SEPARATING INDUSTRIAL MIXTURES BY FRICTIONAL DIFFUSION (FRICDIFF)
Special Symposium - EPIC-1: European Process Intensification Conference - 1
EPIC-1: New Concepts (NC)
Keywords: frictional diffusion, multi-component separation, counter-current diffusion, conceptual process design
Frictional Diffusion, briefly FricDiff, is a novel and promising separation technology, based on the difference in diffusion rate of two components when diffusing in opposite direction of a third component - the so-called counter gas [1]. The potential of FricDiff can be found in energy consuming separations: like azeotropic distillation and cryogenic distillation.
In the theory of FricDiff, there are inter-species frictions between feed mixture and counter-gas molecules. This friction between the molecules occurs in the pores of a barrier (porous layer), where the feed-components and the third component diffuse counter-currently. The main purpose of the porous barrier (macro-porous membrane) is to prevent instantaneous mixing of the feed-stream and counter current-stream (Fig. 1.).
Fig. 1.: Basic concept of FricDiff separation technology
This project aims at designing, building and operating a test unit thus making a transition from screening experiments to a technological proof-of-principle, thereby demonstrating the potential and feasibility of this technology compared to conventional separation techniques.
Modeling and simulation studies are executed with an objective to determine the sensitivity of important performance criteria, such as recovery and selectivity, to variations in design parameters and operating variables, like tube length, pressure and flow ratio for different systems, namely IPA-H2O-CO2 and EtOH-H2O-CO2. Furthermore, in the design, the effect of scale on the performance of the test plant will be investigated. The final conceptual design of the test plant will be determined by the results of modeling and simulation studies.
Acknowledgement: the FricDiff project is financially supported by the IS program of Senter-Novem in the Netherlands. The project was initiated by the TU Eindhoven and industrial partners are Akzo Nobel, Shell, Bodec, FIB Industriële Bedrijven BV and Purac.
[1] Analysis and extension of the theory of multicomponent fluid diffusion; Piet J.A.M. Kerkhof, Marcel A.M. Geboers; Chemical Engineering Science 60 (2005) 3129 – 3167
Presented Thursday 20, 15:40 to 16:00, in session EPIC-1: New Concepts (NC).
