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Membranes
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Membranes in Process Intensification
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Membranes in Process Intensification

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2014)

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Galip Akay

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: micro-cellular polymers; biomass waste gasification; syngas cleaning; syngas-to-biofuel/ammonia conversion; nano-structured micro-porous materials, membranes and catalysts; catalytic membrane combustion; biomimic membrane reactors; oil-water and gas-liquid separations; carrier mediated separations/remediation; membrane process (electro-filtration); in vitro organs/tissue engineering; biotechnology; enzyme encapsulation and bio-remediation; agglomeration/micro-encapsulation; detergent processing
Prof. Dr. Robert Field

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PJ, UK
Interests: membrane separation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Process Intensification (PI) has been emerging as a novel processing philosophy fit for the needs of the new millennia as a result of global warming, concerns for food, energy and water shortages and the shift towards a hydrogen economy and renewables which require local production platforms for sustainability. Integrated PI-based technology is free of the burden of economies of scale which define the economics of centralized production. PI is therefore most useful in distributed–decentralized–local production.

Within PI, membranes play an important function because of the reduction of diffusion pathways for mass transfer as well as due to their selectivity and catalytic activity. This special issue will summarize the latest developments in membrane based PI across all disciplines in order to define the underlying mechanisms and cross-fertilization. We invite contributors to submit original research papers in membrane based process intensification in chemical, biochemical, biological, agricultural, environmental, energy conversion technologies covering separations, reactors, catalysis, combustion processes dealing with products such as chemicals, fine chemicals or resources such as water, air and solar radiation. The scope of the papers ranges from the existing polymeric, metallic, ceramic or composite membrane systems in process intensification to novel membranes specially tailored for process intensification.

Prof. Dr. Galip Akay
Prof. Dr. Robert Field
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • catalytic membranes
  • composite membranes
  • crossflow filtration
  • membranes
  • membrane combustion
  • membrane separations
  • membrane reactors
  • process intensification
  • process miniaturisation
  • reactive membranes
  • reactive separations

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

490 KiB  
Article
Improvement of Membrane Performances to Enhance the Yield of Vanillin in a Pervaporation Reactor
by Giovanni Camera-Roda, Antonio Cardillo, Vittorio Loddo, Leonardo Palmisano and Francesco Parrino
Membranes 2014, 4(1), 96-112; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes4010096 - 28 Feb 2014
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 7808
Abstract
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 [...] Read more.
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 both vanillin and the reactant (ferulic acid) are analyzed, since they ultimately affect the performances of the membrane reactor. The results show that diffusion of the aromatic compounds takes place in the presence of low concentration gradients, so that the process is controlled by other phenomena, in particular by the equilibrium with the vapor at the membrane-permeate interface. On this basis, it is demonstrated that the performances are enhanced by increasing the membrane thickness and/or the temperature, whereas the pH begins to limit the process only at values higher than 6.5. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes in Process Intensification)
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970 KiB  
Article
Performance Modeling and Cost Analysis of a Pilot-Scale Reverse Osmosis Process for the Final Purification of Olive Mill Wastewater
by Javier Miguel Ochando-Pulido, Gassan Hodaifa, Maria Dolores Victor-Ortega and Antonio Martinez-Ferez
Membranes 2013, 3(4), 285-297; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes3040285 - 11 Oct 2013
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 7486
Abstract
A secondary treatment for olive mill wastewater coming from factories working with the two-phase olive oil production process (OMW-2) has been set-up on an industrial scale in an olive oil mill in the premises of Jaén (Spain). The secondary treatment comprises Fenton-like oxidation [...] Read more.
A secondary treatment for olive mill wastewater coming from factories working with the two-phase olive oil production process (OMW-2) has been set-up on an industrial scale in an olive oil mill in the premises of Jaén (Spain). The secondary treatment comprises Fenton-like oxidation followed by flocculation-sedimentation and filtration through olive stones. In this work, performance modelization and preliminary cost analysis of a final reverse osmosis (RO) process was examined on pilot scale for ulterior purification of OMW-2 with the goal of closing the loop of the industrial production process. Reduction of concentration polarization on the RO membrane equal to 26.3% was provided upon increment of the turbulence over the membrane to values of Reynolds number equal to 2.6 × 104. Medium operating pressure (25 bar) should be chosen to achieve significant steady state permeate flux (21.1 L h−1 m−2) and minimize membrane fouling, ensuring less than 14.7% flux drop and up to 90% feed recovery. Under these conditions, irreversible fouling below 0.08 L h−2 m−2 bar−1 helped increase the longevity of the membrane and reduce the costs of the treatment. For 10 m3 day−1 OMW-2 on average, 47.4 m2 required membrane area and 0.87 € m−3 total costs for the RO process were estimated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes in Process Intensification)
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443 KiB  
Article
Pd-Ag Membrane Coupled to a Two-Zone Fluidized Bed Reactor (TZFBR) for Propane Dehydrogenation on a Pt-Sn/MgAl2O4 Catalyst
by José-Antonio Medrano, Ignacio Julián, Javier Herguido and Miguel Menéndez
Membranes 2013, 3(2), 69-86; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes3020069 - 14 May 2013
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 9188
Abstract
Several reactor configurations have been tested for catalytic propane dehydrogenation employing Pt-Sn/MgAl2O4 as a catalyst. Pd-Ag alloy membranes coupled to the multifunctional Two-Zone Fluidized Bed Reactor (TZFBR) provide an improvement in propane conversion by hydrogen removal from the reaction bed [...] Read more.
Several reactor configurations have been tested for catalytic propane dehydrogenation employing Pt-Sn/MgAl2O4 as a catalyst. Pd-Ag alloy membranes coupled to the multifunctional Two-Zone Fluidized Bed Reactor (TZFBR) provide an improvement in propane conversion by hydrogen removal from the reaction bed through the inorganic membrane in addition to in situ catalyst regeneration. Twofold process intensification is thereby achieved when compared to the use of traditional fluidized bed reactors (FBR), where coke formation and thermodynamic equilibrium represent important process limitations. Experiments were carried out at 500–575 °C and with catalyst mass to molar flow of fed propane ratios between 15.1 and 35.2 g min mmol−1, employing three different reactor configurations: FBR, TZFBR and TZFBR + Membrane (TZFBR + MB). The results in the FBR showed catalyst deactivation, which was faster at high temperatures. In contrast, by employing the TZFBR with the optimum regenerative agent flow (diluted oxygen), the process activity was sustained throughout the time on stream. The TZFBR + MB showed promising results in catalytic propane dehydrogenation, displacing the reaction towards higher propylene production and giving the best results among the different reactor configurations studied. Furthermore, the results obtained in this study were better than those reported on conventional reactors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes in Process Intensification)
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