Applications In Details

Dye Desalting and Concentration

Conc entratio n & Des alinatio n o f
Dyes is be ing don e all over the
world for produc tion o f s alt fre e
con centrate d high purity p rodu ct.
T his has be en po ssible thro ugh
us e o f pro prietary membrane s
developed afte r years of researc h.

Dyes tu ff p rodu cers re quire the

salt con ten t in the c once ntrated
dye to be reduc ed to a c ertain
level. T he following is an
illustratio n:
 Recovery of Bulk Drug from Mother Liquor
In the productio n o f bulk d rugs the main molec ule is prod uced in the reactor/ferme nte r
fo llowed b y multi-step s eparatio ns an d purific ations involving various types o f
physical and/or che mical proce sse s. At the penultimate stage often the drug is
precipitate d an d se parate d by centrifu gation or filtration. T he centrifugate/filtrate,
also known as Mo the r Liquor (ML), is normally sent to ET P for further treatment
es sentially to reduc e BOD, COD, SS, T DS etc. to acce ptable limits fixed b y the
re spe ctive pollu tion c ontrol b oards.
In corporation o f su itable RO on the ML c an reco ver the valuable d rugs which
otherwise causes pollu tion wh en drained to the ET P. T ypic ally 0.2 to 3% of the
valuable drugs, d epen ding up on their solubility, are lost into th e ML as the ex isting
proces ses are incap able of further re cove ry. Howe ver, this small but significant
quantity can b e reco vered if co ncen trate d through RO. T here fore RO ac ts as a partial
pollu tion c ontrol sys te m bes ide s be ing a s ourc e of ad ditio nal re venue . Following
Illustratio ns explain the ge neral sc heme re cove ry of sp ecific dru g/precu rs ors .

Recovery of Paracetamol from Mother Liquor

Para Amino Phenol (PAP)

Acetic Anhydride
[Paracetamol + Acetic Acid + Salts etc.]

Decolourisation
(by Carbon treatment)

Precipitation
(by chilling)

Centrifugation

Paracetamol Mother Liquor

(Final Product) (Paracetamol 2%
Acetic Acid 2%
Salts etc.)

Concentrated ML Currently drained

(5 - 6 % Paracetamol) Suggested Alternative

Permeate
(To be drained or can be used upstream for washing)
RECOVERY OF PARACETAMOL FROM MOTHER LIQUOR BY MEMBRANE
 RECOVERY OF 6 APA FROM M OTHER LIQUOR
General
6-Amino Penicillanic Acid (6 APA) is an intermediate, in the manufacturing of synthetic penicillus, with
a molecular weight of 216. It is manufactured by enzymatic hydrolysis of Pen-G salt.

Pen - G
Enzymatic Hydrolysis

[6APA + Phenyl Acetic Acid + NH4CL + KCl]

Solvent Extraction

Solvent Layer Aqueous Layer

(Phenyl Acetic Acid) (6 APA + NH4CL + KCl)

Solvent Precipitation

Centrifugation

Mother Liquor 6APA

(0.4% 6APA, 15% MeOH & 2% CH2C12) (Final Product)
Concentrated ML
(3.5 - 4% 6APA)
Conventionally Drained Suggested Alternative

Filtrate (Drained)
 Process of Manufacturing of 6 APA
The typical mother liquor from a chemical reaction contains 0.3 to 0.4% of dissolved 6 APA, 15%
Methanol, 2% Methylene Chloride and 3 - 4% salts. The membrane process concentrates the 6 APA to 3
- 4% using the solvent stable SelRO membranes. These membranes being solvent stable are not affected
by organic solvents. The concentrated 6 APA solution thus obtained, can be added upstream before
solvent extraction for additional recovery, the permeate stream obtained from the membrane system
goes to the effluent with reduced pollution load to the extent of 6 APA recovery. Typically 70%
recovery is possible, which makes the membrane process extremely attractive with pay back period of
less than 6 months.

GMS developed process for recovery

of 6 APA from ML
 Caustic Recovery in Textile, Dairy and Food Industry
Rec overy Of Spent Caustic In Dairie s

In troduction:

T o maintain high hygienic stand ard s and to e nsure proper fu nctioning o f the
equ ipme nts , dairy evaporato rs, p ipe line and other eq uip me nts are regularly clean ed
afte r eac h produ ction c ycle. T he clean ing solution typ ically c ontain s 2 to 4%
caustic and additional c ompound s suc h as antifoams and ch elating agents. T his
so lutio n removes c aramelized organic s, pre cip itate d prote ins , pec tins and fats from
the surfac e of tanks, pipes , heat exc hange rs an d e vapo rators.

