1
Note from the Program Head
In This Issue:
SRP Update 1
In the News 3
Meeting Format 5
Publications 6
Spring Meeting 7
Happy New Year - Spring will be
here soon and I wanted to share our
plans for the spring PSTC meeting.
My perception, based in part on com-
munication from our sponsors, is that
we are losing contact points within
our supporters through retirements
and transfers. This is bad in several
different directions, not the least of
which is the impact it has on our abil-
ity to place our students. To combat
this trend, we will have a significantly
different meeting format in the spring.
The first day will be devoted to over-
view presentations covering the activ-
ities of the various research groups
participating in the program with a
second full day devoted to parallel
short-courses covering liquid-liquid
extraction and distillation. The course
outlines are included in this newslet-
ter.
Our goal is to get our sponsors up to
speed on what our researchers are do-
ing and to offer a training component
that will hopefully attract younger en-
gineers to the meeting. We will also
ask the graduate students to prepare
poster presentations which will give
attendees the oppor-
tunity to view our
ongoing efforts in
more detail. We are
hopeful that travel
schedules and budg-
ets will allow a good
attendance. There is a lot of interest-
ing work being conducted by our re-
searchers both inside and outside the
boundaries of the PSTC and it is im-
portant to everyone that the communi-
cation of these efforts be successful.
Speaking of communication, the
Cockrell School of Engineering news-
letter featured a nice piece on the
Pickle campus that included the SRP
pilot plant. The full newsletter, which
has several other interesting articles,
is available at the following link:
https://magazine.engr.utexas.edu/
Best wishes,
Bruce
https://sites.utexas.edu/pstc/
SRP Update: Frank Seibert
Happy New Year! The
SRP pilot facilities con-
tinues to undergo modi-
fications for enhanced
capabilities.
The large-scale distillation piping
has been modified to allow for hy-
drocarbon distillation pressure
drop/flooding measurements simi-
lar to those obtained with the Air/
Water column. A new pump has
been added. cont. →
2
SRP Update cont.
A new Fractal liquid dis-
tributor with a flow range
of 5 to 40 gpm/ft2 has
been obtained through a
donation of Amalgamat-
ed Research Incorpo-
rated. In addition, the
new and existing bottoms
piping will be re-
insulated. The distillation
column has also been re-
insulated.
In collaboration with JP3 Measurement, two optical
read points will be installed on the large SRP distil-
lation column. The Verax NIR analyzer allows ac-
curate, real-time measurement of the stream compo-
sitions. Additional technical information may be
found here: https://www.jp3measurement.com/
technology/ . The compositional values will be cap-
tured by our DeltaV data historian and logged.
While the JP3 Verax technology is currently used
commercially, this will be the first application to
distillation. The technology will be tested at the SRP
in February 2019. The JP3 compositional measure-
ments will be compared with the SRP gas chromato-
graph values during the next SRP standard packing
distillation test.
A new high pressure 70 hp blower was recently add-
ed to the pilot facilities. The blower was obtained
by Professor Gary Rochelle with funds provided by
the US Department of Energy in support of a recent
carbon dioxide capture project involving a mem-
brane separator.
Oldershaw distillation activity continues to be
strong with multiple projects extending into the sec-
ond quarter of 2019. The oil/water membrane sepa-
rations continues to increase with many projects
planned in 2019. New funding from the Kuwait Sci-
ence Foundation and others will support research
addressing the effects of temperature, interfacial ten-
sion, surfactants, and actual process oil on the
unique membrane oil/water separation process.
Future 2019 SRP pilot plant and lab scale operations
will likely include:
Pilot Plant Carbon Dioxide Absorption/Stripping
Demonstration
Oldershaw Distillation Studies
Distillation Packing Characterization
Effect of Temperature, Interfacial Tension, Sur-
factants, and Varying Oils on the Oil/Water Sep-
aration using a Novel Membrane Process
Effect of Plastic Random and Structured Pack-
ing as Coalescers in Liquid Extraction
New Fractal Liquid Distributor
JP3 Verax System
High Pressure Blower
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In the News
Announcing a New Research Center at UT The newly launched Center for Materials for Water
and Energy SysTems (M-WET) is one of 42 Energy
Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) supported by
the U.S. Department of Energy. Headed by PSTC’s
Dr. Benny Freeman, M-WET brings together re-
searchers from the University of Texas at Austin,
the University of California, Santa Barbara, and
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
Backed by a $10.75 million dollar grant from the
DOE, Freeman’s center will focus on improving wa-
ter purification methods. The multi-institution will
explore innovate ways to use and reuse existing wa-
ter. Freeman seeks to address basic science
knowledge gaps in development of next-generation,
polymer membrane-based water purification tech-
nologies.
Graduate Student Rahul Sujanani Earns Accolades
PSTC graduate student Rahul
Sujanani has made a big impact
this winter season. He has au-
thored a piece for the EFRC
website on “Stretching for Per-
fect Separations: Are Flexible
Frameworks the Solution?”
