Jiuwu Hi-Tech's Organic Tubular Membrane Drive Green Transformation in Plant Extraction

In the plant extraction industry, efficient and environmentally friendly separation technology is the core issue to promote industrial upgrading. At present, the limitations of traditional processes have caused many companies to fall into a development dilemma of high cost, low efficiency and high pollution.

Jiuwu Hi-Tech, relying on its independently developed organic tubular membrane technology, has joined hands with a pharmaceutical company to break the traditional production bottleneck through innovative organic tubular membrane technology, bringing a revolutionary breakthrough in the field of plant extraction. This technology relies on the advanced organic tubular membrane separation principle to accurately and efficiently separate and extract target components, avoiding component loss and impurity residues caused by multiple extractions and distillations in traditional processes.

Pain points of traditional plant extraction process

The problems of traditional plant extraction technology in improving quality and efficiency, green manufacturing, etc. are becoming increasingly prominent. Under the dual pressure of industrial mass production demand and refined quality control, the existing process system has exposed three core pain points in key links, becoming the main bottleneck restricting industrial upgrading.

1.Insufficient solid-liquid separation efficiency: The existing filtration system has insufficient filtration accuracy, resulting in loss of target components. The yield of traditional processes is generally low, and they are highly dependent on filter aids/flocculants, introducing external impurities and posing environmental risks.

2.Low level of automation: The filter press unit needs to manually complete operations such as unloading (3-5 times/shift) and filter cloth cleaning (taking 40-60 minutes/time). The effective operating time of a single shift is less than 6 hours, resulting in labor costs accounting for more than 25% of the total process cost.

3.Poor space utilization: The plate and frame filter press unit occupies an area of 8-12㎡/unit, and the auxiliary equipment such as supporting liquid storage tanks are scattered. The 10,000-liter extraction equipments occupy more than 35% of the space.

Reduce operating costs and promote green transformation of the industry

In the process of plant extraction, the project adopts the full process combination of "water extraction + tubular ultrafiltration + nanofiltration + reverse osmosis", which ultimately stabilizes the purity of herbal extracts to more than 95%. The organic tubular membrane accurately separates the macromolecular target extracts and small molecules with precise filtration accuracy. At the same time, the organic tubular membrane system can achieve high-fold concentration of the feed liquid, improve the efficiency of the subsequent drying process to save energy.

Compared with the traditional process, the concentration efficiency is increased by about 7 times, and the production cycle is greatly shortened. In terms of energy conservation and emission reduction, the new process reduces water consumption by 45%, saving 36,000 tons of water annually; operating costs are reduced by 30%, saving more than 5 million yuan annually. It not only reduces the economic burden of enterprises, but also promotes the transformation of the industry to green manufacturing.

Advantages of organic tubular membranes: efficient and accurate separation to improve product purity

1.Porous structure, effective interception: The organic tubular membrane adopts an asymmetric porous structure, and the filtration accuracy can be selected from 10-100 nanometers, which can effectively intercept large molecular impurities and allow the target small molecular components to pass efficiently. Taking traditional Chinese medicine extraction as an example, this technology can increase the recovery rate of effective ingredients by more than 20% and the impurity removal rate by 90%.

2.Wide flow channel, efficient concentration: 6~12mm wide membrane flow channel can achieve an increase in concentration multiples, greatly reduce the risk of membrane clogging, and reduce the consumption of washing water. With the automatic control system, it can save operating costs and truly achieve a win-win situation of green production and economic benefits.

3.Strong anti-pollution performance and stable operation: The inner wall of the organic tubular membrane is smooth, which enables the fluid to form a self-cleaning effect during high-speed flow, significantly reducing the risk of membrane pollution. Even in the face of high-viscosity plant extracts containing suspended matter, it can still maintain long-term stable operation, and the cleaning frequency is reduced by 50% compared with traditional membrane technology.

4.Small footprint and low infrastructure investment: The tubular membrane system adopts modular design and compact layout, occupying only 1/3-1/2 of the traditional process, reducing civil engineering costs.

The successful application of Jiuwu Hi-Tech's organic tubular membrane technology has not only solved the development dilemma of "high cost, low efficiency and heavy pollution" for a single enterprise, but also demonstrated a clear path of "Driving efficiency revolution with technological innovation" to the plant extraction industry.

In the future, with the continuous iteration of membrane technology and the continuous expansion of industry application scenarios, the plant extraction industry may usher in a full industrial chain transformation from "extensive processing" to "precision manufacturing", and Jiuwu Hi-Tech's innovative practice is a vivid footnote to this transformation.