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Applications
 

Improvements in sorbent technology are implemented in order to satisfy our customer’s demanding needs. DAI sorbents are designed and manufactured to address your specific application requirements. Sorbent defined variables critical to a superior separation include the pore size and particle size. The ability to reproducibly modify the pore size as well as pore channeling is what takes Dynamic Adsorbents to the forefront of the separation science industry.

DAI's unique, application targeted alumina products and ability to customize allow DAI to serve the widest range of applications in the industry. DAI’s alumina can be used for the following:

Below are just some of the applications for which specialized sorbents are manufactured by DAI.

  • Environmental Cleanup
    1. Removal of oil from sea water
    2. PCB removal
    3. Removal of arsenic, lead, copper, uranium and other heavy metals
    4. Pesticide removal
    5. Bio-mass clean-up
    6. Removal of dyes or color from water
    7. Removal of fluoride
  • Clean Energy
  • Pharmaceutical Applications
    1. Alkaloid Purification
      1. Purification of known and novel compounds
      2. Removal of dyes or color from plant alkaloids
    2. Taste and odor masking
    3. Controlled drug release
    4. Pyrogen removal
    5. Antibiotics
    6. Nutraceuticals
    7. Lipids
    8. Counterfeit Drugs
  • Removal of Contaminants from Solvents
    1. Transformer oil clean-up
    2. Lead removal
  • Use in University Laboratories
    1. Research
    2. Isolation of desired molecule or compound
  • Chromatography Uses of Alumina
    1. Isolation from alkaloids
    2. Isolation and purification of antibiotics
    3. Removal of terpenes from essential oils
    4. Isolation of active substances in plant extraction
    5. Dehydration of organic solvents
    6. Purification of enzymes
    7. Isolation in glycosides
    8. Lead removal from water
    9. Isolation and purification of synthetic products, of ketosteroids from neutral materials with hormones
    10. Purification of organic solvents for analytical and technical purposes
    11. Clarification of fatty oils and separation of fatty acids
    12. PCB removal from solvents
    13. Removal of peroxides form organic solvents
    14. Removal of pyrogens from injectable solutions and infusions
    15. Various medicinal extracts from plants
 

Gas & Liquid Dehydration

Finding the best method for the adsorption and removal of water from natural gas is becoming a significant issue as North America expands the use of its available natural gas supplies. Because of advances in gas extraction there is now a sufficient reserve of natural gas to handle much of our domestic energy needs for the next 100 years if this resource is properly stored and distributed. Maximizing our natural energy supplies will greatly improve our current budget deficit and balance of trade liability.  Trends in energy demand and concerns over our increasing trade imbalance have made natural gas the fastest growing source of domestic energy production. New natural gas fields from the Appalachian Basin, Green River Basin of Wyoming and the Uinta/Piceance Basin of Utah are rapidly coming on line. As these new production fields are commercially developed it is essential that the gas be transported or stored devoid of water vapor and other liquids which can corrode the transport infrastructure. A most attractive method for assuring that the liquid component is removed from natural gas is through the use of a desiccant or drying agent. In terms of cost effectiveness, the most efficient method for achieving the drying of natural gas (whether “sweet” or “sour” i.e. containing significant amounts of hydrogen sulfide or carbon dioxide) is through the use of specialized activated alumina.1

Drysphere Product Info| How Can and Why Should Activated Alumina Be Used for Gas Dehydration?

Alkaloids

Alumina oxide is the sorbent of choice for the separation of basic compounds which includes alkaloids, amines, steroids, terpenes, aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. While more than 100 alkaloids are currently being used medically there are more than 420, 000 distinct plant species and less than 10% of them have been fully characterized. The process of purification follows the following sequence:

1. Extraction of the raw material from the plant species
2. Separation of the total alkaloids from the other extracted substances
3. Separation of the alkaloids
4. Purification of each of the individual alkaloids

For example the plant species Catharanthus Roseus contains more than 90 unique alkaloid substances. Only the highest resolution separation will allow these unique compounds to be isolated and purified. The decision on which activated alumina to use will be based on the characteristics of the plant alkaloids, such as the compound polarity, solubility, molecular size and shape.

Activated Alumina for the Purification of Natural Plant Alkaloids

Antibiotics

Antibiotics produced by the isolation of compounds produced in large scale fermentation broths demonstrate the benefits of using activated alumina for large scale industrial application. Glycopeptides such as vancomycin used for the treatment of methicillin resistant Staphylococcal aureus (MRSA) as well as for treating other gram positive bacteria resistant to penicillin are produced from the genus Actinomycetes. The antibiotic can be recovered by passing the fermentation product through a strong acid cation exchange resin at pH 1-3, and then eluting the vancomycin by raising the pH, then washing with a weak base anion exchange resin. The subsequent steps include running the fermentation through an alumina column and then decolorizing using alumina. Such a process allows large scale industrial production of this critical antibiotic at a time when vancomycin has become the most important drug agent in the treatment of a MRSA epidemic.

Similar application processes provide a cost effective solution for the production of other antibiotic agents. Activated alumina provides a role in both the isolation and purification of antibiotic compounds.

DynaPharma Pyrogen Product Info

Arsenic Cleanup

There is no known benefit to human health from arsenic. Arsenic in water is tasteless, odorless and colorless. Excess and preventable chronic disease and death led the EPA in 2006 to reduce the acceptable public water level of arsenic from 50 to 10 parts per billion. Excess exposure to arsenic increases the risk for hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and an increased risk of lung, bladder, skin liver and kidney cancers. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified arsenic as a Group I human carcinogen. The previous standard of 50 parts per billion gave over a 70 year lifetime a 1 in 100 chance of developing a solid tumor just on the basis of drinking water which is the risk equivalent of being killed in a motor accident. Removing arsenic from the water supply is therefore important. Higher levels of arsenic tend to be found in ground water sources than in surface water such as lakes and rivers. Adsorption technologies provide the easiest, most efficient and most cost efficient means of removing arsenic from the water supply. Activated alumina has become the adsorption method of choice. Only DAI has developed the means to remove both asenite and arsenate compounds in a single adsorptive process.

Arsenic - Impact of Changes in EPA Enforced Environmental Legislation | Alumina and the Removal of Arsenic

Decolorization

Decolorization – activated alumina has the ability to effectively remove impurities. The degree of color removal can be programmed by altering pore size, pH and particle size. Materials which can be decolorized by using activated alumina are as diverse as hydrocarbon oils, food oils such as olive oil, fatty acid derived nitriles, azo and other textile dyes, poly vinyl chloride, industrial carbon and antibiotics such as daunomycin and vancomycin.

DynaPharma Pyrogen Product Info | Azo Dye Decolorization by Chemical, Physical and Biological Techniques
Utilization of Specialized Activated Alumina for Decolorization

Lead Removal

Lead exposure in the body can cause irreversible damage to the kidneys, brain, nervous system and red blood cells. Ignoring lead contaminated drinking water can eventually cause irreversible health effects and even death. Lead contamination in drinking water is usually due to plumbing corrosion in service lines, lead solder and brass fixtures. Water characteristics promoting the corrosion of water include low pH, low total dissolved solids, high water temperature and high concentrations of dissolved gases such as oxygen or carbon dioxide. Because of its acidic pH and low dissolved solid content such as calcium and magnesium soft water tends to be more corrosive than hard water. The two “point of use” technologies successful at removing lead from water are reverse osmosis and activated alumina. Activated alumina is a porous granular form of aluminum oxide possessing a large surface area and while amphoteric alumina for lead removal works best under acidic conditions, as in the range of pH 5.5 to 6.0. Smaller particles have greater surface area. Surface area as defined by particle size impacts on sorption capacity and rate of lead removal. AL 2000 activated alumina from DAI provides the simplest, most cost efficient method for the removal of lead from the water supply.

Dyna-AquaLead Product Info | Lead Removal from Water by the Use of Activated Alumina
 

Nutraceuticals

Nutraceuticals are referred to as phytochemicals or functional foods. They are natural bioactive chemical compounds which possess health promoting, disease preventing or medicinal properties. Because these agents have important biological properties they have fallen under the regulatory control of the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA is granted the authority to promulgate current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) for dietary supplements. Specifications must be set and met for limits on contaminants such as heavy metals, solvent residues and microorganisms in finished products. Many of the nutraceutical products are of herbal origin, and their active chemical properties are based on plant alkaloids

As part of the new FDA legislation there is an entire subpart devoted to requirements for the operation of an analytical laboratory. The laboratory facilities must be adequate to perform whatever tests and examinations are necessary to determine if specifications are met for raw materials, materials in progress and finished goods. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) is an excellent means for the qualitative identification of herbals and for purity evaluations. Given that fact that most botanical agents are plant alkaloids TLC plants coated with alumina have become the preferred screening tool of choice, as botanicals have species specific fingerprints. HPLC is an excellent tool for the quantitative analysis of marker compounds in botanical samples. Selecting a desired phytochemical is an appropriate method of establishing a quantitative analysis for a marker compound. Gas chromatography may be useful for the analysis of volatile marker compounds and residual solvents.

HPLC is the most efficient method for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of many botanical agents, allowing great sensitivity, resolution, reproducibility and speed of analysis under inert conditions. The potency of this technique has been improved by the introduction of new detectors such as diode array detectors allowing detection at several wavelengths and simultaneous identification by UV spectral analysis as well as mass and nuclear magnetic resonance detectors. The reader is referred to the Primer on Column Chromatography available from Dynamic Adsorbents for further discussion regarding the use of HPLC techniques for nutraceutical purification.

More Careful Scrutiny Encouraged for Purification and Quantitative Testing of Nutritional Supplements - Recent case of selenium toxicity points to need for FDA to toughen regulations for supplements
Role of Chromatography in the Purification of Nutraceuticals New FDA Guidelines Mandate Highlights Importance of this Essential Analytical Technique

Oil Removal

The latest addition to the line, Dyna-Aqua Oil Sorb,™ was created to deal with the recent oil spill problem in the Gulf of Mexico.  According to independent testing, the combination of DAI alumina and specially formulated cotton from Hobbs Bonded Fibers provides a cost-effective and efficient method for removing oil from the ocean - removing not only the oil, but toxic fumes and vapors.  In addition, this method allows 60% of the oil to be recovered.

Dyna-Aqua Oil Sorb™ Product Info

PCB Removal

Dynamic Adsorbents Inc. (DAI) has formulated a specialty adsorbent for the removal of PCBs from contaminated sites. Alumina C is a chemically and physically modified form of alumina with highly favorable properties for the collection and isolation of PCBs from the environment. During chromatography, PCB contaminated media is passed through a column packed with Alumina C. PCBs are separated from the media by the adsorption action that takes place when PCBs come into contact with the Alumina C, resulting in a PCB-free environment. The captured PCBs remain in the column with the alumina and may be disposed of using appropriate destruction technology. The use of this potent adsorbent serves as an efficient means to gather PCBs in one location, subsequently aiding destruction technologies in dechlorinating these hazardous compounds.

Using Alumina C for PCB removal is advantageous in many ways. First, the system is transportable and can be taken directly to the contaminated sites in need of clean-up. With this technique, there is no need for a physical plant to be established, eliminating high operating costs. Furthermore, there is no high energy cost involved because there are no high pressures or temperatures utilized during the process. The PCBs collected by Alumina C are gathered in one location and may be safely carried to their final disposal site. Moreover, the reagent is reusable, allowing for efficient use of all materials. Although chromatography uses batch processing rather than continuous in-line processing, this universal technique is proven to provide superior separation capabilities. Chromatography using Alumina C is a powerful separation technique incomparable to other methods.

DAI Activated Alumina Product Responds to PCB Contamination Problem in Fish Oil Supplements
PCB Removal Website

The Department of Energy Office of Oversight has identified improper disposal of hazardous and radioactive materials on and off site and the release of contaminated water into streams and drainage ditches. Radioactive waste from uranium enrichment plants are governed by two federal environmental statutes-the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended. These statutes provide broad federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment and to regulate the safe management and disposal of hazardous and other solid wastes.

The cleanup of uranium enrichment sites includes the following sites:

  • Groundwater – billions of gallons of groundwater are contaminated with radioactive and hazardous materials
  • Surface water – a principal source of this contamination is rain runoff from the thousands of tons of contaminated scrap metal located at each of the enrichment sites
  • Surface soils – both on and off site soils and sediments are contaminated by water runoff, spills and buried waste
  • Legacy waste
  • DOE material storage areas
  • Burial grounds – containing barrels of chemicals with low levels of radioactivity and hazardous chemicals

Removal of radioactive containing heavy metals at uranium enrichment sites may be achieved through the usage of activated alumina. Spherules of activated alumina with defined pore sizes adsorb heavy metals from effluent discharge and provide the vehicle for binding to these radioactive materials. Clean up of this radioactive effluent is a final polishing step in the process of decontamination in order to allow the environment to once again become “safe”. Produced with DAI's unique, patented technology, Dyna-AquaTM Uranium results in a material with superior performance and capacities - exhibiting high selectivity in the presence of competing ions with good kinetics over a broad operating range.

Dyna-Aqua Uranium Product Info | Removal of Radioactive Effluent Waste from Uranium Enrichment Plants
 

It is currently thought that one difficulty in the commercial removal of copper from solution is that the metal forms into complexes such as with benzotriazoles or other triazoles. Activated alumina oxides are able to address this issue and remove the complex by the process of adsorption with high efficiency. Adsorption is defined as the interphase transfer of material from a homogeneous or heterogeneous fluid matrix onto a solid surface.

Unlike organic pollutants, the major of which are susceptible to biological degradation, copper is not biodegradable into a nontoxic end product. It must be reduced to acceptable levels prior to being discharged into the environment in order for manufacturers to be in compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act, with the federal regulatory limit for discharged copper in suspension or solution being 1.3 mg/Liter.

Furthermore competitive commercially available technologies such as ion exchange, chemical precipitation, ultafiltration and electrochemical deposition are costly – chelating and ion exchange resins are expensive.

The ideal solution to clean up of industrial wastewater would be to find an adsorbent which could avoid the need for co-precipitation and pH adjustment. The sorption of copper is highly pH dependent with an increase in the amount of adsorption with increasing pH.

The amphoteric property of specialty activated alumina is able to do away without the need for the coprecipitant, and the compound is able to enhance copper removal as the pH of the solution increases.

Dyna-AquaCopper is a specially designed activated alumina oxide which is recommended for the isolation and removal of copper found in waste water in either a suspension or solution form. It is is designed especially for the recovery of copper from spent solutions produced in printed circuit (wiring) board manufacture and electroplating

Dyna-AquaCopper Product Info

High concentrations of natural fluorides are of significance in some regions of the United States including New Mexico, West Texas, Colorado, Indiana and Illinois. Additionally, fluorides are a waste product in association with glass manufacturing, electroplating, and the production of steel and aluminum, pesticides, fertilizer and semiconductor manufacturing. The maximum contaminant level for fluoride established by the Environmental Protection Agency is established at 4 parts per million, with a secondary standard set at 2 parts per million. Removal of fluoride from municipal and industrial waste water may be obtained by precipitation, as well as membrane and adsorption processes. The best way, bar none, to reduce the concentration of fluoride to 1 part per million or less is through adsorption onto specially designed wide pore size activated alumina.

DAI provides pretreated activated alumina (Dyna-AquaTM Fluoride) designed to address commercial and industrial needs reducing the concentration of fluoride in wastewater effluent and municipal water systems to less than 1 ppm. This specially designed wide pore activated alumina is cost competitive with any other form of purification and provides simplicity of design and ease of utility. This novel product is an exciting addition to the expanding line of custom designed activated alumina compounds offered to purify municipal and industrial wastewaters.

A key advantage in using activated alumina for fluoride removal is that fluoride extraction is in part dependent upon the pH of waste water contents. Because of its unique amphoteric properties activated alumina works optimally in a pH range of 5.5 to 8.5. If the effluent stream is extremely alkylotic the source waste water may need to be pretreated in order to reach a pH range of 5.5 to 6.5 to achieve peak fluoride removal efficiency. Furthermore there is no simpler means to remove fluoride than through the use of a column of adsorbent material containing specialized activated alumina. Flow rate efficiency is affected by particle size. The smaller the particle size, the higher the flow rate that can be used. This must be balanced against the higher pressure drop which results from smaller size material. Competitive adsorption may occur in the setting of high concentrations of bicarbonate ions. For this reason Dyna-AquaTM Fluoride is of such high efficiency that even with competitive binding with bicarbonate ions the total effluent concentration of fluoride will remain less than 1%.

Dyna-AquaFluoride Product Info  | A Re-Examination of the Role of Fluoride in Municipal Water Supplies

Endotoxins are lipopolysaccharides (LPS) located on the cell wall (cell membranes) of gram negative bacteria. The presence of even small amounts of endotoxin in recombinant protein preparations when injected into patients may cause systemic inflammatory reactions running the spectrum from tissue injury, to endotoxin shock and death.

Pharmaceutical products produced using bacteria as cellular factories are virtually always contaminated with LPS and all measurable endotoxin must be removed during the production process. The maximum acceptable level of endotoxin for intravenous applications is set at 5 endotoxin units (EU) per kg of body weight per hour.

Specially activated alumina with surface modified chemical moieties has proven to provide a superior tool for the purification of endotoxins due to its amphoteric property. No other commercially available agent can provide such a rewarding pH response or offer a better or cost effective method for the removal of chemical pyrogens from a protein or peptide solution.
It is clear that endotoxins develop especially strong binding to adsorbents carrying positively charged functional groups. Electrostatic interactions play an important role during endotoxin adsorption. Proteins are also amphoteric. Since proteins are amphoteric molecules, electrostatic interactions are not as strong as for the mainly negatively charged endotoxin. Owing to the globular structure of proteins, charged and hydrophobic groups are fixed and cannot be twisted towards functional groups or surface structures of the adsorbents. Additional benefits provided through the use of activated alumina include low cost, limited safety issues, extremely well defined chemical characteristics and minimal impact on the bioactivity of protein when placed into a standard manufacturing process.

The removal of pyrogens using specially designed activated alumina can be performed using either column chromatography or batch treatment. When using column chromatography the final product is achieved by filling a column with the alumina modified to enhance pyrogen adsorbance, prewashing the packed column with a suitable buffer and then passing the pyrogen containing solution through the column. In the method of batch treatment the final product freed of pathogens can be obtained by stirring the pyrogen adsorbent in a pyrogen containing solution of the desired compound and then removing the adsorbent.

DynaPharma™ Pyrogen using either column chromatography or batch processing procedures has proven to be a superior tool for the isolation and removal of chemical pyrogens. The surface of activated alumina may be modified to help enhance pyrogen removal.

DynaPharmaPyrogen Product Info  | Chemical Pyrogen Removal Through the use of Activated Alumina

DAI to Expand Role in the Forefront of Separation and Environmental Cleanup Technology

DAI’s role over the coming years is to remain in the forefront of separation and environmental cleanup technology by creating exciting new alumina and other products and solutions that most effectively deal with problems and issues impacting upon transportation, energy and public safety needs. Our goals are clearly focused. Stay tuned to this website for exciting news about product launches. We promise to demonstrate DAI’s role in working with government agencies, cutting edge scientific laboratories and companies to more effectively deal with many of the longstanding and growing problems facing our country as we help develop a cleaner and safer environment and better protect the public.

Application Technical Specs

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Dynamic Adsorbents, Inc. 3280 Peachtree Corners Circle, Suite E Norcross, GA 30092  770-817-0123  Toll-Free:  1-866-314-SORB (7672) FAX:  770-455-4380 info@dynamicadsorbents.com