Novel Nanofiltration Membranes for the Separation of Solvent/Oil Mixtures--Membrane Technology and Research, Inc., 1360 Willow Road, Suite 103, Menlo Park, CA 94025-1516; (650) 328-2228
Dr. J. G. Wijmans, Principal Investigator
Ms. E. G. Weiss, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-98ER82617
Amount: $75,000

Separation of organic mixtures by distillation is energy intensive and costly. Many distillation processes involve separation of small molecules from large ones, such as solvents from oils. Using nanofiltration membranes instead of distillation for some of this effort would save large amounts of energy. Although nanofiltration of organic mixtures could reduce the size of the distillation recovery process, the necessary solvent-resistant selective membranes have yet to be developed. This project will develop such membranes and test their ability to perform solvent/oil separations. Substituted polyacetylene composition membranes will be prepared and their permeation properties evaluated with a variety of organic solvents and solvent/oil mixtures. The data will be used to determine the technical and economic feasibility of the process.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The process would save significant amounts of energy and reduce plant capital costs in refineries and vegetable oil extraction plants.