Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/L93553/01
Title:	NOVEL MEMBRANES FOR RECOVERY AND RE-USE OF HYDROCHLORIC ACID
Principal Investigator:	Livingston, Professor A
Other Investigators:	Steinke, Dr JHG Gibson, Professor V Law, Professor R
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Hickson International Pre Nexus Migration
Department:	Chemical Engineering
Organisation:	Imperial College London
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	15 June 1998	Ends:	14 February 2001	Value (£):	214,765
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Separation Processes
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The extractive membrane bioreactor (EMB) is a cost effective and environmentally friendly technology pioneered in the UK at Imperial College. The EMB could be used to recover by-product hydrochloric acid it acid resistant, dense phase membranes were available. This joint research project between the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry seeks to develop new acid resistant dense phase elastomeric membranes. Both proprietary 9acid resistant) elastomers and novel elastomers based on Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerisation (ROMP) and isobutylene-methylstyrene Polymerisation will be fabricated and tested for acid resistance and permeability to organic (nitrotoluences, chlorotoluenes). NMR studies on both the proprietary and novel elastomers will be used to elucidate structure-acid resistance and structure-permeability relationships. Organic transport across these membranes and the effect of counter-diffusion of water will be evaluated. All the above work will be performed first with synthetic mixture of organic-contaminated HCI and then with real industrially produced samples supplied by the industrial collaborators. The project will finish with a lab scale demonstration of the EMB process for acid recovery using the novel membranes developed. The proposed research is consistent with the mission of the EPSRC manager program in Waste Minimization through Recovery, Recycling and re-use of Materials (WMR3), since it aims to recover organic-contaminated acid for re-use.
Key Findings
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Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.imperial.ac.uk