PFI-TT: Separation of azeotropic refrigerant mixtures using pilot-scale extractive distillation with ionic liquid entrainer

这一创新-技术转化伙伴关系(PFI-TT)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力旨在为经认证的制冷剂回收商提供分离共沸制冷剂混合物的新技术。供暖、通风、空调和制冷(HVAC)行业试图回收尽可能多的制冷剂进行再利用，但回收商现在面临着一系列复杂的、多组分的混合物的挑战，在许多情况下，这些混合物无法分离，最终必须储存或销毁。《2021年美国创新与制造法案》要求在未来15年内将美国氢氟烃制冷剂的生产和消费逐步减少85%，重点是减少高全球变暖潜力气体。目前，现有冷却系统中有数十亿公斤的制冷剂必须分离和回收。在100多次访谈中收集的客户之声数据表明，现在需要一种分离共沸制冷剂混合物的新技术，而且只有大约5%的制冷剂被回收。将通过该项目支持外联活动，特别是纳入任职人数不足的少数群体和妇女的活动。学生将发展创业和技术商业化技能，并与一家初创公司合作，将创新推向市场。拟议的项目旨在展示使用萃取蒸馏和离子液体夹带剂分离制冷剂R-410A的第一个中试规模的过程。该制冷剂由50wt%的二氟甲烷和50wt%的五氟乙烷组成。现有的技术，即分馏，无法将这种共沸混合物分离成纯组分。离子液体是一种在室温下呈液态的盐类，可用于实现制冷气体的高分离选择性。R-410A是美国销量最大的制冷剂混合物。目前，大约有1亿公斤R-410A用于住宅和商用空调和热泵。二氟甲烷具有相对较低的全球变暖潜力，可以重新用于未来的制冷剂产品。五氟乙烷具有很高的全球变暖潜力，可用作生产新的环保产品的氟化原料。主要研究目标包括：将R-410A分离成纯度为99.5wt%或更高的产品，创建代表实验结果的过程模拟模型，并测试从行业中回收的实际R-410A，以了解杂质的影响。这一结果将被用来开发一个财务模型，用于估计分离共沸制冷剂的成本。这一奖励反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation – Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project seeks to provide certified refrigerant reclaimers with a new technology for separating azeotropic refrigerant mixtures. The Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVAC) industry tries to recover as much refrigerant as economically practical for reuse, but reclaimers are now challenged by an array of complex, multi-component mixtures that, in many cases, are not possible to separate and ultimately must be stockpiled or destroyed. The American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2021 requires the phase down in production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants in the U.S. by 85 percent over the next 15 years with a focus on reducing high global warming potential gases. Currently, there are several billion kilograms of refrigerants in existing cooling systems that must be separated and recycled. Voice-of-customer data gathered in over 100 interviews indicates that a new technology for separation of azeotropic refrigerant mixtures is now needed and only about 5% of refrigerant is recovered. Outreach activities, especially toward the inclusion of underrepresented minorities and women will be supported through this project. Students will develop entrepreneurial and technology commercialization skills and work with a start-up company to take the innovation to the marketplace. The proposed project seeks to demonstrate the first pilot-scale process using extractive distillation and an ionic liquid entrainer for separating refrigerant R-410A. The refrigerant is composed of 50 wt% difluoromethane and 50 wt% pentafluoroethanee. The incumbent technology, fractional distillation, cannot separate this azeotropic mixture into pure components. Ionic liquids are salts that are liquid at room temperature, which can be designed to achieve high separation selectivity for refrigerant gases. R-410A is the largest volume refrigerant mixture sold in the U.S. Currently, there is approximately 100 million kilograms of R-410A used in residential and commercial air-conditioners and heat pumps. The difluoromethane has a relatively low global warming potential and can be repurposed into future refrigerant products. The pentafluoroethane has a high global warming potential and can be used as a fluorinated feedstock for producing new environmentally-friendly products. The key research objectives include: separation of R-410A into products with a purity of 99.5 wt% or higher, creation of a process simulation model that represents the experimental results, and testing the actual reclaimed R-410A from the industry to understand the effects of impurities. The results will be used to develop a financial model for estimating the costs for separating azeotropic refrigerants.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.