Separation Technologies for the Industries of the Future (1998)

Separation processes are essential to the chemical, petroleum refining, and materials processing industries. The word "separation," however, refers to different processes and functions for different industries. Separation processes comprise a large portion of the activity in the chemical and petrochemical industries. In the forest products industry, separation ranges from separating wood chips of different sizes to converting black liquor for reuse. In the aluminum and steel industries, as well as the metal casting and glass industries, the most important area of separation technology is separation of different types of scrap, sand, and cullet. Finding common ground among these definitions of separation processes or technologies is a difficult task. For the purposes of this report, however, separation processes are defined as processes using physical, chemical, or electrical forces to isolate selected constituents from a mixture.

Separation processes can be thought of in general terms as performing similar functions in all industries. Figure 1-1 is a schematic illustration of these functions and their relationships. The materials streams may be composed of homogeneous solids, liquids, gases, or supercritical fluids, or they may be composed of heterogeneous mixtures containing any combination of these phases. The functions of separation processes include the removal of impurities from raw materials, products, and by-products; the separation of recycle streams; and the removal of contaminants from air and water waste streams.

For the chemical, petroleum refining, and materials processing industries as a group, separation technologies are critical for reducing waste, improving energy efficiency, and increasing the efficiency of raw material use. For example, separation

Figure 1-1

Separation in manufacturing processes. Adapted from Humphrey and Keller, 1997.

technologies have the potential to reduce waste and increase productivity by separating valuable materials that can be used or sold as by-products from waste streams. As environmental regulations become increasingly stringent, the costs associated with waste management are expected to rise. By reducing these costs, separation technologies can contribute to the competitiveness of U.S. industries. Similar examples can be given for energy efficiency and raw materials efficiency. Research that increases the fundamental knowledge necessary to improve existing separation processes and develop new ones can, therefore, have a large impact on these industries. Separation technologies are critical for the productivity and global competitiveness of U.S. industries.

The Office of Industrial Technology (OIT) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sponsors research and development programs focused on the U.S. materials processing industries. The goals of OIT programs are to develop technologies that have the potential for reducing raw materials and energy use, reducing waste generation, and increasing the productivity and global competitiveness of these industries.

OIT selects research projects based on the needs and priorities identified by the materials processing industries. OIT has developed partnerships with a number of energy-intensive and waste-intensive industries to determine their needs and priorities. Groups representing these industries, composed of chief executive officers, trade associations, and others, have agreed to develop documents describing their common vision of the future of the industry and identifying their highest priority needs, strategic goals, and research areas. To date, eight materials processing industries have produced vision documents in partnership with OIT. These are the agriculture, aluminum, chemical, forest products, glass, metal casting, mining, and steel industries. One additional industry, petroleum refining, is in the process of developing a vision document. OIT has dubbed these industries the "Industries of the Future" (IOF).

Of the eight industries that have developed vision documents, six have completed "road maps" describing how their industries will achieve their visionary goals. Based on these documents, industry groups have developed research agendas, devised implementation strategies, and committed resources to conduct and manage research projects. Table 1-1 shows the status of the vision documents and road maps for the IOF.

OIT's selection of research projects is based on a competitive process that includes a request for proposals and proposal reviews. The costs of selected projects are shared by OIT and the industrial participants, with the industry portion of the funding increasing over the course of the project.

Prior to 1993, OIT followed a "technology push" strategy, in which research projects were selected and prioritized according to their generic potential for reducing energy consumption and waste generation. In 1993, OIT changed to its current "market pull" strategy, in which the technology needs and priorities identified by the IOF industries are used to determine project selection. In 1995, OIT asked the National Research Council, through the National Materials Advisory Board, to evaluate their research and development program strategy; provide guidance during the transition to the new "market pull'' strategy; and assess the effects of the change on OIT's cross-cutting technology programs, i.e., programs that apply to several industries. The National Research Council's Committee on Industrial Technology Assessments (CITA) was established in response to this request.

The CITA was asked to establish and oversee three topical panels on various aspects of the OIT program as part of its overall program review. The three topical panels were the Panel on Intermetallic Alloy Development (National Research Council, 1997), the Panel on Manufacturing Process Controls (National Research Council, 1998), and the Panel on Separation Technology for Industrial Recycling and Reuse. This report presents the work of the third panel.

Separation technologies play an important role in the chemical, petroleum refining, and materials processing industries. Several of the IOF industries identified separation technologies as important areas for research in their vision documents and road maps. The Panel on Separation Technology for Industrial Recycling and Reuse was established to identify the needs of the IOF industries and to recommend high priority areas for the OIT research program. The panel included the seven IOF industries that were involved in the program at the beginning of this study: chemicals, petroleum refining, aluminum, steel, metal casting, glass, and forest products.

Specifically, the panel was charged with the following tasks:

• to identify key separation process needs in the seven industries and to identify separation technologies that can be applied to meeting these needs
• to review OIT's current and planned research concerned with separation technologies for the materials processing industries
• to identify technology areas that are broadly applicable to two or more of the seven industries

The panel held two working sessions. At the first session on October 9, 1997, the panel met with representatives of industry groups to discuss their needs for separation technologies and to identify potential cross-cutting needs. At the second session on December 2, 1997, the panel met with experts on cutting-edge separation technologies to identify the ones that might meet industry needs. This report is a summary of the panel's findings and recommendations for areas of future research.

The report is organized into three parts. Part I is focused on the needs of the chemical (Chapter 2) and petroleum refining (Chapter 3) industries and their cross-cutting issues (Chapter 4). Part II focuses on the needs of the five materials processing industries, aluminum (Chapter 5), steel (Chapter 6), metal casting (Chapter 7), glass (Chapter 8), and forest products (Chapter 9); cross-cutting issues are discussed in Chapter 10. Please note that it is beyond the scope of this study to provide an in-depth or comprehensive analysis of separation processes for each industry. The report is based on information gathered at the two workshops and on the expertise of panel members and the focus is on cross-cutting issues. The basic issues in each industry are provided as background information in support of the panel's conclusions and recommendations on cross-cutting research in Part III (Chapter 11).