Membrane Technologies for valorisation of waste streams

Introduction The research group Biobased Resources & Energy (BRE) of Avans focusses on recovery of valuable building blocks from low-value solid and liquid residual streams from agriculture, households and industries. For the valorisation of these residual streams, BRE looks into different biological, chemical and mechanical processes. One of the main issues in the utilisation of residual streams is economic feasibility and the recovery of multiple resources from one residual stream. Using membrane technologies in combination with biological, chemical and/or mechanical processes could offer great opportunities.
Central Research Question What is the applicability of membrane technologies for valorisation of different residual streams and is it possible to integrate membrane technology in current and new biorefining projects of research group BRE:
Set-up In order to reach the goal of this postdoc, 4 research questions will be answered using literature search, experimentation and modelling:
1) What membrane methods are currently (commercially) available to enhance the results of current projects in research group BRE?
2) What are the essential technical parameters for membrane separation and how can these be optimized?
3) What is the economic impact of using membrane technology in recovery of valuable building blocks from residual streams?
4) What are the effects of using membranes instead of or complementary to currently used methods on the sustainability of valorisation of residual streams?
Cooperation The postdoc and the research group BRE want to extend the contact and research cooperation with (regional) businesses and (applied) universities and support and facilitate the introduction and further development of membrane technologies in the curriculum of different Avans study programmes. This will be done via internships, minor projects (together with businesses) and development of study material for courses and trainings.

Eindrapportage

The project focused on investigating the use of membrane technologies for the valorization of side streams in
the biobased economy. In the context of furthering circularity principles, there is an increasing interest in
converting waste streams into feedstock (hydrocarbons) and energy carriers (biogas, syngas, oil, heat,
hydrogen). This need led to the identification of several complex residual streams, with the aim to make them
match with the most suitable technologies for conversion into energy carriers or building blocks.
Membrane separation is a process where a membrane is used to selectively separate the components of a
solution. A membrane acts as a barrier and gatekeeper, allowing certain molecules to go through while blocking
others. There are many different kinds of membranes, e.g.: a membrane can be thick or thin, natural or
synthetic, neutral or charged and its structure can be homogeneous or heterogeneous.
Therefore, the approach for this project consisted mainly of three steps: i) inventory of potential technologies
and suitable waste streams; and ii) development of experimental laboratory capacity for testing selected
technologies/streams and optimizing resource recovery.
The theoretical and experimental results of these investigations were generated with the cooperation of
students doing internships, group assignments in semester programs and laboratory trainings. The formed
body of knowledge was subsequently implemented in classroom lectures and practical activities using
membrane technology. More specifically, i) Avans University has now a theoretical model (Excel) containing
a multicriteria analysis for selecting membrane technologies based on stream composition, ii) a membrane
characterization setup to analyze performance of membrane filtration, iii) a reverse osmosis setup for
desalination and a iv) reverse electrodialysis setup for renewable energy generation.
Finally, expertise was strengthened with links to industrial partners. Companies facing challenges in achieving
circularity in Brabant can now submit assignments where membrane technology is a promising solution.