GCRF_NF411 Effective point-of-use STERilisation of medical equipment using Ethylene Oxide (STEREO)

Lead Research Organisation: University of Cambridge
Department Name: Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

Abstract

The project addresses the needs of effective chemical sterilisation that is essential to manage virus spread and in everyday healthcare. Currently, the most effective sterilisation can be performed with ethylene oxide, a chemical that is not available in Botswana or South Africa, or many other African countries. We propose a new process for producing ethylene oxide for the most effective sterilisation, aiming for equal access to high-level healthcare in DAC-list countries. The process will use inexpensive and widely available ethanol as a starting substrate. Our research goal is to demonstrate ethylene oxide production at the rates and in quantity needed for 1 m3 of stand-alone sterilisation units.
 
Description We are looking at two reactions: (1) dehydration of ethanol to ethylene, (2) epoxidation of ethylene, aiming to combine them for developing a new system for sterilisation of medical equipment.
So far, we have a build a theoretical model which led to the following key findings:
(a) in the considered setup and conditions, reaction (1) is insensitive to the type of catalyst and can be run on an inexpensive alumina catalyst.
(b) our novel reaction (2) for producing epoxides has the potential to be more selective than the incumbent reaction, which indicates the further potential of the proposed technology.
(c) techno-economic analysis of two combined reactions indicates that our proposed sterilisation system (to be developed) should be substantially less costly than commercial sterilisation units. The system could provide sterilisation at highly competitive prices and without the need to handle hazardous gases, which will make it ideal for use in rural and developing areas.
Exploitation Route Our findings indicate that on-demand production of sterilising gases might be highly attractive from economic and safety perspectives. This may be interesting to the sectors marked below. And can prompt interesting stakeholders to get in touch and consider small-scale sterilisation units combined with the production of sterilising gases. Beyond sterilisation, those finding will also be interesting and meaningful for the chemical industry, specifically if looking for economically attractive CO2-neutral production of chemicals.
Sectors Agriculture

Food and Drink

Chemicals

Healthcare

Manufacturing

including Industrial Biotechology
 
Description We have now built a lab-scale demonstrator for a sterilisation unit. This now opens up a pathway to commercialisation. We are discussing with partners in South Africa the potential engagement of SA's SMEs interested in the production of sterilisation units. If successful, this could bring significant economic impact (for those SMEs) in 3-5 years time. We will require further funding to build an up-to-scale pilot unit.
First Year Of Impact 2024
Sector Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology
Impact Types Economic
 
Description Grid Scale Thermal and Thermo-Chemical Electricity Storage
Amount £1,070,287 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/W027860/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2022 
End 09/2024
 
Description H2Upgrade - Distributed and flexible H2 production with waste streams
Amount £245,889 (GBP)
Organisation Government of the UK 
Department Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2022 
End 10/2022
 
Description Travel grants
Amount £500 (GBP)
Funding ID D22-2121821262 
Organisation Royal Society of Chemistry 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2022 
End 09/2022
 
Title Computational models of reactors facilitating ethylene oxide production 
Description The production of ethylene and, subsequently, ethylene oxide in packed-bed reactors was modelled and simulated in OpenModelica. Two individuals reactors were modelled. The first described the dehydration of ethanol to ethylene in a packed bed, considering zeolite- and alumina-based catalysts. The second described the selective oxidation, epoxidation, of ethylene to ethylene oxide in a chemical looping setup. The reactor models were simplified to be one-dimensional, considering transient flows, axial mass and heat dispersion, and intraparticle mass transfer effects. The individual reactor models were combined, with the dehydration reactor product, namely ethylene, serving as the feed to the epoxidation reactor. The effects of various intermediate processes, such as gas drying and re-heating, were considered. 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The reactor models were used to investigate the sensitivity of the process to various operating parameters, such as temperature, pressure, reactant concentrations and inlet flow rate. The findings from this sensitivity analysis were used to find feasible operating conditions for the dehydration and selective oxidation, epoxidation, reaction processes. A set of process conditions capable of producing ethylene oxide at recommended sterilising concentrations were defined. The reaction models were also used to conduct a techno-economic analysis on a proposed ethylene oxide production system, comparing it to current ethylene oxide sterilisation options. The models provided great insight into the future design of the ethylene oxide production system and will be a useful tool for planning future experimental work. 
 
Title Data for "How does the oxidation and reduction time affect the chemical looping epoxidation of ethylene?" 
Description Data divided into folders accordingly to each published figure. Containing data from experiments in a packed bed, measured with an FTIR, as well as material characterisation (XRD and SEM) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Data set accompanying publication 
URL https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/336986
 
Title Demonstrating on-demand production of bio-ethylene oxide in a two-step dehydration-epoxidation process with chemical looping operations 
Description dataset associated with our publication in CEJ 2023 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact journal paper 
 
