STTR Phase I: Development of New Technology that addresses Membrane Fouling Challenges in Membrane Based Water Treatment Systems

STTR 第一阶段：开发新技术解决膜水处理系统中的膜污染挑战

• 批准号: 1549748
• 负责人: Alexander Vetrovs
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: MicroHAOPs, Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1549748&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STTR; Phase; Development; New; Technology

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer Research Phase I project is the potential to dramatically increase the efficiency and lower the cost of treating impaired water to meet drinking water quality criteria. Membrane-based water treatment systems are at the forefront of the effort to address the current and future water crisis facing both developed and developing societies the world over. Modern membrane systems take advantage of tremendous advances in materials science and water treatment technology over the past two decades, and yet they still function very inefficiently with respect to their productivity and energy usage. The innovation that the proposed research will advance addresses this challenge by dramatically reducing membrane fouling, which lies at the root of these inefficiencies. The primary application of the innovation that will be the focus of this research is desalination of brines and seawater. Although the innovation does not remove salt from water directly, it will greatly enhance the performance of desalination by reverse osmosis processes. Given the enormous anticipated growth in the seawater desalination market in coming decades, the commercial potential for the new process is outstanding.The technical objectives in this Phase I project are to demonstrate and optimize the performance of an innovative pre-treatment process that removes from natural waters the contaminants that cause membrane fouling during desalination operations. The new process combines the deposition of a thin layer of heated aluminum oxide particles on a porous support surface and the passage of the raw water through those particles and the support. The particles remove a very large portion of the membrane foulants from the water, so that when it is subsequently desalinated by reverse osmosis, the reverse osmosis system can be operated at higher fluxes for longer times and at lower pressures than is currently possible. Eventually, the pre-deposited particles become saturated and must be replaced with fresh ones. The efficient removal of the particles from the support surface and the uniform and reliable application of a new layer of particles represent major challenges that will be addressed in the research.

这个小型企业技术转移研究第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是，有可能显著提高处理受损水的效率和降低成本，以满足饮用水质量标准。膜基水处理系统是解决目前和未来世界各地发达社会和发展中国家面临的水危机的前沿力量。在过去的二十年里，现代膜系统利用了材料科学和水处理技术的巨大进步，但它们在生产率和能源利用方面仍然非常低效。拟议中的研究将推进的创新通过大幅减少膜污染来解决这一挑战，而膜污染是这些低效的根源。这项创新的主要应用是盐水和海水的淡化，这将是本研究的重点。虽然这项创新不是直接从水中去除盐分，但它将极大地提高反渗透过程的海水淡化性能。鉴于未来几十年海水淡化市场的巨大预期增长，新工艺的商业潜力是突出的。这个第一阶段项目的技术目标是展示和优化一种创新的前处理工艺的性能，该工艺可以从自然水中去除在海水淡化操作过程中导致膜污染的污染物。新工艺结合了在多孔载体表面沉积一层薄薄的加热氧化铝颗粒，以及让原水通过这些颗粒和载体。这些颗粒从水中去除了很大一部分膜污染物，因此当水随后被反渗透淡化时，反渗透系统可以在更高的通量下运行更长的时间和比目前可能的更低的压力。最终，预先沉积的颗粒会变得饱和，必须用新的颗粒取代。有效地将颗粒从载体表面去除以及均匀和可靠地应用新的颗粒层是将在研究中解决的主要挑战。