N e w s a n d V i e w s

Elga wins Po l i sh dr inks fac tory c o n t r a c t Elga has received an order valued at £470 000 to upgrade a n d expand the high pur i ty water t r ea tment sys tem supply ing p roduc t water to bot t l ing a n d cann ing l ines at Coca Cola Poland Ltd's p lan t at Radzymin near Warsaw. The order is the second Elga has received for Coca Cola p l an t s in Poland.

Under the contract Elga will supp ly a large Intercept RO 90 'L' reverse osmosis unit , acid dosing equipment and UV filter a n d will upgrade exist ing pre- and post- f i l t rat ion equ ipment by the incorporat ion of new media. In addi t ion, Elga will overhaul exist ing equipment and supp ly a range of cartr idge filters, p u m p s and in te rconnec t ing pipework.

Water from the sys tem will be used in the bott l ing of 'Coca Cola', ' Fan t a Orange ' and 'Spri te ' in 2-1itre bott les, and will also be suppl ied to a new automat ic cann ing line which is to be ins ta l led at the plant .

Further Informatlon from: Sally Wright, Elga Ltd, High Street, Lane End, High Wycombe, Bucks HP14 3JH, UK. Tel: 0494 881393. Fax: 0494 881007.

Ultrapure water for s e m i c o n d u c t o r fac i l i ty

I n t e r n a t i o n a l c o n f e r e n c e on m e m b r a n e e l e c t r o c h e m i s t r y The 20th In te rna t iona l Conference on Membrane Elec t rochemis t ry will be held from 10-13 May 1994 in Anapa, Russia . It will be devoted main ly to ion-exchange m e m b r a n e s and their appl ica t ions in e lec t romembrane processes . The scientific programme will include ma in lectures, oral and pos ter p resen ta t ions (in English).

It will cover the following topics:

• synthes is , metrology a n d proper t ies of ion exchangers;

* s t r u c t u r e - t r a n s p o r t correlat ions;

• interfacial phenomena , m a s s t ransfer intensification;

• desal inat ion, concentrat ion, separa t ion or purif icat ion of l iquids solut ions;

• electrodialysis , b ipolar eleetrodlalysis , coupling pressure - and cur ren t -dr iven processes . Abs t rac t s should reach the organis ing committee

(by fax) before 28 Feb rua ry 1994, and should not exceed 4 pages.

Further Informatlon from: Vladlmlr V. Kovalenko, State University of Kuban, 149 K. Liebknecht, Krasnodar 350040, Russia. Tel: +7 8612 33 84 65. Fax: +7 8612 33 98 87 (for CIS); or: Dr C. Larchet, Unlverslte Paris XII Val de Marne, Instltut Unlversltalre de Technologie, Avenue du General de Gaulle, 94010 Creteil Cedex, France. Tel: +33 1 45 17 14 85. Fax: +33 1 4 5 1 7 1 7 2 1 .

Ionics has a n n o u n c e d tha t it ha s been selected by Motorola to design, build, instal l and commiss ion an advanced u l t ra high pur i ty water sys tem for Motorola 's US$1 bil l ion semiconductor facility in Austin, Texas, USA. The value of equ ipment and services to be provided by Ionics is es t imated to exceed $14 million.

Ionics u l t r a high pur i ty water sys tem will be used in the m a n u f a c t u r e of the newest generat ion of in tegra ted circuits . The sys tem will p roduce u l t r apure water tha t exceeds cur ren t i ndus t ry s t a n d a r d s and is scheduled for commiss ioning in late 1994.

Further information from: lonics, Inc, 65 Grove Street, Watertown, MA 021 72, USA. Tel: +1 617 926 2500.

E l e c t r o c h e m i c a l m e m b r a n e f lue gas d e s u l p h u r i z a t i o n A large n u m b e r of flue gas desu lphur lza t lon processes are present ly under development th roughout the world to combat the acid ra in problem. Currently, most processes use wet or dry sorpt ion to preferent ial ly remove SO2 from the flue gas. Expensive reagents , reheating, and a landfill for d i sposa l of the cap tu red su lphur are often required.

4 M e m b r a n e Technology No. 44

N e w s a n d V i e w s

R e s e a r c h e r s in t he USA have p r e s e n t e d the d e v e l o p m e n t of a n e l e c t r o c h e m i c a l m e m b r a n e f lue g a s d e s u l p h u r i z a t i o n p r o c e s s in AIChE Journal, 40, p p 143-151 , 1994. The k e y e l e m e n t in t h e p r o c e s s is a n e l e c t r o c h e m i c a l cell u s i n g a s u l p h u r oxide se lec t ive m e m b r a n e . The e lect rolyte-f iUed m e m b r a n e w a s s a n d w i c h e d b e t w e e n t h e two p o r o u s , g a s d i f fus ion e l e c t r o d e s w h i c h i m p o s e d t h e r e q u i r e d vo l tage g r a d i e n t a c r o s s t he cel l a n d i n i t i a t ed the r e q u i r e d e l e c t r o c h e m i s t r y .

P reox id ized f lue g a s e n t e r e d the c a t h o d e s ide a n d d i f fused in to t he p o r e s of t h e e lec t rode , w h e r e a se r i e s of r e a c t i o n s se lec t ive ly r e m o v e d SO3 a t t he c a t h o d e / m e m b r a n e in te r face . The SO3 g e n e r a t e d a t the a n o d e / m e m b r a n e in t e r f ace d i f fused ou t of t he a n o d e a n d w a s c a r r i e d a w a y a s a c o n c e n t r a t e d b y p r o d u c t s t r e a m .

