Separation technologies/processes selectivity improvement

To optimize the BOHLM processes and improve separation and transport properties, it is necessary to develop complexation chemistry and new selective carriers, or to improve existing ones. Such improvements and reducing the price of membrane film or hoUow-fiber production wiU definitely speed industrial application of the BOHLM technologies, espe-ciaUy for gas, pharmaceutical and bioreactor apphcations. 

Industrially, vitamin is prepared from the chromic acid oxidation of 2-methylnaphthalene (56). Although the yields are low, the process is economical owing to the low cost and availabiUty of the starting material and the oxidizing agent. However, the process is compHcated by the formation of isomeric 6-meth5l-l,4-naphthoquinone. As a result, efforts have been directed to develop process technology to faciUtate the separation of the isomeric naphthoquinone and to improve selectivity of the oxidation. 

Separation of gas streams by adsorption is becoming increasingly popular as improved technology comes on the market. Some examples of commercially practiced adsorption processes are shown in Table 1. These processes take advantage of the selective adsorption properties of a number of microporous adsorbents, including activated carbon, silica, alumina, and various synthetic and natural zeolites. 

The technology to fabricate ultrathin high-performance membranes into high-surface-area membrane modules has steadily improved during the modem membrane era. As a result the inflation-adjusted cost of membrane separation processes has decreased dramatically over the years. The first anisotropic membranes made by Loeb-Sourirajan processes had an effective thickness of 0.2-0.4 xm. Currently, various techniques are used to produce commercial membranes with a thickness of 0.1 i m or less. The permeability and selectivity of membrane materials have also increased two to three fold during the same period. As a result, today s membranes have 5 to 10 times the flux and better selectivity than membranes available 30 years ago. These trends are continuing. Membranes with an effective thickness of less than 0.05 xm have been made in the laboratory using advanced composite membrane preparation techniques or surface treatment methods. 

Carrier facilitated transport processes often achieve spectacular separations between closely related species because of the selectivity of the carriers. However, no coupled transport process has advanced to the commercial stage despite a steady stream of papers in the academic literature. The instability of the membranes is a major technical hurdle, but another issue has been the marginal improvements in economics offered by coupled transport processes over conventional technology such as solvent extraction or ion exchange. Major breakthroughs in performance are required to make coupled transport technology commercially competitive. 

---