Sacrificial Protective Coating Materials that can be Regenerated In-Situ to Enable High Performance Membranes
- Teledyne Scientific & Imaging LLC, Thousand Oaks, CA (United States)
In the pulp and paper industry, weak black liquor concentration is carried out using energy intensive evaporators. Briefly, after wood digestion, water is evaporated to concentrate weak black liquor to the point where the black liquor can be burned in a recovery boiler, which ultimately leads to the recovery of digestion chemicals. Because it is less energy intensive than heat-driven separation, pressure-driven separation of water from black liquor using membranes could reduce the energy usage by 55 trillion Btu yr-1 and carbon dioxide emissions by more than 11 million metric tons CO2 per year if the first two evaporators are replaced. However, weak black liquor is a hot, corrosive, and highly fouling feed with organic molecules, colloids, and ions that clog membranes within hours of operation. We have shown that membrane-based concentration of weak black liquor is feasible, but only with our antifouling and anti-clogging technology that is based on a sacrificial Bio-inspired Living Skin concept. This concept is based on a conformal coating that is formed at the membrane surface and within the pores. Weak foulant adhesion dramatically decreases membrane fouling while the superhydrophilicity of the coating increases the water permeability. Moreover, the coating can be completely removed during backflushing, which removes foulants that may irreversibly adhere to the coating over long periods of time. The skin shedding completely regenerates the membrane surface and pores, restoring the original flux. This is followed by in-situ recoating, using the existing membrane plumbing and pumps, which essentially creates a brand new membrane surface.
- Research Organization:
- Teledyne Scientific & Imaging LLC, Thousand Oaks, CA (United States); WestRock, Atlanta, GA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Manufacturing Office; Alliance for Pulp & Paper Technology Innovation (APPTI), Washington DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0005759
- OSTI ID:
- 1429323
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-TSI-0005759; 4T080
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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