PFI-BIC: A Large Scale Acoustophoretic Multi-component Separation Technology Platform

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This Partnerships for Innovation project from Western New England University focuses on an ultrasonic acoustophoretic separation technology platform that will accomplish efficient separation technologies for multi-component liquid streams that eliminate waste, reduce required energy, and promote a sustainable environment. This platform provides an innovative solution that consists of a large volume flow rate acoustophoretic phase separator based on ultrasonic standing waves. Acoustophoresis is a low-power, no-pressure-drop, no-clog, solid-state approach to particle removal from fluid suspensions and is used to achieve separations typically performed with porous filters, but with none of the disadvantages of porous filters. The acoustic resonator is designed to create a high intensity three-dimensional ultrasonic standing wave resulting in an acoustic radiation force larger than the combined effects of fluid drag and buoyancy and is therefore able to trap and hold stationary, the suspended phase. The novelty is in the ability to create ultrasonic standing wave fields that can trap particles in flow fields with linear velocities in excess of 1 cm. High frequency (MHz), high-power, and high-efficiency ultrasonic drivers based on solid state switching mode amplifiers will be designed and developed. An embedded control solution using a Digital Signal Processor and microcontroller will be implemented to maintain resonance operation and control power delivery and acoustic trapping force. The broader impacts of this research are improved, green, and sustainable separation technology with applications such as environmental oil clean-up, bio-fuels production, and biomedical applications such as blood-lipid separation. The partners on project team are eager to develop this technology and create green jobs to provide a nascent manufacturing base in Western Massachusetts, a region devastated by a significant decline in its manufacturing base. The project brings together a unique team with proven innovators from several small companies, engineering faculty from across several disciplines, three graduate students, and eleven undergraduate engineering students. Efforts are being undertaken to include underrepresented minorities in the REU and MS programs. Partners at the inception of the project are Western New England College, as the lead institution, with collaborators from the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Departments in the College of Engineering, and three knowledge-enhancing small business partners: FloDesign Sonics Inc. (Wilbraham, Massachusetts), UTX Inc. (Holmes, New York), and FloDesign Inc. (Wilbraham, Massachusetts). An additional partner is the University of Southern Maine.