Bio-based copolymers for membrane end products for gas separations

BIOCOMEM

The role of Maastricht University will be the synthesis and design of biobased copolymer precursors that can be processed into membranes with improved mechanical, thermal and permeation properties. Recycling of the membrane polymers via chemical and enzymatic ways is also a part of the study.

Project summary

This project is part of a European BBI (Bio-based industries) consortium with eight partners from both the public and the private sector. The project team works on β€œBio-based copolymers for membrane end products for gas separations (BIOCOMEM)”.

Currently, chemical separations play a major part in energy use in process industry. The processes involved, such as distillation, account for 10 – 15% of the world's energy consumption. Membrane based separations can be one order of magnitude more energy efficient than heat-driven separations that use distillation but their wider implementation demands materials that have specific functional qualities (permeance and selectivity) for given application.

In addition, membrane materials are required to have high resistance to contaminants (CO2, H2S, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), O2, NH4, and alkanes) and to process conditions (high-pressure 10-80 bar, temperature variations) and to be able to operate for long term (>10 years) with stable performance. In the BIOCOMEM project, we will develop

Partners

# Name Acronym Type Country
1 Fundacion Tecnalia Research & Innovation TECNALIA RTO Spain
2 Maastricht University UM HES Netherlands
3 Technische Universiteit Eindhoven TUE HES Netherlands
4 B4Plastics B4P SME Belgium
5 Polymem S.A. POLYMEM SME France
6 Quantis Sarl QUANTIS SME Switzerland
7 E.H.M. Dirkse Management en Advies B.V. DMT SME Netherlands
8 Arkema France ARKEMA IND France