BACKGROUND In this work the possibility of using membrane cascades to carry out difficult pharmaceutical separations was explored. The effect of configuration on process yield, time and cost was studied for a challenging industrial separation: the separation of an intermediate I (MW 221 g mol−1) from an impurity, ethylene bromide (MW 188 g mol−1). RESULTS All cascade configurations studied were capable of increasing the purity from a fairly low value, namely 26% to the 90% requirement. The results from the cascade modeling showed that the product yield effectively increased from 35.5% to 84.3% by adding two stages. From a cost analysis of a kilo scale plant it was derived that a two‐stage cascade with large area modules yielded the smallest total cost of € 515 082. A 7.0% decrease in cost of product loss or a 7.6% increase in membrane skid cost rendered a single stage economically optimal despite the low product yields. However, if at least six other separations with a comparable process time are carried out each year, then even three stages become economically optimal. CONCLUSION High resolution separations are technically feasible with membrane cascades. The economic viability of membrane cascades increases dramatically with the cost of the product and the utilization of the equipment. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry

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The Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia, has worked closely with state and local planners and agricultural practitioners over the last 4 years to develop a new way to identify high quality agricultural land (HQAL). This methodology combines land capability or suitability for horticulture and dry land cropping and grazing with irrigation supplies, rainfall and yield information. It then ranks large tracts of "similar" land according to its versatility for a range of agricultural land uses. This information, developed in a pilot project in the mid west region of Western Australia (WA) has been designed to suit formal land use planning. The HQAL methodology is being extended to other parts of Western Australia (WA) and has value for local planning. To use this information effectively more work is required state-wide and nationally to establish the relative importance of HQAL in many locations, including those near cities and towns.

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