ROCKLEDGE, FL – March 23rd, 2017 – Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 31-year-old Brevard County, Florida manufacturer with a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all made in the USA, has been awarded a contract from the Department of Energy to develop atomically precise membranes for the separation of hydrocarbons.
This technology could replace fractional distillation separation processes in the petroleum industry as well as in a myriad of other purification systems used in environmental clean-up, chemical processing and the pharmaceutical industries. Mainstream’s proprietary technology is inexpensive and has ultra-low-energy consumption.
Separations often account for a majority of process costs. This is because all traditional separation processes have inherent weaknesses that prevent the system from achieving perfect or even near perfect, selectivity. These weaknesses result in large recycle streams and require multiple separation units in concert in order to produce a product clean enough for use or sale. An atomically-precise membrane capable of allowing passage of only certain molecules would greatly improve process economics.
The commercial applications of these membranes are immense and include environmental clean-up, pharmaceutical production and hydrocarbon processing.
About Mainstream Engineering
Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe, green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers and the QwikProduct™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology and materials science.