« All News & Opportunities

3rd April 2012

Swansea University – Centre for Complex Fluids Processing: April’s MediWales Featured Member

 
 
Membrane and surface technologies are essential for answering many of the world’s current and future requirements. Indeed, these technologies have great relevance to Health and the Low Carbon Economy. The requirement for and uptake of Membrane and Surface technologies is increasing across a wide spectrum of industrial sectors, with applications including desalination of water, manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and waste treatment and recycling.

The Advanced Membrane Separation and Surface Technologies Knowledge Transfer Centre (AMSST) is funded via the Welsh Government and ERDF and aims to provide an effective interface between academia and Welsh business – providing access to research, development, expertise, facilities and knowledge that facilitate collaborative research and development projects focussed upon advanced membrane and surface technologies.

             

Services
The Centre, based within the Centre for Complex Fluids Processing (CCFP) in the College of Engineering at Swansea University, is the research arm of the only process engineering discipline found in a Welsh university. The Research Assessment Exercise 2008 (RAE) showed that research conducted by CCFP as part of a general engineering submission to be first in Wales in this discipline, with research quality that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour.

The Centre performs research within three main themes:

Selective Separation and Product Recovery utilising Membrane Technology
Access to expertise in engineering aspects of membrane separation equipment design. Design of sustainable membrane processes for environmental and industrial applications and the development of improved/novel engineering aspects of membrane module design, operation and process control.

Advanced Surface and Fluid Characterisation
Analysis and determination of fluid composition and its overall properties, flow behaviour in process equipment and surface characteristics of the membrane. Characterisation of membranes, relating to structure, pore size, surface charge and chemical composition. Membrane autopsy.

Novel Membrane and Structure Fabrication
The development of bespoke membranes and novel structure fabrication. Research and development for the creation of the next generation of membrane-based devices. Production of novel membranes specifically suited to particular fluid properties and bespoke surfaces such as scaffolds for tissue engineering, drug delivery systems and immobilised cell technologies.

Equipment
The Centre is very well-equipped across the range of its activities. Some equipment is unique to the region and ranges from bench scale analytical devices through to pilot scale production equipment:

Separation – Fully instrumented and computer controlled microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis. Both bench scale and mobile pilot scale rigs.

Microscopy – Five Atomic Force Microscopes – contact, non-contact, lateral force, colloid probe, force measurement and micro and nano manipulation.

Analytical – Particle sizing to 1nm, laser diffraction particle sizing, AAS for elemental analysis, free solution electrophoretic mobility measurement to 5nm, BET and gas porosimetry, microcalorimetry, analytical HPLC, mass spectrometry, gas chromatography, spectrophotometers.

Fabrication – Specialist equipment for fabrication of novel membranes and surfaces.

Bioprocessing – Pilot scale fermentation facility equipped with 15L and 120L fermenters and downstream processing facilities. Freeze dryer and spray dryer.

Example Projects
The Centre for Complex Fluids Processing has a proven track record of industrial collaboration, with users spread across a diverse range of industrial sectors including, Process Engineering, Environment, Food, Biomedical/Health and Biotechnology.
Recent projects have included: 

  • Surface modification of existing membranes for the development of haemo-compatible membranes for use in an artificial lung device
  • Identification of candidate membranes and process optimisation for selective separation and recovery of hydrolysed protein <2000mw from bench to production scale (~1000L/day)
  • Scale up, production and concentration of biomass for the recovery of intracellular enzymes from Escherichia coli and other microbes in 100L batch fermentations

For more information contact Greg Coss,  Indutrial Liaison Officer, Swansea University – Centre for Complex Fluids Processing: g.m.coss@swansea.ac.uk