CMS membrane technology is the effective, easy to use, and low cost commercial solution for drying solvents past the azeotrope, to anhydrous levels – For scaling flow chemistry, enabling new chemistries, working with sensitive chemistries in small volumes, or reducing solvent costs and environmental footprint
Primary Applications
Pharmaceutical
Flow Chemistry
Specialty Chemicals
Semiconductor
CMS Solvent Recovery
CMS Membranes are
Ideal for enabling continuous flow technology.
A simple, compact, & efficient way to turn burdensome waste into usable material.
Robust to virtually all chemicals, high temperatures, pressures, and additives.
Modular allowing recovery across a range of volumes.
Why use a solvent dehydration membrane?
Why use membranes?
- Break an azeotrope
- Increase capacity of an existing process
- Enable continuous processing
Why remove water?
- Drive product formation during a reaction by removing water
- Generate anhydrous solvent
- Recover solvent that was previously wasted
CMS System Advantages
- Minimal holdup volume for volatile solvents
- Applicable for temperature sensitive API's
- Chemically resistant to harsh solvents
Implications
- ppm level water content
- Decreased footprint and utility requirements
- Increased returns
Recoverable vs Removed
Molecules such as water or dissolved gases go through the membrane and are REMOVED from the feed stream. Larger molecules such as organic solvents do not pass through the membrane and are RECOVERED.
See our full list of compatible materials in the info-graphics
- Alcohols
- Ketones
- Esters
- Ethers
- Furans
- Oils
- Water
- Methanol
- Low MW acids
- Dissolved gasses
- O2' N2
- CO2' CH4
Range of Solvents
Novel modular membrane-based systems dry a broad range of solvents to anhydrous levels, enabling solvent recycling in a variety of applications where other recovery options fall short. Solvents can be cost effectively dried to the level of virgin materials, purified and reused onsite, rather than disposing.
Works effectively with many commonly used solvent chemistries, including mixtures containing tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP), isopropyl and other alcohols as well as volatile solvents, such as methyl ethyl ketone, tetrahydrofuran, butanol, ethanol, toluene, xylene, and ionic liquids.
For a brief, quantitative overview of what we can do feel free to check out our industrial solvent or pharmaceutical solvent info-graphics on membrane-based solvent recovery.
Drying past the azeotrope
CMS membranes dewater binary azeotrope-forming solvents like alcohols, making them a cost effective supplement or full-on replacement for distillation and other drying technologies, in printing, electronics, fine chemicals, pharmaceutical and other applications.
CMS technologies can dehydrate isopropyl alcohol (and others) to 99.5+%, recovering the solvent at a fraction of the cost of purchasing new material.
How we can work with you
No two tough chemical separations are the same. CMS provides solutions tailored to your specific separation need.
When you request a CMS quote, you will be provided with drying feasibility, practically achievable drying level, and expected solvent recovery with a full system design and CAPEX estimate.
CMS’s capabilities include: feasibility tests, pilot or full scale system design and builds, providing membrane cartridges, and start up and on-going engineering support.
How it works
Working by pervaporation, an energy efficient combination of membrane permeation and evaporation, membranes separate two or more components through a thin polymer film with an evaporative phase change comparable to a simple flash step.
CMS membranes can remove even small quantities of water, to provide a product that is 99.9+% free of water. Our membranes can dehydrate in harsh environments, because of their high chemical, thermal, and fouling resistance.
CMS membrane systems work alone or in conjunction with existing technology, to effectively address a range of applications, solvents, and existing processes.
Please note that membranes are not 100% impermeable barriers: small quantities of the desired product, whether solvent or oil, will pass through the membrane. All CMS systems are designed to capture and address these materials.
Case Studies
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Case Study
CMS recently designed and built a small system for a major pharmaceutical contractor. The unit removed water from TBHP, a very important oxidizing agent in process chemistry. To find out more abuout the CMS portion, see the full case study. A journal article in the May 2018 issue of Organic Process Research and Development (OPR&D) details the entire production process. Please follow this link to read the full article, made possible by the paper’s selection as the ACS Editor’s Choice paper of the day.
Industrial Alcohols for Chevron Case Study
Inquire about your separation needs
Contact us about ordering a system or developing a custom solution.