The e l e c t r o c h e m i c a l p r o c e s s w a s f o u n d to be c a p a b l e of r e m o v i n g 90% of in le t SO3. The r e s e a r c h e r s f o c u s s e d the i r e f for t s on i m p r o v i n g the s t r u c t u r e of the e l e c t r o c h e m i c a l m e m b r a n e a n d i ts i n t e r f ace wi th t he e l ec t rodes .

C h e m i c a l l y - s t a b l e m a t r i x m a t e r i a l s for t he m e m b r a n e were ident i f ied . Di f fe ren t t e c h n i q u e s were u s e d to p r e p a r e t he a c t u a l m e m b r a n e s t r u c t u r e . A n e w e l ec t rode m a t e r i a l , (LiO)xNiO, p o s s e s s e d the r e q u i r e d c h e m i c a l s t a b i l i t y a n d e lec t r i ca l p r o p e r t i e s in the co r ros ive e n v i r o n m e n t .

It w a s c o n c l u d e d t h a t t he e l e c t r o c h e m i c a l m e m b r a n e p r o c e s s for f lue gas d e s u l p h u r i z a t i o n h a d u n d e r g o n e s u b s t a n t i a l a d v a n c e m e n t . By c h a n g i n g to a n e w e l ec t rode m a t e r i a l , l i t h i a t ed NiO, p o l a r i z a t i o n a n d cell l i fe t ime were i n c r e a s e d b y a n o r d e r of m a g n i t u d e .

Further Informatlon from: J. Winnlck, School of Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.

i o n - e x c h a n g e m e m b r a n e t h a t effect ively r ecyc l e s a c i d s a n d a lka l i s . By 1997, t he c o m p a n y p r o j e c t s s a l e s of a r o u n d ¥ 1 . 5 b i l l ion for t h e fou r m e m b r a n e s .

Further Informatlon from: Asahl Glass Co Ltd, 2-1-2, Marunouchl, Chlyoda-ku, Tokyo I00, Japan. Tel: +81 03 3218 5555. Fax: +81 03 3214 5060.(c)

PCI o p e n s o f f i ce in M i n n e s o t a PCI M e m b r a n e S y s t e m s Ltd of W h i t c h u r c h , UK, h a s o p e n e d a n office in E d e n Prai r ie , M i n n e s o t a , f rom w h i c h it will b a s e al l f u t u r e Nor th A m e r i c a n act ivi t ies .

PCI MS d e s i g n s a n d m a n u f a c t u r e s r e ve r s e o s m o s i s , nano f l l t r a t i on , u l t r a f l l t r a t i o n a n d mic ro f i l t r a t i on p r o d u c t s a n d s y s t e m s . A p p l i c a t i o n s of t h e s e t echno log ie s a r e in l iqu id p r o c e s s i n g in m a n y s e c t o r s of i n d u s t r y , i n c l u d i n g the c h e m i c a l a n d p h a r m a c e u t i c a l p r o c e s s i n d u s t r i e s , a n d food a n d beverage , a s well a s w a s t e w a t e r t r e a t m e n t .

The n e w office will be b a s e d a l o n g s i d e PCI 's s i s t e r c o m p a n y , F1oCovery Inc, w h i c h i s a m a r k e t l e a d e r in the s u p p l y of e q u i p m e n t for i n d u s t r i a l w a t e r t r e a t m e n t . Bo th c o m p a n i e s a r e p a r t of t h e T h a m e s Wate r g roup .

Further Informatlon from: Judy McGovern, PCI Membrane Systems, 9837 West 69th Street, Eden Prairie, MN 55344, USA. Tel: +1 612 829 9209. Fax: +1 612 829 9212; or: PCI Membrane Sys tems Ltd, Laverstoke Mill, Whltchurch, Hampshire RG28 7NR, UK. Tel: 0256 896966. Fax: 0256 893835.

A d v a n c e d i o n - e x c h a n g e m e m b r a n e s i n t r o d u c e d A s a h i G l a s s Co Ltd of Tokyo, J a p a n , h a s b e g u n m a r k e t i n g four v e r s i o n s of i t s r e c e n t l y deve loped a d v a n c e d i o n - e x c h a n g e m e m b r a n e s for e c o n o m i c a l l y r ecyc l ing l a rge q u a n t i t i e s of i n d u s t r i a l a c i d s a n d a lka l i s . The m e m b r a n e s o p e r a t e w i t h o u t u s i n g a d d i t i o n a l w a t e r t h e r e b y r e d u c i n g l iqu id w a s t e d i sposa l .

The c o m p a n y a p p l i e d i t s ex i s t i ng i o n - e x c h a n g e m e m b r a n e t e c h n o l o g y to a newly deve loped

New car tr idges for food and b e v e r a g e i n d u s t r i e s G e l m a n S c i e n c e s h a s i n t r o d u c e d SuporFlow 450 a n d SuporFlow 650 mlc ro f l l t r a t l on c a r t r i d g e s for t he food a n d b e v e r a g e i n d u s t r y . S u p o r F l o w 450 h a s a 0 .45 pm pore s ize to r emove y e a s t a n d r e d u c e o t h e r spo i l age o r g a n i s m s . S u p o r F l o w 650 h a s a 0 .65 ~rn po re s ize a n d r e m o v e s y e a s t a n d r e d u c e s o t h e r o r g a n i s m s s u c h a s Lactobacillus plantarum.

Both of t h e s e c a r t r i d g e s a r e m a n u f a c t u r e d wi th G e l m a n S c i e n c e s S u p o r m e m b r a n e , w h i c h is a h y d r o p h i l i c p o l y e t h e r s u l p h o n e m a t e r i a l .

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