About 200 to 600 million gallons of waste water contaminated with

Globally, over four billion gallons of spent lubricants are generated annually. Although spent lubricants can be considered a valuable renewable resource, less than 10% of the worldwide supply is actually re-refined into high quality lubricant basestocks. The remainder is typically burned… More

Polymeric reverse osmosis membranes are widely used for water and wastewater purification. However, their lack of chemical and especially oxidant (chlorine, oxone) stability, susceptibility to fouling, poor storage/shelf life, and a variety of other disadvantages has limited their effectiveness. … More

Ester-based synthetic lubricants are used in a variety of applications ranging from low- end, two-stroke oils in chain saws and automotive crankcase oils to high-end, high- performance oils in jet turbines and heavy duty truck transmissions. These materials offer a number of advantages over mineral… More

Throughout the United States and around the world, a variety of industries are moving from conventional to high flash solvents, including dibasic and other esters, glycol ethers, and terpenes (d-limonene isomers). For instance, approximately 80% of the cleaning solvents used in the screen printing… More

A one-step filtration process has been proposed for the removal of turbidity, microorganisms, and THMFP for small drinking water treatment facilities. The essence of the proposed technology is the use of a low cost/high performance ceramic membrane to accomplish the above filtration objectives… More

A one-step filtration process has been proposed for the removal of turbidity, microorganisms, and THMFP for small drinking water treatment facilities. The essence of the proposed technology is the use of a low cost/high performance ceramic membrane to accomplish the above filtration objectives… More

Ester-based synthetic lubricants are used in a variety of applications ranging from low- end, two-stroke oils in chain saws and automotive crankcase oils to high-end, high- performance oils in jet turbines and heavy duty truck transmissions. These materials offer a number of advantages over mineral… More

Throughout the United States and around the world, a variety of industries are moving from conventional to high flash solvents, including dibasic and other esters, glycol ethers, and terpenes (d-limonene isomers). For instance, approximately 80% of the cleaning solvents used in the screen printing… More

65289 Catalytic membrane reactors offer enhanced productivity and improved energy efficiency for several key reactive separation processes in the chemical and refinery industries. Although the concept has been verified experimentally, existing membranes have failed to be commercially… More

60924 The development of affinity membranes has the potential to offer a quantum leap in membrane-based separation technology. Current polymeric membrane researchers modify surface functionality to offer a specific affinity; however, in the area of inorganic membranes, few similar activities… More

60924 The development of affinity membranes has the potential to offer a quantum leap in membrane-based separation technology. Current polymeric membrane researchers modify surface functionality to offer a specific affinity; however, in the area of inorganic membranes, few similar activities… More

70903 About 40% of the approximately 54 trillion standard cubic feet of gas reserves in the lower 48 states can not be economically extracted because it is considered subquality and/or from small or remote wells. Current generation membranes offer a potential solution but have not been… More

Removal of low-level arsenic from drinking water sources has attracted significant attention recently. Existing technologies are considered effective for this purpose; however, they fail to meet the criteria of reliability and simplicity in operation for small drinking water treatment facilities.… More

This NSF Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program involves the use a hydrothermally stable SiC membrane as a membrane reactor for steam reforming. We have developed an innovative hydrogen selective SiC membrane. This membrane has demonstrated an excellent material stability required for… More

This SBIR Phase I program involves the development of a solid-state proton conductor (SSPC) suitable for intermediate temperature applications, i.e., >100 to ~300C. We will develop an ultra-thin (

79270S Pervaporation (PV) and vapor permeation (VP) membranes have been touted as highly effective for a wide array of liquid and vapor separations, particularly for dehydration of aggressive chemicals; yet, they have been limited to a relatively small number of niche applications. The barriers to… More

78168S Hydrogen recovery from refinery off-gas offers a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to meet the projected growth in hydrogen demand in refineries. Although a unique membrane-based process was demonstrated to be technically feasible in the past, several product- and… More

This SBIR Phase I project focuses on the use of our hydrogen selective nanoporous inorganic membrane for hydrogen recovery from reformats. We believe that the unique performance features of our proposed membrane-based process can deliver an one-step hydrogen recovery process to meet the hydrogen… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project focuses on the development of an innovative diffusion barrier for the preparation of Pd thin film on tubular porous stainless steel substrate. A thin Pd film supported on tubular porous SS substrate provides a commercially viable avenue… More

Pervaporation (PV) and vapor permeation (VP) membranes have been touted as highly effective for a wide array of liquid and vapor separations, particularly for dehydration of aggressive chemicals; yet, they have been limited to a relatively small number of niche applications. The barriers to further… More

Hydrogen recovery from refinery off-gas offers a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to meet the projected growth in hydrogen demand in refineries. Although a unique membrane-based process was demonstrated to be technically feasible in the past, several product- and… More

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project focuses on the development of an innovative diffusion barrier for the preparation of Pd thin film on tubular porous stainless steel substrate. A thin Pd film supported on tubular porous SS substrate provides a commercially viable avenue for… More

Small-scale hydrogen production, for both mobile and stationary applications, is a technology critical to the future implementation of fuel cell technology. Existing fuel reforming processes are extremely complicated, as well as capital- and energy-intensive, primarily due to their high temperature… More

Although water recycle and reuse is considered good environmental practice, its implementation is highly dependent upon the economics and hence can be challenging to implement. In this proposal, we present a unique opportunity to recover both water and energy from boiler flue gas, so that water… More

Although water recycle and reuse is considered good environmental practice, its implementation is highly dependent upon the economics and hence can be challenging to implement. An example is the recovery of low quality heat as water condensate from industrial flue gases. In this case, tremendous… More

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will develop a commercially viable ethanol process via a multi-functional membrane-based reactor using the best available catalyst. The proposed reactor incorporates the advantages of existing reactors which result from the in-situ… More

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a one-step membrane reactor-based process to clean-up, concentrate, and condition bio-based syngas to make it suitable for downstream processing into fuel or chemicals. The biomass-based energy production pathway has been favored… More

In the US today, over 1,800 trillion BTU/year is lost as waste heat from industrial processes as has been identified by the DOE. The energy loss in this category is primarily derived from the waste heat contained in flue gas and drying operation exhausts generated from a wide array of manufacturing… More

Biodiesel production has grown substantially in the past few years in response to the increased price of imported fossil energy and significant interest in the private and public sectors for a clean renewable energy source, a desire to reduce dependence on foreign oil, and a desire to provide… More

This SBIR Phase I project will develop a method that utilizes a carbon based adsorptive surface flow membrane to perform continuous concentration of methane from raw bio-gas from large animal feed operations. The membrane can upgrade biogas at 40 to 65% CH4 to 90%+ CH4 with

In the US today, over 1,800 trillion BTU/year is lost as waste heat from industrial processes as has been identified by the DOE. The energy loss in this category is primarily derived from the waste heat contained in flue gas and drying operation exhausts generated from a wide array of manufacturing… More

Biodiesel production has grown substantially in the past few years in response to the increased price of imported fossil energy and significant interest in the private and public sectors for a clean renewable energy source, a desire to reduce dependence on foreign oil, and a desire to provide… More

R & amp;D activities on membrane-based separations have been extensive in the past several decades due to the potential to provide more energy-efficient separation processes than conventional distillation, extraction, absorption, adsorption, etc. Its simplicity, essentially as an advanced… More

Nationwide about 2.4 billion gallons of lubricants are consumed annually for automotive crankcase (about 58%), industrial processes, machine lubrication, mining, and others. About 1 billion gallons/yr is currently collected as waste oil, equivalent to1-1.5% of annual US crude oil import volume. … More