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Organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) is a membrane separation technology used for separating molecules present in organic solvents. Research in the Livingston group has resulted in the creation of membranes with exceptional stability in organic solvents, coupled to high flux and excellent rejection performance. These membranes have been developed through to commercial products, and are manufactured by Evonik MET Ltd in the UK in a purpose-built facility in West London.
For many separations OSN uses ten times less energy than thermal methods, and can process molecules at low temperature. Through Evonik MET, OSN membranes and test equipment derived from the Imperial research have been supplied to over 100 customers including many of the major global chemical and pharmaceutical companies. For his work on OSN, Andrew Livingston received the 2009 Silver Medal of the Royal Academy of Engineering awarded "...to recognize an outstanding and demonstrated personal contribution to British engineering, which has resulted in successful market exploitation..." [7]
Researchers at Swansea University were the first in the world to apply Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to membrane separation in the field of process engineering. Membrane optimisation processes have emerged as one of the most significant recent developments in chemical engineering, with a range of applications in, for example, the food industry and medicine/therapeutics. Research undertaken by the University has led to significant commercial and health benefits, including
A small, battery-powered device for oxygen generation and distribution (Natrox™), has been developed that, with air as input, can supply humidified oxygen evenly to wounds, such as ulcers, surgical wounds and burns, allowing the patient to be treated in a discrete efficient way without interfering with their lifestyle. With conventional approaches, oxygen can be supplied to hospital patients with ulcers only via gas bottles or piped oxygen, with the limb or body being enclosed in a plastic bag. Many successful trials of the Natrox™ device have been performed, initiating considerable interest, leading to the manufacturing and distribution of the device by InotecAMD Ltd, a University of Cambridge spin-out.
Fifteen years of ceramic membrane research at Robert Gordon University and the applied development programme by the RGU spinout Gas2 Ltd have culminated in the development of the Gas2 pMR™ CPOX process and its new GTL reactor. This technology has captured the attention of major global energy investment company Lime Rock Partners for possible onshore and offshore deployment addressing the monetisation of stranded gas and to avoid flaring and venting of unwanted associated gas. The economic impact is £17.2 million in equity investment during 2008- 2013 with concomitant impacts of new processes and employment opportunities at Gas2, with environmental impact for the oil & gas industry from eco-friendly handling of stranded natural gas.
Multiphase flow research at Imperial has developed bespoke software code, and provided unique data for validation of commercial codes used for oil-and-gas design. This research has enabled global oil companies (e.g. Chevron) to undertake successfully the design of deep-water production systems requiring multi-billion pound capital investments. This research has also allowed SPT Group (now owned by Schlumberger), one of the largest software (OLGA) providers to the oil industry, to maintain their position as market leaders.
Nature's Raincoats is a physical exhibition and a website providing easily accessible information and resources. These entities have had extensive use within the public understanding of superhydrophobic surfaces (extremely repellent to water), including The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, Cheltenham Science Festival, The Big Bang Fair, British Science Festival and Techfest (India) — reaching thousands of people in the UK and overseas. As well as impacting on improved public awareness, the research informed website provides a direct route to research expertise for companies within the UK and internationally and extends good practice of working with industry e.g. Rolls Royce.
The question `Why do brooks babble?' inspired Southampton research into the acoustics of gas bubbles in liquids, bringing medical, military, industrial and environmental breakthroughs with global reach, including:
University of Surrey has a strong legacy of research into membrane separation and osmosis, culminating the commercialisation of Surrey's spin-out company Modern Water plc. Modern Water plc. was floated on AIM (London Stock Exchange) in June 2007 raising £30m cash with a market value of £70m.
The research itself is having direct impact via the operating desalination plants in Gibraltar and Oman producing high quality drinking water typically using 30% less energy than conventional desalination plants. In Oman, because of the poor quality of the feed water the forward osmosis process uses 42% less energy per litre of water produced when compared to convential equipment. The two plants currently operating in Oman serve 600 people in Al-Khuluf and 800 people in Naghdah.
The SAFT-VR family of thermodynamic models has made it possible to predict reliably the behaviour of the many complex and challenging fluids that are found across a range of industrial sectors, including oil & gas, chemicals (refrigerants, surfactants, polymers), energy (carbon capture solvents, carbon dioxide-rich streams) and pharmaceuticals.
The SAFT-VR models have had a wide impact on industrial practice. At BP, they have been used to design novel surfactants that have increased the lifetime of oil fields up to five-fold, avoiding maintenance interventions costing millions of dollars and increasing productivity by 50% (worth $2-3 million per year per well). At Borealis, they have been used to understand how to increase the productivity of the reactor in the flagship Borstar process by 30%. At ICI and Ineos/Mexichem, they have been used to design efficient processes for producing replacement refrigerants with much reduced reliance on extreme and expensive experiments involving hydrogen fluoride, a highly corrosive substance. Industrial demand for access to the predictive capabilities of SAFT-VR has been such that Imperial College has licensed the software in 2013 to a UK SME in order to distribute it worldwide to users.
Research at the University of Salford directed at the development of a new consumer aerosol without liquefied gas propellant; the Salford Eco-valve, demonstrates the following impact: