Newcastle University
Process Intensification Group
Adam Harvey
Process Intensification Group
Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials
Newcastle University
“P.I.” Process Intensification
“The strategy of making dramatic*
reductions in the size of process plant
items by re-examining the
fundamentals of their heat and mass
transfer”
*at least anorder of magnitude
Process Intensification Group [PIG]
 5 academic staff:





Adam Harvey
Kamelia Boodhoo
Jonathan Lee
David Reay
Sharon Orta
(OBRs, biofuels)
(SDRs, polymerisation)
(RPBs, carbon capture)
(heat pipes, all HT)
(algae, fuel cells)
 5 research associates & visitors
 18 PhDs
http://pig.ncl.ac.uk
PI @ Newcastle:
Technologies/Expertise
Technologies
Application Areas
Oscillatory Baffled Reactors
High throughput screening
Spinning Disc Reactors
Heterogeneous Catalysis
Rotating Packed Beds
Crystallization
Heat Pipes
Biofuels & biorefining
Reactive Extraction
Polymerisation
Microreactors
Thermal management: use of waste heat
Heterogeneous catalysis
Bioprocessing
Case Study 1: A Saponification reaction
in an Oscillatory Baffled Reactor
OBR characteristics
Long residence times in a compact
reactor, whilst maintaining plug flow
and good two phase mixing.
Niche:
BATCH  CONTINUOUS
For “long” processes
The Reaction
Hydrolysis of a naturally occurring mixture of
alkyl and steryl stearates, using
concentrated sodium hydroxide in an
ethanol and water solvent.




75 m3 Batch Reactor [50 m3 fill]
115 oC
2h "reaction time” in a 24h batch cycle
Molar ratio ~ 0.9
Incentives for Change
1. SAFETY
2. Product quality
3. Energy savings
Experiments Conducted
Temperature fixed at 115 oC
Molar ratios in the range 0.6 - 1.05
Residence times in the range 8 - 25 minutes
TARGET PRODUCT
Desired product, sterol A > 23 %
Undesired product, sterol B < 10 %
Can it be done ?
Effect of Temperature
SUMMARY: OBR Saponification
The OBR could be used to perform the reaction:
 ..at lower temperature
 ..with improved product quality
 ..more consistently
 ..in a reactor 1/100th the volume
 The product can be monitored
 Operation is flexible
Biofuel Research Projects
1. Reactive Extraction (Biodiesel)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Rapeseed
Jatropha + other inedible
Reactor engineering
Algae
[PhD]
[PhD]
[PhD]
[RA]
Malaysian Govt
UKIERI
Malaysian Govt
Carbon Trust
2. Oscillatory Baffled Reactors:
1. Bioethanol production
2. Biobutanol production
3. Biodiesel screening
[PhD] Nigerian Govt
[PhD] Malaysian Govt/TSB
[PDRA] EPSRC
3. Catalysis:
1. Heterogeneous, Biodiesel
2. Vegetable oil cracking
3. Catalytic cracking of algae
[PhD] EPSRC
[PhD] Nigerian Govt
[PDRA] Carbon Trust
+ various other biofuel/biorefining projects
Case Study2 : Direct Production of Biodiesel
from Oilseeds (“Reactive Extraction”)
Whole seeds
Drying
Crushing & Solvent Extraction:
• capital and running cost intensive.
• usually performed in very large,
centralised plants (to achieve economies of
scale)
Maceration
Hexane
CRUSHING
Also: solvent extraction uses Hexane
Solvent Extraction
Meal
Refining
Transesterification
Methanol
+ NaOH
Purification
Biodiesel
Glycerol
Waste water
14
Biodiesel Production:
Reactive Extraction
Whole seeds
Whole seeds
Drying
Grinding
Grinding
Hexane
CRUSHING
Solvent Extraction
Meal
Refining
Transesterification
Reactive Extraction
Meal
Glycerol
Methanol
+ NaOH
Purification
Biodiesel
Waste water
Methanol
+ NaOH
Purification
15
Biodiesel
Glycerol
Waste water
Biodiesel Production:
Reactive Extraction
Whole seeds
Whole seeds
1. Farm
Drying
2. Oil plant
Maceration
Hexane
Maceration
CRUSHING
Solvent Extraction
Meal
Refining
3. Biodiesel
Plant
Reactive Extraction
Meal
Transesterification
Glycerol
Methanol
+ NaOH
Purification
Biodiesel
Waste
water
Methanol
+ NaOH
Purification
Glycerol
Waste water
Biodiesel
16
Reactive Extraction / In situ transesterification
Biodiesel Production:
Reactive Extraction
Whole seeds
Drying
Whole seeds
Farm?
Maceration
Hexane
Maceration
CRUSHING
Solvent Extraction
Meal
Refining
Reactive Extraction
Meal
Transesterification
Glycerol
Methanol
+ NaOH
Purification
Biodiesel
Waste water
Methanol
+ NaOH
Purification
Glycerol
Waste water
Biodiesel
17
Reactive Extraction / In situ transesterification
Biodiesel Production:
From Oilseed to Final Product
Whole seeds
Reactive Extraction Benefits
Reduced number of unit operations ( reduced
CapEx)
Eliminate use of hexane
Reduction in production cost?
Potential for small-scale and local operation
Maceration
Reactive Extraction
Methanol
+ NaOH
Purification
Meal
Glycerol
Waste water
Biodiesel
18
Reactive Extraction / In situ transesterification
Biodiesel Direct from Seed:
“Reactive Extraction”
Alcohols + Catalyst
Oilseeds
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reactive
Extraction
Biodiesel
Glycerol
Meal
Demonstrated for rapeseed and jatropha
Reactor development underway
More water-tolerant than conventional process
Jatropha meal may be more edible
May facilitate distributed production?
Basis of biorefinery?
Ongoing Project: Algal Biofuels
WEAB: Water-tolerant Extraction of Algal
Biofuels ()
Aims:
 Remove or reduce drying duty
 Integrate reaction with other steps
Technologies:
 Reactive Extraction
 Catalytic Cracking
 Supercritical Extraction
Algal Biofuels
 Algae harvesting by foam fractionation
 Foam column concentrates algae
 Macroalgae gasification
NB: Newcastle University unique in having
Marine Science and Chemical Engineering.
Various collaborations underway and in
development
PIG: Summary
 Wide range of technologies
 Wide range of application areas
 Particular focus on biofuels currently
Before
After
Acknowledgments
Dr Jon Lee
Dr Rabitah Zakaria
Dr Anh Phan
Dr Sharon Velasquez Orta
Hafizuddin Wan Yusof
Farizul Kasim
Elizabeth Eterigho
Nasratun Masngut
Joseph Ikwebe