hydrogel porous membrane poretex

www.roschier.ch

PORETEXTM Separation and Dewatering Technology

by

Short Overview

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Introduction Roschier is a technology company involved in the development of environmentally friendly porous plastic products based on substituted vinyl polymer. Roschier has developed a formulation and process for cost-effectively producing a family of non-toxic highly porous environmentally friendly polymer materials. The company is operating a testing facility for a porous plastic material known as PORETEX™ at its pilot scale production unit and has established a commercially viable batch production process for PORETEX™ resin manufacture using proprietary mixing equipment. The test facility allows the company to demonstrate its technology, manufacture pilot scale quantities of PORETEX™ material and conduct the necessary R&D to support the development of full scale production of PORETEX™. The final phase of development involves commercialisation into high value market sectors and commencing sales in the second half of 2014 and licensing the technology for onward worldwide production through franchising partners from 2016. To protect the technology behind this invention, Roschier has filed a patent application in the European Union and is exploring other markets where there are commercial interests to implement this material into commercially viable industrial applications. It is expected that patent will be granted during 2015. Roschier’s PORETEX™ technology is the most advanced and cost-effective process for the manufacture of porous polymer materials that allows the production of novel porous filter materials with superior water separation and emulsion breaking capabilities. The technology delivers a unique and cost-effective approach to dewatering applications in the filtration industry. Roschier is further developing new applications where the environmentally friendly properties and performance characteristics of the PORETEX™ material are demanded. For the development of new markets PORETEX™ is ideally placed to compete with conventional fibre based filter materials due to its superior technical properties and environmentally friendly characteristics. The company's mission is:

To be a technology driven organisation developing and proving environmentally friendly polymers and offering means by which such products can be commercially

exploited through a global licensing programme with existing manufacturers.

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Technology

The PORETEX™ material is a state-of-the-art water separating porous polymer, which is mainly intended for emulsion breaking and dewatering of fuels and light oils. PORETEX™ is based on substituted vinyl polymer (e.g. PVOH) that gives a strong hydrophilicity to the material. It is also possible to control and augment the hydrophilicity of the material according to the specific requirements of an industrial application or an environmental variable. This can be done through adding different substituting groups to the polymer backbone.

When processing water containing emulsions of light oils with conventional separation systems, these emulsions prove themselves as very hard to break and retain their stability under most conditions. These emulsions are also unfeasible to break with applications that involve separation through settling; even the more unstable emulsions that are theoretically separable with settling take too long to process in order to be applied in most industrial processes. There are many different dewatering and emulsion breaking solutions in the market which are not efficient or cost effective and do not guarantee adequate water separation to meet contemporary industrial requirements. Some of these dewatering solutions also involve filtration; however these filtering units require multiple run-throughs in order to achieve comparable results with PORETEX™ and exhaust themselves faster because of their fibre based composition. In addition, some competing solutions break emulsions by means of absorption (not to be confused with adsorption), meaning that these units fill up and turn irrevocably useless.

Roschier has developed a new dewatering technology that is based on filtration through porous polymers that overcomes these problems and produces an efficient cost effective product with superior properties of physical endurance.

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Technical Properties of PORETEX™

PORETEX™ is engineered to offer long lasting endurance in industrial applications. The main strength advantages of PORETEX™ polymers have been determined by standard test methods for porosity, water separation efficiency, pressure drop and working temperature range. These technical properties enable the PORETEX™ material to have superior dewatering capabilities when compared to competing technologies based on fibre technology.

General Technical Specifications

Fluid throughput 200LPH Free water separation/isolation 99.99% Emulsion isolation 92-97% Filtered measurement 3-5 microns Pressure tolerance 6-10 bar Organic waste isolation 99,90%

PORETEX™ Advantages

• Non-toxic • High dewatering capability • Ability to break emulsions • High porosity • Strong mechanical endurance • Low pressure drop • Easy to process • Environmentally friendly

PORETEX™ Limitations

• Incompatibility with strong acids, especially when light alcohols are present • Tough resins can clog the pores of the material • Production involves some process sensitivity; needs good process control.

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Flow Rate VS. Separation Efficiency This section illustrates the water separation efficiency of the PORETEX™ material in relation to the flow speed of the liquid*. The figures below have been obtained by using the PORETEX™ material in two levels of thickness**: 1) PORETEX™ material sheet with a working area of 86 cm2 and 3 cm thickness 2) PORETEX™ material sheet with a working area of 86 cm2 and 10 cm thickness

* This example is based on water separation from ISO EN 590 diesel fuel ** The filter media used in this example was PORETEX™ 25 The information demonstrates that separation efficiency increases with the thickness of the PORETEX™ material. 1) Water separation efficiency % of the PORETEX sheet (S=86 cm2, D=3 cm)*

Emulsion droplet size litres/min 10 μm 30 μm 50 μm 60 μm 100 μm

4 40 50 60 90 99,99 3 45 60 70 97 99,99 2 51 81 90 99 99,99 1 58 90 95 99 99,99

0,1 65 95 98 99 99,99 * in DN100 SCH30 pipe

0 1 2 3 40

20

40

60

80

100

120

Flow rate l/min

Sepa

ratio

n Ef

ficie

ncy

%

10 μm

30 μm

50 μm

60 μm

100 μm

Emulsion droplet size

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2) Water separation efficiency % of the PORETEX sheet (S=86 cm2, D=10 cm)*

Emulsion droplet size litres/min 10 μm 30 μm 50 μm 60 μm 100 μm

4 85 93 98 99 99,99 3 86 95 99 99 99,99 2 87 95 99 99,9 99,99 1 94 97 99 99,9 99,99

0,1 95 98 99 99,9 99,99 * in DN100 SCH30 pipe

Additional Notes: Water separation efficiency tested in accordance with the standard ISO 16332 (Diesel engines - Fuel filters - Method for evaluating fuel/water separation efficiency). Water content of the filtered product determined in accordance with the standard EN ISO 12937 (Petroleum products - Determination of water - Colorimetric Karl Fischer titration method).

0 1 2 3 484

86

88

90

92

94

96

98

100

102

Flow rate l/min

Sepa

ratio

n Ef

ficie

ncy

%

10 μm

30 μm

50 μm

60 μm

100 μm

Emulsion droplet size

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PORETEX™ 25

Technical Properties Parameters

Break emulsion 25micron

Porosity 85,00%

Pressure drop 1bar

Waste holding capacity 60,00%

Back wash YES

Biodegradable 5 Yrs - 100%

Organic waste isolation 99,00%

Operating temperature 60°C

pH range 1.2.14

PORETEX™ 30



Porosity 85,00%

Pressure drop 0.6bar


Back wash YES




pH range 1.2.14

PORETEX™ 40



Porosity 95,00%



Back wash YES




pH range 1.2.14

PRODUCT RANGE

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PORETEX™ 45



Porosity 95,00%



Back wash YES




pH range 1.2.14

PORETEX™ 60



Porosity 95,00%



Back wash YES




pH range 1.2.14

PORETEX™ 2000



Porosity 97,00%



Back wash YES


Organic waste isolation -


pH range 1.2.14

PRODUCT RANGE

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Contacts

Allan Eesmaa CEO +372 50 73 053 [email protected]

Lemba Talve Head of Sales & Marketing +372 51 83 877 [email protected]

Address Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol Mäealuse 2, Tehnopol1KV, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia

hydrogel porous membrane poretex

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