Electrochemical Solutions (ECSOL™)
ECSOL™ covers a range of electrochemical treatment methods for industrial processes involving solid-liquid and ionic separation as well as electrolytic oxidation / reduction. The patent portfolio includes a number of different approaches including Electrochemical ion exchange (EIX), Direct membrane cleaning (DMC) as well as precious metals recovery and leachate extraction.
How does it work?
The approaches all rely upon the use of electrochemical technology and are illustrated by the following examples.
EIX uses a combination of conventional ion exchange resins with electrical rather than chemical elution. Periodic elution provides selectivity whilst continuous elution can be sued for steady state operation.
DMC allows in situ cleaning by electrolytic micro-bubble generation improving the lifetime and performance of for example effluent treatment membranes.
Applications of ECSOL™ have previously included:
- Removal of heavy metal pollutants
- Waste water recycling
- Effluent treatment
- Materials recovery
- Oil/water separations
- Potable water treatment
- Sludge dewatering
- Bioseparations
Benefits of ECSOL™ technologies include:
- Reduction in disposal costs
- Maximisation of water and value recycle
- Reduced requirement for chemical reagents
- Compact footprint
- Automatic/remote control
- Minimise the production of secondary wastes
- Modularity of construction matches number of units to water usage
- Simplifies system expansion.
Electrochemical Solutions (ECSOL) is based on the fact that electrochemical processes have the distinctive advantage of being directly controlled by an externally applied electrical current. This enables remote, automatic operation - with minimal manned process supervision, but also allows current demand to track the chemical load requiring treatment.
By using electricity as a "mass-less" reagent to perform separations and transformations, there is no need for chemical additions. This avoids the issues of safety of handling and addition control, storage and the corresponding downstream conditioning and disposal of the resulting secondary waste.
The use of electrical energy as the process driving force enables low pressure, temperature, and mild chemical environment to be used.
Due to the modular nature of electrochemical plant construction, these are compact and flexible for future capacity expansion - resulting in reduced plant and civil engineering costs.
These technologies can be of particular relevance for applications within many markets including:
- Electronics
- Fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals
- Metal finishing
- Mineral extraction
- Metal refining and recycling
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- Nuclear
- Oil and Gas
- Process and manufacturing industries
- Waste management
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ECSOL™ electrochemical solutions enable you to:
- Maximize value and water recovery for the recycle of:-
- precious metals
- metals recovery
- stream purification (organic and aqueous)
- rinsewater
- pH control
- Environmental compliance by use of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control to recover and recycle contaminant resources.
- Minimise waste and hence reduce disposal costs
- Reduce chemical reagent usage
- reduce storage and handling requirements
- reduced operating costs
- Enhance process effectiveness
- compact plant
- easy to retrofit
- easy to expand
- maximize space and asset utilization
- Enhanced safety
- Automatic and remote plant control
Details of each particular technology are given on separate sheets by following the links below.
Direct Membrane Cleaning (DMC) is a membrane cleaning technique for cross-flow filtration systems, where microscopic bubbles are generated in-situ at a filtration membrane surface by periodic electrolysis of the feed solution.
Electrochemical Ion-exchange (EIX) technology concerns the adsorption and elution behaviour of ions with fixed ion-exchange groups under the influence of externally applied electric field gradients. When combined with specific adsorbers and appropriate pH conditions, selective separations can be achieved at the same time as virtually complete recovery from the stream being treated into a small volume of concentrate at significantly lower energy costs compared with evaporation.
Selective electrodeposition on anodes and cathodes of valuable materials recovered by In-situ Leach Mining under conditions of controlled potential pH and chemical composition enables the single step recovery of pure material, therefore reducing the cost of subsequent refining and hence enhancing the value of the product.
Selective electrodeposition on anodes and cathodes can also be used for the recovery of individual Platinum Group Metals (PGM) by electrolysis in a divided cell under conditions of controlled pH (<5) and potential.
The Down-hole sensor is a fouling resistant system based on remote electrochemical cleaning to enable the monitoring of conditions of acidity, specific ionic concentration and temperature down a well (e.g. oil or gas well) under conditions of elevated pressure and temperature.
Technetium removal from alkaline liquid wastes. Under normal aerobic conditions, Tc exists as the soluble TcO4- anion, which is able to migrate through porous rock/clay as it does not adsorb on such media. Disposal of simple immobilised wastes is therefore unacceptable. Also due to the volatility of TcO2, Tc containing wastes are unsuitable for high temperature immobilisation processes. If Tc could be removed selectively from Tank Supernates, it would enable disposal of the latter as low-level waste.
For expressions of interest or further information, please contact:-
Terry Graham,
General Manager, Accentus plc
401.8 Harwell Business Centre
Didcot
Oxfordshire, OX11 0QJ
United Kingdom
Telephone: 0870 190 2912
Facsimile : 01235 434329
Mobile: 07968 095638
e-mail: terry.graham@accentus.co.uk
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