Pall Corporation, a global leader in filtration, separation and purification, on November 11 announced the launch of a new system to assist in the research and development of bio-based processes that will enable the production of fuels and chemicals from renewable feedstocks. Pall’s Research and Modeling scale (RAMs) Crossflow Filtration System is designed to help research centers, universities, national labs and process developers evaluate the use of membranes and create reliable early economic guidance for future scale-up of their applications.
The new Pall system integrates a high level of data collection with a small batch production capability to facilitate large-scale process and economic modeling during early stages of development, prior to field evaluation. It is capable of concentrating fluid streams by more than ten times and enables operators to evaluate inorganic, ceramic, stainless steel, and organic hollow fiber membranes, among others.
The flexibility of the RAMs system makes it ideal for crossflow filtration feasibility studies comparing the effectiveness of different membranes in specific applications, and enables the design of cost-effective “fit-for-purpose” pilot scale systems. This enables the Pall system to facilitate significant cost savings over generic piloting systems, and provide users with essential economic information concerning scale-up much earlier in the development process.
There is a global movement focusing on the process development of bio-based fuels and chemicals which can augment the supply of petroleum-derived fuels and chemicals. The use of renewable materials represents a paradigm shift driven by decreasing fossil resources and increasing carbon accumulation in our atmosphere that may be contributing to global warming.
The RAMs system will help developers understand how membranes can be applied to their processes, and can be used to develop early stage guidance for the use of membranes in several applications areas. These include: prefiltration and product purification for bio-based chemical production, high biomass solids recycling and perfusion in fermentation processes, algal biomass separation and concentration, and diafiltration. Working with the RAMs system enables the optimal membrane selection for a particular process, and allows quicker development times.
“The Pall RAMs Crossflow Filtration System will help our customers achieve successful processes for producing sustainable fuels and chemicals,” said Greg Heilbrunn, senior vice president, global marketing, Pall Energy. “The system helps technology developers determine how filtration and separations will play a role in their processes prior to expensive pilot testing. Helping facilitate the development of the biofuels industry is part of Pall’s continuing commitment to enabling a greener future.”
To learn more about the RAMs system, visit www.pall.com/chemical_53239.asp.