T he con taminated solution, afte r cle aning, s till co ntains high conc entratio n o f active
caustic. T his s olu tion is ge nerally reu sed in o ne of th e following ways :

T he so lutio n is re used 7 -10 times an d then the CIP tank is co mple tely dis charge d.
Approximate ly 10% o f the cau stic so lution is discharge d daily while the
re main ing vo lume is recycled to th e CIP tan k.

In both the cas es, d isc harged caus tic s olution is heavily load ed with dispe rse d and
so luble o rganic contaminant which has to be n eutraliz ed. It is also d ifficu lt to
disch arge this e fflue nt due to p ollution co ntrol re gulations and also from ecological
point o f vie w. As a solution to the above, th e s pent caustic so lutio n can b e pass ed
throu gh membrane s for very effe ctive re use. Membrane sys te m is ve ry compact,
ene rgy saving, e asy to o perate and eco frie ndly.
 HPLC Product Concentration & Solvent Recovery
Preparative HPLC is us ed in reve rs e phas e (water/s olvent) or n ormal phas e
(s olvent/s olvent) to sep arate the main produc t frac tion from the co ntaminatin g
molecules. T he waste s tream is sp ent so lve nt th at must be disc arde d. While the main
frac tion contains the produ ct th at is to be con centrated .

A h ydro philic s olvent stable membrane is use d for re verse phas e separatio ns. In this
example , the produc t s tream from th e HPLC con tains a lo w mo lec ular weight
pharmac eutical c ompound dis solved in a me thanol: water solution (90:10). T he
comp ound conce ntratio n is 0.5% leaving the HPLC. T he p rodu ct is con centration
(0 .02 5%) in the same so lve nt compos itio n an d is p roc ess ed in the so lve nt rec overy
syste m. T he ove rall so lve nt re cove ry is 9 6%.
 Removal of heavy metals from acids

Deco loris ation of He avy Metal Removal from Ac idic Stream

Due to stability in acid ic and bas ic co nditio ns, NF membranes can b e applied in the
proces sing of inorganic ac ids and in the treatment of acid was te s treams . T he
membranes c an b e u sed in the e ntire pH range (0 – 1 4) and at temperature s reaching
70 o C.

T he mineral acid produc t q uality is effec tively

enh ance d by the use of the membrane system in the
down stream pro ces sin g. T he me mb ran es allow
the produc t (acid) to pas s with p rac tically no
re te ntion (0-4%). T he c ontaminants , s uch as
disso lve d o rganic molecules , whic h give the acid a
characte ristic coloration, are retained by the
membrane with high retention values (>9 8% -
99%). In this manner a c olo urles s ac id stream,
free of organ ic, is obtained. One popu lar e xample
of this application is Deco lou risation and Up -
gradation of Gree n Phosp horic Acid.
 Waste water recycling including zero discharge

INCORPORATION OF MEMBRANE SYSTEM

IN EFFLUENT TREATMENT

EFFLUENT


Primary Treatment
(To Neutralise etc.)

Secondary Treatment
(Aerobic Digestion Etc.)

Current Practice Suggested Alternative

Dis charge into Membrane

Sewa ge/Ca nal/ system
Cre ek/Sea/Rive r

Clear Water
for reuse
Concentrate being 3-15% of
(Being 85-97%
the total effluent either to of the total
discharge or to incineration
effluent)
 Tertiary Treatment By RO

Gene rally primary and se cond ary

effluent treatments are given by
industries to mee t the s tatutory
re quireme nts se t b y State & Ce ntral
Pollu tion Control Boards for dispos al
of ind ustrial effluents. T he import
parameters which are de cid ing
criterion to e valuate the qu ality of
treated effluents are total dis solved
so lids (T DS), total sus pend ed s olids
(T SS), pH, Biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD), Chemic al oxygen
demand (COD), Oil & greas e, co lour,
many he avy metals e tc .

T he majo r effo rt in primary an d se condary efflu ent treatment is dire cte d toward s
meetin g the abo ve-mentio ned parameters . Even tho ugh it may be pos sible to achieve
nec ess ary dispo sable quality b y primary and sec ondary treatments the treated wate r
never bec omes re usable an d therefore it is disch arged into sewer/water b odies suc h as
canal/creek/s ea/rivers. It is also diffic ult to monitor the qu ality of th e e fflue nt
disch arged by individual units abou t their co nsistency in me eting the requ ired
parameters. As pe r the existing law water ce ss is be ing le vie d o n all th e indus trie s
which are d isp osing treated/untreate d e ffluents out of their factory premis es.
In order to p rodu ce reu sable grade wate r fro m the p rimary/se cond ary treated effluent
Reve rs e Os mosis (as a tertiary treatment) is be ing us ed regularly. Incorporation of RO
ens ures very high quality wate r wh ich is almost fre e from colour, BOD, COD, T DS,
T SS and o the r h eavy metals etc. T his is found to be e xtremely be neficial as it
significan tly reduc es the water cos t of an ind ustry on one hand and ac hie vement o f
almost z ero disch arge on the other.

Pre-treatment to RO by UF

In order to provide high feed quality to RO in terms of lowest

SDI and lower fowling index Genesis introduced back
washable MF/UF in hollow fibre configuration systems for the
first time in India in 1994. Even though the utility of such a
high quality pre-treatment before RO was not accepted then it
has become a Industry standard today.
 Membrane Bio-Reactor
Membrane Bio-re actor is a combination of two well tes te d was tewater tre atme nt
techno logies . Namely Activated Sludge whe re bacte ria cons ume pollutants res ulting
in was te minimisation and me mb ran e filtration where s eparation of c lean water
from activated sludge is ach ieved. Follo wing is a s che matic illustration o n the
workin g o f me mbrane bio -re actor in asso ciation with activated s ludge proc ess :

Wastewater Recirculation Recirculation

Primary Screen Secondary Membrane

Bioreactor Bioreactor Modules

Pump Pump

Clean water out

Negative Pressure, Immersed Backflush Operation in

Operation for Permeate a Bio-Reactor of Trisep
Production in a Bio-Reactor Corporation, USA
 Clarification of cane juice for high yield

In the production of white sugar crystals from cane juice various

separation techniques are employed to separate sucrose from those of
other components present in cane juice. Since sugar manufacturing is an
old process based on conventional techniques the separation efficiency
as well as energy efficiency are low. Periodic heating/cooling coupled
with adjustments of pH to acidic/basic conditions cause significant loss
of the sucrose molecule in to molasses and else where. Incorporation of
appropriate membrane technology has been tested to produce sugar with
higher yield and with lower energy consumption. The resulting molasses
has been found to be of much better quality in terms of colour and salt
content. Such molasses will be of very high value for those industries
where it is used as feed-stock.
 Recovery of AED – CED paint from ED bath in Automobile industry.

In electrocoat paint systems, the

permeate produced by the ultra
filter contains water and paint
solubilizers. The permeate is
used in the paint line rinse
section. This recycling method
provides a closed-loop rinse
system for recovering paint
drag-out. The permeate can also
be diverted to drain to reduce
the conductivity of the paint.

Paint Circulation loops:

ELECTROCOATING
DIP TANK WEIR

BYPASS VALVE

UF
SYSTEM

CLEANING
OUTLET CLEANING
INLET
 Recovery of Oil from Oily waste water

Genesis supplies complete system for the

recovery of oil from machine shop using
proprietary tubular membranes manufactured
by Koch Membrane Systems INC. The
system is suitable for:

)High suspended solids/oils and grease

)High cost of concentrate handling or
concentration in untreated waste water.

)Need for rugged, durable and reliable

disposal.

membranes capable of withstanding a

)
variety of conditions.
Requirement for highest possible
concentration factor.

The primary benefits and features are:

)Ability to be mechanically cleaned with sponge balls, which permits removal of foulants not
possible with other membranes. This feature yields reliable and consistent performance in difficult
applications.

)Ability to operate at maximum suspended solid concentrations without plugging, which minimizes
prefiltration and retentate handling expenses.

TYPICAL UF SYSTEM FLOW SCHEMATIC

 Recovery of Solvents by Pervoporation
Pervap oratio n is a p roc ess in which a spe cific co mp onen t in a fee d mixtu re pas ses
throu gh a dens e, n on-porous me mb ran e by solution – diffu sion trans port
mech anism. T hen, the permeate is collec ted as a vapo ur at th e other s ide of the
membrane while be ing ke pt unde r vacu um co nditions.

Some of the Applic ations include Dehydration of Organic Solvents. T he PV proces s

can easily dehyd rate s olvent mixtures. T h e binary o r ternary az eotrop es c an be
deh ydrate d witho ut the us e o f entrainers. In s ome c ase s, where d is tillation is not
pos sible , p ervaporation is the only alte rnative to co stly incineration of waste
so lve nt stre ams.

In ad ditio n to above a wid e range of o rganic so lve nts c an be extrac ted from waste
water such as hydrocarbon s, chlorinated h ydrocarbons , esters , ketones, ethers,
alcoh ols . T he PV s ystems can also reduc e COD re quiremen t of waste water streams
going to bio logical treatment units, or pre-con centrate o rganic waste s to
incinerators.

ADVANTAGES

• Superior for
azeotropic mixtures

• Pollution free process

• Energy efficient

• Flexibility

• Modular construction

A TYPICAL PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM