Membrane & Separation Technology News articles from October 2004

Membrane & Separation Technology News archives from October 2004

REVERSE OSMOSIS: Treatment Cleans Drugs from Wastewater.
October 1, 2004... According to scientists from the Universities of Wisconsin-Madison and California-Los Angeles, sewage treatment plants that use a combination of purification methods followed by RO do a good job of removing pharmaceuticals and hormones from...

ULTRAFILTRATION: Spin Columns Save Sample Prep Time.
October 1, 2004... Vivascience has expanded its product line for proteomics researchers with the introduction of Vivapure C18 Micro Spin Columns. Designed for sample preparation prior to mass spectrometry, the centrifugal filters contain 0.03cm2 of the companys...

Separating Proteins with Close Molecular Weights.
October 1, 2004... Chemical engineers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have developed a new UF technique based on a multimembrane stack that enables users to separate and purify two different kinds of proteins having relatively close molecular...

Wiping Out 'Off Flavors' from Soy Foods.
October 1, 2004... Kraft Foods Holdings inventors have received U.S. Patent 6,787,173 for an ultrafiltration method that removes objectionable flavors from soy milk, soy flour, soy protein isolates and other soy- derived materials to improve their usefulness as...

MICROFILTRATION: Silicon Wafers Feature Well-Controlled Pores.
October 1, 2004... fluXXion BV, a Dutch startup company, has developed silicon MF membranes fabricated via lithographic methods from the semiconductor industry, a field with long experience in volume production of products with extremely small dimensions and...

NANOFILTRATION: Nanotubes Offer Uniform Pore Size.
October 1, 2004... Researchers from Banaras Hindu University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have fabricated robust membranes with highly controlled pores composed of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Filters made from the bundled membranes function at...

Project Designed to Promote Cooperation.
October 1, 2004... Researchers from Malta Desalination Services (MDS), a subsidiary of Water Services Corp., are engaged in a Middle East peace plan project that aims to find ways in which Israel can supply Jordan with 13,000 gallons of water annually by treating...

BIOMEDICAL & BIOMEMBRANE: "Roughened" ePTFE Improves Tissue Repair.
October 1, 2004... W. L. Gore has patented a laser-based process for surface treating expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), creating a macro- roughened surface with the capability of remaining microporous throughout. The method creates membranes with a ridge...

Nanoporous Silicon Enables Implantable Drug Delivery.
October 1, 2004... An implantable silicon membrane device containing live human pancreas cells might one day replace daily insulin injections used by diabetics to control blood sugar levels. Designed by Boston University Professor Tejal Desai, while still a...

Self-Assembly for Nanoscaffolding.
October 1, 2004... Self-organizing synthetic molecules originally used for gene therapy may have applications as templates and scaffolds for the production of inorganic materials such as bone. Using the electrostatic interactions between charged lipid membranes...

MATERIALS: Imprinted Polymers Bind Target Ions.
October 1, 2004... Johns Hopkins University scientists have patented molecularly imprinted polymer membranes that include selective binding sites for collecting phosphate, nitrate and ferric ions. The membranes remove pollutant ions from aquatic environments, and...

NON-SEPARATING: Landec Patents Banana Packaging.
October 1, 2004... Landec Corp. has been awarded a European patent for its Intelimer polymer membrane-based banana packaging technology. Landecs proprietary Intelimer polymers can be customized to abruptly change their physical characteristics when heated or...

More Protection from Firefighter Gear.
October 1, 2004... Researchers at North Carolina State Universitys College of Textiles has unveiled a prototype of the next generation of firefighter turnout gear that not only offers increased protection from fire, but also provides protection from chemical and...

LEGISLATION: Desal Act Concludes Subcommittee Hearing.
October 1, 2004... The Desalination Energy Assistance Act of 2004 (HR 3834), a bill that would help provide $200 million in funding over a five year period for desalination plant energy costs, has concluded U.S. House subcommittee hearings successfully, reports...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Alliance to Advance Fuel Cell Discoveries.
October 1, 2004... Virginia Tech will partner with Battelle Memorial Institute and other industry partners, as well as Virginias Center for Innovative Technology, and Los Alamos National Laboratory to build upon its membrane research in a program called Bridging...

Task Force Awards Disposal Projects.
October 1, 2004... The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) and its partners on the Joint Water Reuse Task Force (JWRTF) have awarded four new research projects addressing the emerging issue of disposing of concentrate from membrane processes. The...

Millipore Sets Up Global OEM Hotline.
October 1, 2004... Millipore has introduced a worldwide OEM Membrane Hotline to support medical device designers and engineers with direct access to Millipores team of membrane experts. By calling 978/762-5229, any manufacturer will receive design, testing and...

ELAD Granted Orphan Drug Status.
October 1, 2004... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation for the use of immortalized human liver cells in Vital Therapies, Inc.s Extracorporeal Liver Assist Device (ELAD), a hollow fiber membrane system for the treatment of...

Briefly Noted.
October 1, 2004... David B. Pall, founder of Pall Corp. (East Hills, NY), died on September 21st at his home in Roslyn Estates, NY after a long illness. He was 90. Pall received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from McGill University in 1939 and worked as a...

CALENDAR.
October 1, 2004... November 3-6, Water Technologies 2004, Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, Nashville, TN. Contact: Association of Water Technologies, 8201 Greensboro Drive, Suite 300, McLean, VA 22102; Tel: 800/858-6683, Fax: 703/ 610-9005, email:...

INDUSTRY INSIGHT: Heat Activatable Separator Membrane for Lithium Ion Batteries.
October 1, 2004... By Luying Sun, President, Policell Technologies, Inc., 240 Martin Luther King Blvd., Newark, NJ 07102; Tel: 973/621-8877, Fax: 973/242-1113 A novel heat activatable microporous battery separator membrane has been developed by Policell...

Longer EV Range.
October 1, 2004... Electric vehicles (EV) are more environmentally friendly than fossil fuel-powered vehicles since they do not discharge exhaust gases that contribute to air pollution. The vehicles are conventionally powered by a storage battery pack, which...

Separator Technology.
October 1, 2004... The novel heat activatable (HA) microporous separator membrane developed by Policell and Hitachi Maxell has the capability to be bonded onto cell electrodes through heat activation, resulting in excellent interface. Cells built with the HA...

Results and Discussion.
October 1, 2004... A novel heat-activatable microporous separator membrane has been developed. The membrane comprises a hot melt adhesive, an engineering plastic, a tackifier and a filler. The engineering plastic provides mechanical strength for the...

Conclusion.
October 1, 2004... The temperature to trigger the thermal shut down behavior of an HA separator-based cell can be chemically engineered to meet the requirements for a paricular application by changing the formula of the HA separator membrane. The HA membrane can...

COMMENTARY: China's Doors Open to Membrane Technology.
October 1, 2004... Less than ten years ago, membrane manufacturers viewed China as an enormous untapped market for their products, but one that, most likely, could not afford the technology for decades to come. Today, it appears that Chinas increasingly...