Title Research data supporting "Kinetic and Thermodynamic Enhancement of Low-Temperature Oxygen Release from Strontium Ferrite Perovskites Modified with Ag and CeO2" 
Description Zip folder containing datasets for all measurements in manuscript and supplementary information, organised by figure number. Data for TGA measurements (Figs. 3 and 4, Figs. S9-12) are arranged in tabular text files, with columns corresponding to time, sample temperature, TGA cell temperature, and sample mass in milligrams. A separate table below the main data includes DSC heatflow measurements, but these are not reported in the main manuscript or SI. Data for Fig. 5 consist of processed TGA measurements, with equilibrium sample composition at various temperatures and partial pressures arranged in a table (.csv file format). Data for Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, and Figs. S18-19 consist of a table of pO2 sensor output (units: atm) as a function of time for 7 measured temperatures, for each sample (.csv file format). Data for Figs. 8 and 9., and Fig. S17 are MATLAB .mat data files, containing the variables 'fit_mat' (corresponding to individual 1/T and k points), 'SFO_k_int_vals', corresponding to the average value of k at each inverse temperature point, 'f_SFOint' and 'gof_SFOint' corresponding to the fitted curves and goodness of fit parameters, and 'E_a' and 'lnA' corresponding to the fitted activation energies and pre-exponential factors, with 95% confidence bands in each fitted parameter. Data for Figs. S1-3 are Excel workbooks corresponding to XRD measurements and fitted reference phases, arranged by columns as 2theta angle, measured intensity, total fitted intensity, difference between measured and fitted intensity, fitted background, and individual fitted phases as reported in the paper SI Data for Fig. S13 consist of reported values in literature for SrFeO3 composition as a function of temperature and pO2, with corresponding references given (.xlsx format). Data for Fig. S14 are composed of estimated values of Thiele modulus for measurements of oxygen release and uptake from each sample at each temperature investigated, arranged in tabular format (.csv file format). Data for Fig. S15 are estimated values of the dimensionless group kRTL/v for each set of measurements of oxygen release, arranged in tabular format (.xslx file format). Data for Fig. S16 are values of maximum rate of reaction for each sample during reduction or oxidation in the packed bed reactor (umol/(g s)), with associated standard deviation over repeated cycles. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact This dataset demonstrates the potential of a new experimental technique we developed. This new technique provides information about kinetics of redox reactions that are essential to assess reaction rates in similar processes. 
URL https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/357119
 
Description Partnership with GR2L - Gas Recovery and Recycle 
Organisation Gas Recovery and Recycle Ltd
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution None. GR2L, as a project partner, provides consultation and advice to the main collaborators.
Collaborator Contribution GR2L participates in STEREO project meetings, providing recommendations and insight on the project progress and future areas of work. GR2L has also provided consultation to our collaborators on the design of equipment.
Impact None yet
Start Year 2020
 
Description Southern African STEREO collaboration 
Organisation Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation
Country Botswana 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution We have disseminated knowledge of the chemical-looping approach for ethylene epoxidation to the collaboration, as well as provided catalytic material to our collaborators. We have also shared our initial findings from the modelling and simulation work performed on the ethylene oxide production process.
Collaborator Contribution UJ has provided us with catalytic material for the dehydration process, in addition to providing expertise on the process.
Impact None yet
Start Year 2020
 
Description Southern African STEREO collaboration 
Organisation University of Johannesburg
Country South Africa 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution We have disseminated knowledge of the chemical-looping approach for ethylene epoxidation to the collaboration, as well as provided catalytic material to our collaborators. We have also shared our initial findings from the modelling and simulation work performed on the ethylene oxide production process.
Collaborator Contribution UJ has provided us with catalytic material for the dehydration process, in addition to providing expertise on the process.
Impact None yet
Start Year 2020
 
Description chemical looping for methanol production 
Organisation Tsinghua University China
Country China 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution This is ongoing collaboration and ongoing work, with our team contributing the know-how on chemical looping for catalytic reactions and the synergy between catalysts and chemical looping materials
Collaborator Contribution Our partner - Tsinghua University - provides know-how on porous materials, mainly highly functional zeolites.
Impact We established Phd students exchange
Start Year 2024
 
Description A talk at the Davidson Symposium 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Talk to a diverse audience, followed by a networking session and discussion
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.ceb.cam.ac.uk/events/davidson-symposium-2022
 
Description ISCRE27 conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact ICSRE27 took place in Canada. This is one of the largest Chemical Engineering conferences globally. About 50 people attended our presentation and participated in the discussion afterwards. About 300 people were present at the conference and received our abstract. We were invited to submit a paper to the Chemical Engineering Journal
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Lecture for undergraduate students - UCL 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact I described the project to a cohort of ~120 1st year undergraduate students in mechanical engineering at UCL. The presentation was followed by a very active discussion with about 20 students
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Presentation at University College London ChemEngDayUK 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The STEREO project and its current key findings were presented at the UCL ChemEngDayUK 2022, under the title: "Point-of-use production of ethylene oxide (EO) from bioethanol for improved healthcare in low-income areas". A short oral presentation was given as well as a poster presentation.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/chemical-engineering/chemengdayuk-2022
 
Description Presentation at the Singapore Catalysis Forum 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Dissemination of the results in the annual Catalysis Meeting in Singapore, attended by about 50 people
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://singaporecatalysisforum2022.weebly.com/
 
Description Presentation to COVID-19 Global South group 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact We presented the scope and aims of the project in a COVID-19 Global South group's meeting to 81 invited attendees. We had a lively discussion afterwards, with insightful comments. We connected with a few academics from the areas where we lack expertise (medical research), and we will reach out to them in the later stages of the project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description STEREO listed as a COVID-19 Ongoing projects - welcoming collaboration 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Summary of STEREO and its goals are described, providing contact details to the project PI and welcoming collaborations. The website showcases the main Cambridge projects tackling global challenges, supporting collaborations and attracting donations. No direct impacts have been recorded yet.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.gci.cam.ac.uk/cambridges-response-covid-19-oda-target-countries/ongoing-projects-welcomi...