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hours the membrane surface required cleaning in the conventional way. Following these initial tests resear- chers built small modules and an MBR system for further study.
Wastewater was treated with activated sludge and filtered using the membrane module. Activated sludge is wastewater containing air and micro-or- ganisms causing the aggregation of organic matter. Following this dual treatment both the organic and ammonia content were significantly reduced, giving a much more efficient result than using the membrane alone.
Cost-effective recovery of potentially useful resources from wastewater constitutes an extra bonus in the bid to clean up Europe‘s heavily polluted waterways. Fertiliser and biogas fuel produced with a low energy bill will almost certainly prove to be very attractive possibilities for the direction of agro-industry.
Contact: Otto Carlowitz, Clausthaler Umwelttechnik- Institute GmbH, Leibnizstrasse 21-23, P.O. Box 1063, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Phone: +49-532- 3933243:
http://www.cutec.de/
Identifying the Best Sorption Model for Polymerisation
The relative accuracy of several theoretical concepts that describe the phenomenon of sorption was evaluated during a four-year research project en- titled POLYPROP. Following a review of all relevant literature, a series of experiments were carried out to compare actual data against values predicted by
10-05/06 :: May/June 2010
theory. For example, the Sanchez-Lacombe equation of state (S-L EOS) was used to calculate the amount of swelling following the sorption of ethylene by polyethylene. The results were highly encouraging. Part of the laboratory work also involved assessing the impact of varying the catalyst and other process parameters.
Another aspect examined by the POLYPROP par- ticipants was the effect of particle diameter and temperature on the sorption of propylene by poly- propylene. In this case, better agreement was achie- ved by applying a temperature-dependent constant based on Henry‘s law rather than with the S-L EOS. Furthermore, it was shown that the results could be extended to the liquid phase by applying Flory-Hug- gins theory.
Finally, valuable insight into the differences between gas and liquid phase kinetics in the presence of a Ziegler-Natta catalyst was obtained. Specifically, it was demonstrated that catalyst efficiency did not vary between the two phases when other experimen- tal parameters were held constant. These findings were subsequently exploited during the design of the POLYPROP reactor.
Contact: Llinas Jean Richard, BP LAVERASNC, Avenue d‘ Auguette, 13117 Lavera, France, Phone: +33-44- 2358296.
Low Cost Membranes to Play Key Role in Fuel Cell Development
The MOREPOWER project has developed a com- pact portable power source that can produce elec-
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