Capabilities
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Dynamic Membranes
Overview Dynamic membranes operate by moving the membrane rapidly (using vibration or rotation) to generate a shear force at the membrane surface and the feed stream that is being filtered. This is opposed to traditional Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF) that generates a sheer force by… Read More
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Counter Current Chromatography (CCC)
Overview CCC is a scalable chromatographic technology that uses the counter current motion of a two-phase liquid-liquid system to generate a chromatographic effect on the solvated compounds, separating them into pure components. It is an emerging technology with recently developed instruments capable of ton /… Read More
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Ultrasonic Filtration and Particulate Removal
Low-energy ultrasonic separation is being developed at LANL for broad industrial application. Its fundamental construct is the removal of particles in liquid media. It cuts energy by moving particles a short distance where they meet up with other particles to form large aggregates that settle quickly to effect separation. This construct can be applied to a broad range of industrial applications such as concentrating and dewatering microalgae in seawater, removing fines from bioprocess and mineral streams, and for coalescing emulsion droplets. Read More
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Functionalized Nano-Sorbents
Overview These separations approaches apply advanced materials with high selectivity and binding capacity for removal of chemical species from active fermentation systems. The materials target not only bioproducts (fuels and chemicals) that are the output of bioconversion processes, but also toxins and inhibitors that deter… Read More
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Membrane Autopsies
Overview Membrane biofouling is a major obstacle in application of membrane processes in purification and separation. We developed tools to evaluate and understand microbial community structure in biofilms formed on membrane materials, as well as the functional interaction between these communities and the membrane surface… Read More
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Inorganic Membrane Development
PNNL has capabilities in manufacturing prototype membranes using advance sorbent materials and composites for gas and liquid separation applications. This capability is accompanied by the associated performance testing equipment for both gaseous and liquid separations. PNNL’s membrane seeding and growth system can be used to produce inorganic novel membrane prototypes up to 13 cm x 13 cm in size for subsequent evaluation. Read More
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Distillation
PNNL has distillation capabilities ranging from systems that can process on the order of 1-liter/day to up 30-gallons/day of material. These capabilities include a laboratory-scale distillation system, a wiped film distillation system, and a skid-mounted distillation system. Read More
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Membrane Fabrication And Process Evaluation
ORNL develops a new class of surface-engineered (superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic) nano/meso/micro-porous membranes that can be tailored for high permeation flux, high selectivity, and anti-fouling separations performance. The R&D 100 Award-winning membranes are either inorganic (ceramic or metallic) porous materials based, or supported polymer or polymer-graphene coated membranes. Read More
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Advanced Sorbent Development and Scaleup
PNNL has both batch and continuous processing technologies for producing test quantities of new advanced sorbent materials, including advanced zeolites and custom MOF (Metal Organic Framework) compositions. PNNL’s capabilities also include the associated compositional and performance characterization equipment for wide range of gases and vapors. Read More
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Synthesis and Characterization of Inorganic Sorbents, Beads, Polymer Resins, and Biosorbents; Inorganic Sorbent Bead Platform Technologies; Sorbent-based Separation Processes
ORNL has the unique capability in synthesis production of inorganic sorbent beads via internal and external gelation processes. The inorganic beads can be made to be nanoporous or mesoporous oxides so that large specific surface areas can be achieved. The composition of inorganic beads ranges from oxides, carbides, sulfides, and their mix. Read More