Selected Research Topics

Compact Membrane Systems has engaged in research into a variety of applications for our highly fluorinated polymer gas separation membranes and gas-liquid membrane contactors.  Please click the Contact Us link at the top to discuss the development status and partnership opportunities for any of the applications listed below.

CMS membrane contactors are currently under development for degassing and/or dewatering of a variety of difficult to process liquids with low surface tension (oil, ink, petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, surfactant solutions) or aggressive and corrosive properties (acids, etchants, inkjet inks). Certain corrosive gases, including (HF, HCl, NH3) can be separated from mixtures of gases and/or liquids with our membranes. Dehydration of certain reaction mixtures is also currently being explored, including pharmaceutical and bioreactor mixtures.  Click here to learn more.

The process of osmotic distillation (OD) is being pursued for the dewatering of thermally labile aqueous streams, e.g. fruit beverages, coffee, and pharmaceuticals. OD can concentrate to very high levels at low temperature and pressure, with minimal thermal or mechanical damage to or loss of solute (product). Ongoing research is being funded by the NSF, NIH and USDA.

Oxygen enriched air may have applications for respiratory therapy.  The current generation of CMS-3 membranes can produce ~31% OEA in a transportable package, which has been shown in limited clinical tests to be roughly equivalent to ~2 lpm continuous flow oxygen in patients suffering from chronic obstructive respiratory diseases. OEA can also be used to increase combustion efficiency in burners.

Our membrane separation technology has been shown to save up to 80% of the overall costs (i.e. capital and operating costs) relative to evaporators in separating organic solvents from heavier compounds such as oil. Our membrane separation technology also offers higher process safety and significant reduction in solvent emissions compared to conventional processes such as evaporators.  Examples of solvent recovery by our membrane separation technology include separation of solvents such as lower alkanes or alcohols from heavier compounds such as vegetable oil, algae oil, waste motor oil or heavy oil fractions in petroleum refining.

Example applications include:

• Recovery of solvent (alkane) from solvent-deasphalting process

• Recovery of solvent (alkane) from waste motor oil re-refining process

• Recovery of solvent (hexane) from vegetable oil miscella in vegetable oil processing

• Recovery of solvent (hexane or ethanol or isopropyl alcohol) from solvent-extracted mixture of algae oil and solvent

• Athermal separation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API’s) or pharmaceutical intermediates from organic solvents

CMS is developing chemically and thermally resistant fluorinated composite membrane systems for dehydrating and/or drying solvents by vapor permeation and/or pervaporation. The membrane dehydration process is particularly cost effective and energy efficient in solvents that are difficult to dry such as those forming water azeotropes, e.g., ethanol, THF, IPA, acrolein, chloroprene, etc. This program includes the development of chemically and thermally resistant microporous supports and potting materials for the fabrication of permeation modules. CMS is also using its modeling capabilities for optimizing the membrane process parameters to minimize system and operating costs. CMS has lab scale and pilot scale permeation systems for obtaining data on specific dehydrations of interest to the chemical and biofuel industry.

Please click the Contact Us link at the top/bottom to inquire about the development status and partnership opportunities for any of the applications listed above.