Water separation with gas hydrate
The goal of the project is to develop the separation concept 'Separation of water through gas hydrates' from the idea stage to a level where we are able to control the process and make the following separation of hydrates and sugar juice; including drawing up the design requirements for hydrate reactors and separation columns.
When the sugar is extracted from the sliced sugar beets the result is a juice containing 85% water, 13.5% sugar and 1.5% other organic and inorganic substances. We want to isolate the sugar from this juice. Today we use the same method as we have done for the last 100 years by removing the water from the dry substance in a multieffect evaporator. The aim of this project is to develop a new separation concept utilizing gas hydrates' capability of precipitating water at moderate pressure and temperatures. For example, 8 mol CO"2 will be able to bind 45 mol water as a gas hydrate at 50 deg C and 25 bar pressure. Initial concept calculations and tests made under EFP-98 'Alternative metoder til separation af vand og sukker' - ('Alternative methods for separating water and sugar') - proved that we have a large potential in introducing the hydrate process in a future sugar production. The energy potential of the process is a reduction of the present energy consumption with between 30% and 60 %. However, the hydrate process is a new, unique separation technology, which is not commercially and practically accessible today. The process is at the idea stage, and if the process is to be commercially interesting it will require a considerable in-depth technological research - and development effort. To a great extent external experts and knowledge centers will be involved in the development. A part of the project will be to find a potential manufacturer of the process equipment. The manufacturer must have advanced competencies in high pressure technology - such as super-critical extraction etc. The project is divided in 3 phases: Phase 1: Fixing the process parameters and separation factors. Phase 2: Design of hydrate reactor and separation column. Phase 3: Concept evaluation
It is part of the project's goal to find an external collaborative partner, who produces process equipment. As to energy, the hydrate process is competitive with a traditional multiple-effect evaporation. The net energy consumption can be reduced by approx. 50% compared to a traditional 6-effect evaporation. The investment for a hydrate unit for a sugar factory will be 3-8 times higher than for a traditional 6-effect evaporation station. The annual costs for operatin and maintenance are at the same level for the two types of units. If the hydrate unit is to be supplied with external produced electricity the energy cost will increase by a factor 3. The concept calculations prove that in spite of a possible energy profit of approx. 50% the process will not be competitive in the sugar industry. Danisco Sugar has contacted a range of firms and knowledge centers in order to find a potential collaboration partner, who produces and market process equipment. However, it has not been possibel to find a partner who is interested in a co-operation about the development of process equipment for the process. Additionally, we have been in contact with a range of universitites, which work with gas hydrates: DTU (Denmark), NTNU (Norway), IFE (Norway), The Heriot-Watt University (Scotland) and the Delt University (Nederland). Project experience and pilot equipment are transferred to DTU, which are continuing the work with the process at a more theoretical and experimental level. Initial experiments with spontaneous hydrate formation around micro bubbles look promising
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