Greener cleaning with fine bubbles: Exploring the incorporation of MBs in CIP with the aim to reduce water footprint and chemical usage

Cleaning is an important operation in industrial processes to remove fouling deposits in order to restore efficiency, operability and hygiene of process equipment. Cleaning-in-place (CIP) is employed in process industries where cleaning is largely performed by a hybrid of chemical and mechanical treatment. CIP offers the advantage of requiring less time consuming shut-down and recommissioning of equipment but it consumes greater amounts of water and energy, which accounts for more than 40% of all non-product water used in plants. Therefore, there is an emergent need for new technologies that can save water footprint and reduce chemical usage during cleaning.

Bubbles are formed when gases and liquids are mixed under well-defined conditions. Mechanical actions can be applied to split the bubbles into small dimensions (micron range) forming the so called microbubbles (MBs). MBs have been used to clean and sterilise equipment in medical and dental practices by using ultrasonic baths. The collapse of these tiny bubbles (cavitation) generates huge velocities on a very small scale and are therefore ideally suited for generating large forces for cleaning. However, the effectiveness of MBs has yet to been shown beneficial in various present-day large industrial processes. Moreover, the fluid dynamics of the cleaning mechanisms are still unexplored. The questions to answer are how do MBs clean and how can they be used effectively in larger scale CIP processes?

In this project, you will explore the incorporation of MBs in CIP with the aim to reduce water footprint and chemical usage. The overall aim of this project is to uncover the fundamental understanding on how MBs can clean in processing environments, enabling redesign of current CIP system with less modification but reduced environmental impacts. Computational fluids will be used to investigate the fluid dynamics of the cleaning mechanisms.

You will be based in the Centre for Advanced Separations Engineering and the supervisory team has extensive research experience in green cleaning and you will work in close collaboration with scientists, engineers and industrialists.

PhD candidates from relevant scientific/engineering backgrounds will be considered, including Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Physics. Candidates with an extensive industrial experience on process cleaning will also be considered.

Prospective candidates are encouraged to contact Dr John Chew ([Email Address Removed]) directly for further details. Please send a CV, cover letter and academic reference to John. Candidates will be shortlisted for the full online application.