RAPID Funded Projects

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A Hybrid Optical Technology for Concentrate Management

Water-stressed regions are exploring more nontraditional water sources and energy intensive technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO) to secure and augment their freshwater supply. As RO effectively rejects most of the dissolved species and recovers approximately 50 to 80% of water depending on water source, it also generates a relatively large concentrate waste stream. Management of concentrate streams in inland applications is the key technology hurdle to overcome as it often requires the integration of one or more unit operations.

Investigators

Kerri Hickenbottom
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Partner Organizations

University of Arizona Chemstations, Inc. W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

Focus Areas

Date approved

October 01, 2020
Current TRL
4

Modular Catalytic Partial Oxidation Reactors Using Microstructured Catalyst Structures with Combined High Thermal Conductivity and Flame Extinction Capacity to Enhance Process Safety Margins and Enable High Per Pass Conversion and High Selectivity

This project looks to use IntraMicron’s platform technology of microfibrous entrapped catalysts (MFEC) to create a safer and more efficient process for the production of ethylene oxide (EO). Ethylene oxide is produced via the exothermic reaction of oxygen with ethylene. Because of the poor heat transfer and flow distribution in current packed bed reactors, hotspots form in the bed, resulting in poor selectivity. To mitigate these issues, EO processes are typically operated with sub-stoichiometric oxygen concentrations resulting in only a 10-12% ethylene conversion per pass.

Investigators

Bruce Tatarchuck
Charles E Gavin III Prof & Dir

Partner Organizations

Auburn University University of South Carolina IntraMicron

Focus Areas

Date approved

July 01, 2018
Current TRL
3

Modular Mechanical Vapor Compression-Membrane Distillation (MVC-MD) for Treatment of High TDS Produced Water

This projects aims to integrate mechanical vapor compression with membrane distillation (MVC-MD) to intensify the treatment of produced water resulted from hydraulic fracturing of shale oil and gas. In particular, membrane distillation offers a viable pathway to treat concentrated brine streams with high salinity brines, and it has the potential to be utilized for near-zero liquid discharge. However, MD in its current state is handicapped by significant energy intensity due to loss of heat of evaporation, and scaling (fouling).

Investigators

Mahdi Malmali
Assistant professor of Chemical Engineering

Partner Organizations

Texas Tech University University of Arkansas Apache Corp. AspenTech W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

Focus Areas

Date approved

July 01, 2018
Current TRL
6

RAPID MCPI - Energy Efficient Technology for Metals Separation

This project addresses the demonstration of a low-cost and low-energy pathway for the separation of metals from mixed scrap based on ionic liquids. The goal of the project is to develop and demonstrate a novel electrochemical process for the separation of metals from mixed scrap using ionic liquids (ILs) at low temperatures.

Investigators

Ramana Reddy
Professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Partner Organizations

University of Alabama Secat, Inc. Idaho National Laboratory Aveva Software LLC

Focus Areas

Date approved

November 01, 2017
Current TRL
5

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