Sujanani, whose works focuses on ion and water
transport through novel polymer membranes for wa-
ter, energy, and resource recovery applications, ar-
gues for the development of more efficient and ef-
fective technologies for the processing of natural
gas. Read his full article on separations applications
for natural gas processing here: https://
www.energyfrontier.us/content/stretching-perfect-
separations.
Rahul Sujanani has also been awarded a scholarship
by the American Society of Indian Engineers and
Architects (ASIE). Sujanani is one of only twelve
recipients who received the accolade. ASIE reported
an over-
whelming
number of
applica-
tions this
year, mak-
ing the
competition
tough and
selection
difficult.
Sujanani’s
hard work and credentials set him apart and earned
him the scholarship.
ASIE strives to encourage young students of Indian
origin to pursue engineering and architectural stud-
ies. Rahul was invited to their Annual Holiday Din-
ner event on Saturday, November 17, 2018 at India
House to receive the scholarship check.
Read the full announcement here:
https://che.utexas.edu/2018/10/02/better-
water-purification-methods-are-aim-of-new-
research-center/
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The Rochelle Group Presents in Australia
Four graduate students accompanied Dr. Gary Ro-
chelle and Dr. Eric Chen of the Texas Carbon Man-
agement Program to GHGT-14 in Melbourne in Oc-
tober 2018. Five papers were presented on the use
of the advanced flash stripper (AFS) in pilot plant
testing using 5 m piperazine as the solvent. We
have demonstrated up to 99% CO2 removal from
coal-fired flue gas with the AFS and our primary
research focus is now on reducing the energy drain
on power plants that carbon capture presents. The
energy penalty was an unacceptable high of 50% of
generated output in 1990 and we have shown that
the cost can be reduced to 25%. The AFS was de-
veloped at the SRP 0.2 MW pilot plant and is cur-
rently being tested at a 0.5 MW pilot plant at the
National Carbon Capture Center in Birmingham,
AL.
At the close of GHGT-14 a joint research review
meeting was held with TxCMP and researchers
from NTNU. The meeting was held on the campus
of the University of Melbourne, thanks to (Paul
Webley and Louise Baker. It provided a useful ex-
tended discussion of topics presented at GHGT
while giving us the opportunity to present work in
progress to a limited group of collaborators.
The papers presented were:
Pilot Plant Demonstration of Piperazine with the
Advanced Flash Stripper
Corrosion in Piperazine at Pilot Plants
Demonstration of 99% CO2 Removal from Coal
-fired Flue Gas by Amine Scrubbing
Analysis of Advanced Flash Stripper Perfor-
mance using 5 m Piperazine
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New Format at Spring Annual Meeting
The Process Science & Technology Center’s Spring
2019 Annual Meeting will have a different format.
The first day, April 16th, will feature hour-long
presentations by the principal investigators. On the
second day, April 17th, Program Head Bruce Eldridge
and SRP Technical Manager Frank Seibert will be
offering concurrent day-long short courses in distilla-
tion and extraction. The schedule and course outlines
are as follows:
Day 1—Presentations
9:00-10:00 AM James A. Ritter
10:00-11:00 AM Michael Baldea
11:00AM-12:00 PM Benny Freeman
12:00-1:00 PM Lunch
1:00-2:00 PM Bruce Eldridge
2:00-3:00 PM Frank Seibert
3:00-4:00 PM Gary Rochelle
Day 2—Short Courses
9:00 AM-12:00 PM Morning Session
12:00-1:00 PM Lunch
1:00-5:00 PM Afternoon Session
Distillation Short Course
1. Vapor-liquid equilibrium calculation
a. Fugacity coefficient approach: SRK
b. Activity coefficient approaches:
NRTL, UNIQUAC, UniFAC
2. Process simulator design methods: As-
penPlus Demo
a. Shortcut approaches: Fenske (Winn)–
Underwood-Gilliland
b. Equilibrium stage approach
c. Rate-based approach
3. Trayed tower design
a. Mass transfer (tray efficiency) models
b. Hydraulic / capacity calculations
4. Packed tower design (random / structured
packing)
a. Mass transfer (HETP) models
b. Hydraulic / capacity calculations
5. Hands-on design case exercise (Process simu-
lator and SRP DISTILL 2.2 program)
NOTE: We will load handout material for the
course in the password protected BOX folder linked
to the PSTC website. The DISTILL 2.2 program is
Excel based. It would be very beneficial if you
could access your companies process simulation
tools remotely.
Liquid Extraction Short Course
1. Liquid Extraction Fundamentals
a. Definitions
b. Concepts
c. Equilibria
d. Hydraulics
e. Mass Transfer
f. Coalescence
2. Extraction Equipment
a. Spray
b. Packed
c. Sieve Tray
d. Baffle Tray
e. Mechanically Agitated
3. Example Calculations
a. Packed Extractor
b. Sieve Tray Extractor
4. LLE Computer Program Discussion
5. Trouble-shooting Discussion
Registration for the annual meeting, including
these short courses, is available on the PSTC web-
site here: https://sites.utexas.edu/pstc/conferences/.
