Architecting an electro-chemical separation platform : from the business case to the first commercial product

Abstract

Electrosorption technology is currently gaining significant tractions as a viable separation technique due to its low energy consumption, its intrinsic reversibility and its reagent free nature. As most companies thrive towards a more sustainable approach, electro-chemical based process become more and more attractive. The group of Prof. Hatton of the Chemical Engineering department at MIT has improved further the state of the art of electro-chemical technologies by using functionalized metallocene-based pseudo-capacitors. Their research demonstrates that the technology they developed can selectively remove specific compounds such as carboxylates, sulfonates, phosphonates and potentially heavy metals. The aim of this thesis is to help the technology find a first market fit and build the foundation for a successful scale-up by defining its positioning within the treatment train of the production of the identified markets. Two main markets were identified. The selection of each market was based on the price of the end-product, the size and growth of the market and the numbers of applications and potential customers. The lactic acid and the lithium carbonate markets were selected. Both are growing markets sustaining a real demand over the years to come with very promising and diversified applications. We collected real-life feedbacks and identified the pain points in each respective industry by conducting interviews with professionals in the field. Several unmet needs and possible alignments with the benefits brought by the selective electrosorption technology were identified thanks to this endeavor. New potential production lines were proposed. The new innovative treatment line allows for the simplification of the process train, a reduction of the chemical and reagent needed and a likely decrease in solid waste and wastewater volume.