Prof. Ranil Wickramasinghe, University of Arkansas: Development of Membrane Based Operations for Emerging Separations Challenges
Prof. Ranil Wickramasinghe: Development of Membrane Based Operations for Emerging Separations Challenges
- Date: Nov 14, 2023
- Time: 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Prof. Ranil Wickramasinghe
- Ralph Martin Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Arkansas
- Location: Max Planck Institute Magdeburg
- Room: Big Seminar Room "Prigogine"
- Host: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Seidel-Morgenstern und Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo Reichl
- Contact: sek-pcg@mpi-magdeburg.mpg.de
Membrane based separations are attractive for a number of reasons such
as easy scale up, lower operating cost and the potential for significant
process intensification. For applications in bioseparations linear
scale up is important given the regulatory approvals needed for a
manufacturing process. Catalytic membranes on the other hand, provide
the possibility of combining reaction and separation into one unit
operation which leads to significant process intensification. This could
enable the economic conversion of waste biomass to bio-based chemical
intermediates. In this presentation the potential for membranes in each
of these areas will be discussed.
Biopharmaceutical manufacturing
processes make use of cell lines to produce therapeutics such as
monoclonal antibodies, fusion proteins etc. Membrane based processes
such as membrane adsorbers, ultrafiltration and virus filtration are
routinely used in the purification of these products. Here the focus
will be on virus clearance, which is a major challenge in the
manufacture of biopharmaceuticals. Today, biopharmaceutical
manufacturing processes are typically run in batch mode. Further there
is growing interest in complex therapeutics, e.g., live attenuated virus
vaccines, viral vectors for delivery of gene therapy, VLPs, plasmid
DNA, cell-based therapies. These more complex therapeutics create
additional challenges when attempting to validate virus clearance. Some
of these challenges will be discussed. In addition, there is a great
deal of interest in developing continuous biomanufacturing processes in
order to minimize batch to batch variation.
The overall
agricultural industry contributes more than 25% to world greenhouse gas
emissions. Agricultural residues represent an abundant source of fuels
and chemical intermediates. Here lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysis and
dehydration has been conducted using a synthetic polymeric solid acid
catalyst consisting of dual polymer chains grafted from the surface of a
ceramic membrane. These novel, polymeric solid acid catalysts are
superior to cellulases enzymes as they can be operated at a higher
temperature and at a much higher hydrolysis rates. These catalysts are
stable and maintain high catalytic activity over repeated runs.
Moreover, they can be easily regenerated and are environmentally
friendly. These polymeric solid acid catalysts can be used not only for
hydrolysis but also dehydration of cellulose leading to the production
of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) or levulinic acid. By using a catalytic
membrane, reaction and separation can be combined into a single unit
operation leading to an intensified process.
About Ranil Wickramasinghe
Ranil Wickramasinghe is a distinguished professor in the Department of
Chemical Engineering at the University of Arkansas where he holds the
Ross E Martin Chair in Emerging Technologies. He is an Arkansas Research
Alliance Scholar and Director. He is the Director of the Membrane
Science, Engineering and Technology (MAST) Center, a National Science
Foundation Industry-University Cooperative Research Center. Prof
Wickramasinghe is the Executive Editor of Separation Science and
Technology.
Prof Wickramasinghe obtained his bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from the University of Melbourne in Chemical
Engineering. He obtained his PhD from the University of Minnesota, also
in Chemical Engineering. He worked for 5 years in the
biotechnology/biomedical industry in the Boston area joining the
Department of Chemical Engineering at Colorado State University. He
joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of
Arkansas in 2011. Prof Wickramasinghe’s research interests are in
membrane science and technology. His research focuses on synthetic
membrane-based separation processes for purification of pharmaceuticals
and biopharmaceuticals, treatment and reuse of water and for the
production of biofuels.