from a salty waste stream. In this study, an EDBM pilot plant with a membrane area of 19.2 m2 was tested. This total membrane area results much larger (i.e., more than 16 times larger) than those reported in the literature so far for the production of HCl and NaOH aqueous solutions, starting from NaCl brines. The pilot unit was tested both in continuous and discontinuous operation modes, at different current densities (200-500 A m-2). Particularly, three differe…
Photocatalytic process intensification by coupling with pervaporation
2011
The integration of photocatalysis with a membrane separation process, in particular pervaporation, permits the recovery of valuable intermediate compounds (aromatic aldehydes) while they are produced avoiding their further degradation in the reactive ambient. In this way the yield and the conversion are enhanced. The coupling of the two processes is straightforward and the integration is complete even maintaining pervaporation and photocatalysis in two separate apparatuses provided that the process stream is continuously recycled at a sufficiently high flow rate. Additional advantages are: higher degree of purification of the aldehyde in the powder-free product stream, semicontinuous produc…
Modelling and cost analysis of hybrid systems for seawater desalination: Electromembrane pre-treatments for Reverse Osmosis
2019
Abstract The need to reduce energy consumption in seawater Reverse Osmosis (RO) process has pushed research towards the development of new hybrid systems in which, for example, other membrane processes can be used to pre-treat seawater. Electrodialysis (ED) and Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) can act as a pre-desalting step before seawater enters the RO unit, thus leading to an important energy saving in RO. In this work, two coupled models are proposed for the RED-RO and ED-RO systems. Each process model was validated. Then a sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the effect of the integration on the overall process cost saving. The analysis was performed by changing ED or RED voltage …
PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOPOLYMERIC POROUS STRUCTURES FOR ADVANCED APPLICATIONS
Porous biopolymers received an increasing academic and industrial interest finding application in several fields such as tissue engineering, bioprocess intensification and waste removal. Tissue engineering combines the knowledge of materials science and bioengineering in order to develop structures able to substitute and restore the normal function of injured or diseased tissues. In this context, polymeric 3D or 2D scaffolds are widely investigated as temporary cell guidance during the tissue restore. Porous biomaterials can offer a versatile and cost effective way for immobilization of filamentous microorganisms in submerged fermentation processes for the production of biologically active …
Green Synthesis of Vanillin: Pervaporation and Dialysis for Process Intensification in a Membrane Reactor.
2019
In the present work, two different membrane processes (pervaporation and dialysis) are compared in view of their utilization in a membrane reactor, where vanillin, which is probably the most important aroma of the food industry, is synthesized in a green and sustainable way. The utilized precursor (ferulic acid, which is possibly a natural product from agricultural wastes) is partially oxidized (photocatalytically or biologically) and the product is continuously recovered from the reacting solution by the membrane process to avoid its degradation. It is observed that pervaporation is much more selective towards vanillin than dialysis, but the permeate flux of dialysis is much higher. Furthe…
Improvement of membrane performances to enhance the yield of vanillin in a pervaporation reactor.
2014
In membrane reactors, the interaction of reaction and membrane separation can be exploited to achieve a “process intensification”, a key objective of sustainable development. In the present work, the properties that the membrane must have to obtain this result in a pervaporation reactor are analyzed and discussed. Then, the methods to enhance these properties are investigated for the photocatalytic synthesis of vanillin, which represents a case where the recovery from the reactor of vanillin by means of pervaporation while it is produced allows a substantial improvement of the yield, since its further oxidation is thus prevented. To this end, the phenomena that control the permeation of bot…
Photocatalytic ozonation:Maximization of the reaction rate and control of undesired by-products
2014
In theso-calledphotocatalyticozonation(PO)synergisticeffectsbetweenphotocatalysisandozonation enhance therateofoxidationoforganiccompounds,thereforethisintegratedprocessisverypromising for useinwatertreatment.Inthepresentwork,itisdemonstratedthattheimprovementthatcanbe obtained bytheintegratedprocessincomparisonwiththeuncoupledprocessesdependsontherelative weight between photocatalysis and ozonation. In this respect, it has been found that a relatively low rate of photocatalysis (0.3 times the rate of ozonation)issufficienttogetthehighestsynergyandtomaximize the performancesintheoxidationofformate,theadoptedmodelorganiccompound.Thebenefitsof the couplingofphotocatalysistoozonationarenotlimi…
Pervaporation membrane reactors
2013
Pervaporation is a peculiar membrane separation process which is now considered for the integration with some types of reactions in new promising and interesting applications. Indeed, pervaporation membrane reactors are suitable to some specific utilizations also in sustainable chemistry, which is an area currently characterized by a growing interest. The fundamentals of this type of membrane reactors are presented and the advantages and the difficulties in many applications are discussed and reviewed with particular attention to the opportunities for future developments.