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Recent Publications
Freeman Group
Jang, E.-S.; Mickols, W.; Sujanani, R.; Helenic, A.; Dilenschneider, T. J.; Kamcev, J.; Paul, D. R.;
Freeman, B. D. “Influence of Concentration Polarization and Thermodynamic Non-ideality on Salt
Transport in Reverse Osmosis Membranes,” Journal of Membrane Science 2019, 572, 668-675.
Yan, N.; Paul, D. R.; Freeman, B. D. “Water and Ion Sorption in a Series of Cross-linked AMPS/
PEGDA Hydrogel Membranes,” Polymer 2018, 146, 196-208.
Narang, G. S.; Moon, J. D.; Zhang, W.; Miller, G. C.; Choudhury, S. R.; Shaver, A.; Vondrasek, B.;
Lesko, J. J.; Fallon, J. J.; Bortner, M.; D’Ambra, D.; Freeman, B. D.; Riffle, J. S. “Synthesis and Char-
acterization of a Phosphine Oxide Based Poly (arylene ether ketone) and Blends with Poly (2, 6-
dimethyl-1, 4-phenylene oxide) for Gas Separations,” Polymer 2018, 138, 156-168.
McGinnis, R. L.; Reimund, K.; Ren, J.; Xia, L.; Chowdhury, M. R; Sun, X.; Abril, M.; Moon, J. D.;
Merrick, M. M.; Park, J.; Stevens, K. A.; McCutcheon, J. R.; Freeman, B. D. “Large-scale Polymeric
Carbon Nanotube Membranes with Sub–1.27-nm Pores,” AAAS Science Advances 2018, 4(3),
e1700938.
Zhang, H.; Hou, J.; Hu, Y.; Wang, P.; Ou, R.; Jiang, L.; Liu, J. Z.; Freeman, B. D.; Hill, A. J.; Wang,
H. “Ultrafast Selective Transport of Alkali Metal Ions in Metal Organic Frameworks with Subnanome-
ter Pores,” AAAS Science Advances 2018, 4(2), eaaq0066.
Kamcev, J.; Sujanani, R.; Jang, E.-S.; Yan, N.; Moe, N.; Paul, D. R.; Freeman, B. D. “Salt Concentra-
tion Dependence of Ionic Conductivity in Ion Exchange Membranes,” Journal of Membrane Science
2018, 547, 123-133.
Seibert Group Frank, T. C.; Holden, B. S.; Seibert, A. F. “Section 15: Liquid-Liquid Extraction and Other Liquid-
Liquid Operations and Equipment,” Perry’s Chemical Engineers Handbook, 9th edition, ed. Don
Green, McGraw-Hill: in press (2018).
Recent Presentations
Freeman Group
National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships Program (GRFP) Workshop for
Students wishing to apply for NSF Fellowships, Benny D. Freeman – Austin, TX, USA – Speaker
(September 17, 2018).
Penn State Department of Chemical Engineering, “Ion Solubility, Diffusivity, and Transport in
Charged Polymer Membranes,” Jovan Kamcev, Ni Yan, Eui Soung Jang, Michele Galizia, Donald
Paul, Jerry Manning (Rutgers University), and Benny D. Freeman – Invited Talk (October 11, 2018).
Polycondensation 2018, “Improving Poly(benzimidazoles) for Gas Separations: Thermally Rearranged
PBI/Polyimide Blends,” Joshua Moon, Alexander Bridge, Colton D’Ambra, Donald Paul, and Benny
D. Freeman – Alexandria, Virginia, USA – Invited Talk (October 16, 2018).
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Spring 2019 Meeting
Please join us for our annual PSTC Spring
Meeting April 16-17, 2019, here at the Uni-
versity of Texas at Austin. Once again, we
will be at the Commons Learning Center
located on the Pickle Research Campus.
Registration and accommodation infor-
mation are available on our website.
Handouts of the presentations will be avail-
able for attendees; pdf copies will be posted
on our website closer to meeting time.
Questions? Please feel free to contact us:
Process Science & Technology Center
University of Texas at Austin
Building 133, Suite 1.312
10100 Burnet Rd., Mail Code R7100
Austin, TX 78758
(p) (512) 471-7077
https://sites.utexas.edu/pstc/
Presentations cont.
The Welch Foundation, “Water: Science and Technology – Ion Transport in Charged Polymer Mem-
branes for Water/Energy Applications,” Benny D. Freeman – Houston, Texas, USA – Invited Talk
(October 23, 2018).
62nd Robert A. Welch Foundation Conference on Chemical Research, “Water: Science and Technolo-
gy,” Benny D. Freeman – Houston, Texas, USA – Invited Speaker (October 22-23, 2018).
AIChE Annual Meeting 2018, “Gas Separation Properties of Novel Poly(benzimidazole)s,” Benny D.
Freeman presented by Joshua D. Moon – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA – Invited Speaker (October
29, 2018).