2010 R&D 100 Winner
A specialty chemical that has a current usage of approximately 580,000 tons/year in the U.S., potassium hydroxide (KOH) is typically produced using chlor-alkali oxidation-reduction reactions that involve hazardous co-products and a byproduct of chloride gas.
Now there is an alternative to producing this increasingly popular chemical. The introduction of Electrodialysis and Ion-Exchange Chromatography Technology to Produce 45-50% Potassium Hydroxide Solution (KOH) from NSR Technologies Inc., Decatur, Ill., represents the first commercialized alternative to chlor-alkali production in decades. The heart of NSR’s process is an IonSel electrodialysis cell technology, which features a layer of cation-selective, anion-selective, and bipolar-selective membranes. Electrical driving force and ion exchange forces a chromatographic separation of the raw materials, potassium chloride, and city water, into acid and alkali products that are re-arranged into KOH and dilute hydrochloric acid. The process yields the purity of KOH products sold via electrolysis, yet without oxidizing species or volatile or greenhouse gas emissions.
Technology
Potassium-hydroxide production process
Developer
NSR Technologies, Inc.
Development Team
The Innovative IONSEL Electrodialysis & Ion-Exchange Chromatography Technology to Produce 45% - 50% Potassium Hydroxide Solution (KOH) Development Team from NSR Technologies, Inc.:
Kris N. Mani
