The European Membrane Institute in Montpellier (IEM), a research center on membrane materials and technology, and POLYMEM, a membrane manufacturer SME propose to set-up a Joint Laboratory (M-LAB) with the general topic dealing with the deep understanding of membrane fabrication process. The ultrafiltration membranes on the market are generally made by a phase separation process using dope solutions of hydrophobic polymers (PE, PP, PVC, PAN, PSF, PVDF). Additives are always required to improve the filtration performances of the produced membranes. Thus, the use of hydrophilic additives allows the membrane surface to become hydrophilic and thereby increases the resistance to fouling. POLYMEM that dedicates between 15 to 20% of its turnover to R&D activities to produce hollow fibers, to build filtration modules, to design treatment plants and to ensure validation test on site, would like to extend its knowledge about the fundamental mechanisms taking place in the fabrication and use of membranes as, for instance, the influence of operating conditions during membrane fabrication on the polymer and additive distribution into the membrane structure binging about its nano-structuration and interfacial properties, and the changes occurring depending on the membrane utilization. The in-depth study of the different parameters resulting in an increase of the fundamental knowledge is also one of the objectives of M-LAB for the academic partner. The last point regards the training of POLYMEM engineers and technicians and that of the IEM’s students as well in a mutual benefit coming from a strengthening of relationships between the academic and industrial partners.

This project aims at creating a new generation of hollow fiber polymeric membrane, hydrophilic and temperature resistant, for the treatment of produced water in offshore platform. Growing environmental restrictions will push in a near future the oil companies to change conventional wastewater treatment plants for satisfying the future technical specifications (oil and particles removing). In this context, membrane technology meets advantages comparing to conventional techniques, such as (i) particles and oil droplets removal efficiency, (ii) the modularity of the systems and (iii) small footprint. Ceramic and polymeric membranes are efficient for oil and particles separation, but their main disadvantage concerns the fouling during filtration, calling for frequent cleaning cycles operated at high temperature. Ceramic membranes are nowadays preferred to polymeric ones because of their better tolerance to high temperature and strong cleaning agents. However, the ceramic membrane meets several disadvantages such as (i) high fouling due to hydrophobic compound (especially oil), (ii) high weight, (iii) moderate compactness since there are used under tubular configuration, (iv) fragility and (v) high capital and operating costs due to high speed velocity imposed in the tubes to prevent fouling. To date, no polymeric membrane exist that resist to high temperatures, thus preventing their use for the treatment of produced water. The main originality of GASPOM project lies in the preparation of hydrophilic polymeric membranes, able to withstand high temperature needed during the back-washing cycles. The membranes will be prepared from water soluble polymers, using innovative phase inversion methods including a temperature increase above the critical solution temperature ( LCST-TIP technique) or by pH modification to decrease the polymer solubility (pHIPS technique). The project aims at developping membrane hollow fibers to have a footprint as small as possible. GASPOM project will involve one academic partner, the European Institute of Membranes (IEM) at University Montpellier 2 (project coordinator), one EPIC partner, LIONS CEA (Saclay), and three industrial partners, KERMEL, polymer manufacturer, POLYMEM, polymeric hollow fiber membranes manufacturer and TOTAL, end user of the membrane on offshore platform.

The fast industrial spreading of carbon capture and storage technologies (CCS) is a requirement in order to ensure a very effective lever effect on the emissions at a planetary scale; consequently, almost all of the current CCS projects at a pilot scale in many countries deal with the issues of considerable emission tonnages (thermal plants, steel industries and cement factories in particular) and use technologies of first generation (amine washing for post-combustion and oxycombustion captures). The issues of the emissions of the sectors producing between 25,000 and 100,000 CO2 tonnes per year, which represent a significant proportion of the whole tonnage, have never been studied on a pilot scale. The objectives of the project “CO2 EnergiCapt” is to fill this gap by developing the first pilot realization of carbon dioxide capture devoted to the production of urban heat distribution system like first application. A technical solution of first generation was adopted for capture (solvent absorption), with a minimization of the ratio CO2 eq emitted/kWh. The combination between the improvement of the combustion efficiencies on the existing installations using a oxygen-enriched air feeding, the thermal integration of the solvent regeneration process, the intensification of the capture step by membrane contactors, the conception and the validation in situ of an integrated pilot, constitutes the strong points and the originalities of the project which is based on a consortium bringing together an industrial leader in the boiler technologies for urban heat distribution system (LLT), a specialist in the membrane pilot conceptions (Polymem), two CNRS laboratories having expertises in the field of combustion (ICARE) and of the CCS process (LRGP), and a potential user of the large-scale technology (CPCU) which will receive the pilot study. The steps of storage and valorisation of CO2, which are specific research objects, are not included in the proposed program. However, they will be taken into account in the global strategy of this study. The main lines of development and research will deal with: the increase of energy efficiency of the installations and the optimization of the separation and the capture.

Membrane processes know for several years a remarkable growth in the treatment of wastewaters because they are able to deal with water quality and flow fluctuations that conventional activated sludge processes can’t process. Their development remains nevertheless hampered by problems of membrane fouling, which have a negative impact both financial (related to clean-up costs) and environmental (related to the energy cost and chemicals used). Previous works to remove this lock focused on the optimization of operating conditions or configurations of membrane modules, but none of these alternatives has proved to be completely satisfying. Face of the disadvantages of these traditional solutions, the development of low-fouling and self-cleaning membranes would be a major paradigm shift. In this context, the LumiMem project addresses the problem of fouling in a very original way, through the development of a self-cleaning bright membrane textile, hollow fiber (HF) TiO2 polymer membranes with optic fibers (OF) equipped with LEDs UVA. This configuration will enable the in-situ irradiation of TiO2 nanoparticles during membrane filtration. The (super-)hydrophilic character of TiO2 would allow improving the flow water and limitation of the fouling while its photocatalytic and/or disinfectant activity by combination with UVA respectively would induce the degradation of organic matter fouling and a reduction in the development of biofilm on the surface of the membrane. The original goals of the LumiMem project state at several levels: -Design and mastering a new technology of membrane photofiltration, involving the new membrane textile material, to get a treated water of high quality while reducing the environmental impact of the operation (energy and emissions). -Use of new techniques (co-extrusion) to develop polymer hollow fiber containing nanoparticles of TiO2. -Understand and model the mechanisms involved during the developement of the new hollow fiber PVDF-TiO2. -Integrate the issue of sustainability of the technology by studying the ageing of the new membrane textile and comparing its environmental impact compared to the conventional ways of cleaning/cleaning. This new approach of development of TiO2-PVDF membranes and their association with optical fibers generates several scientific risks which have been evaluated and taken into account in the project LumiMem. However, the potential of the project states on preliminary work performed in IEM, having established the proof of concept for the "reference" case of flat-sheet membranes PVDF/TiO2 and having shown, for optimum conditions of development and under UV irradiation, the limitation of membrane fouling and their self-cleaning behavior. The ability to generate results in the LumiMem project is also supported by a consortium that includes academic and industrial actors with recognized, multidisciplinary and complementary skills: IEM Montpellier (development and implementation of membranes, photocatalysis, microbiological processes); LGC Toulouse (ageing of the membranes); Polymem Toulouse (the manufacturer of hollow fiber membranes); Brochier Technologies Villeurbanne (the manufacturer of optic fibers, expertise photocatalysis fabrics).