I-Corps: Portable Water Purification Device for the Removal of Ions and Heavy Metals

I-Corps：用于去除离子和重金属的便携式净水装置

• 批准号: 1640226
• 负责人: Reza Foudazi
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: New Mexico State University
• 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: 2016-05-15 至 2017-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1640226&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Portable; Water; Purification; Device

Owing to drinking water issues in some cities and rural remote areas, this I-Corps team has designed a portable, simple, and effective device to purify drinking water to meet the essential standards. The proposed device can remove heavy metals, such as lead, copper, arsenic, and other elements from tap water that can cause serious health issues. Lead containing pipes in old water distribution systems and old buildings can introduce lead to the tap water as seen in the ongoing water crisis case in Flint, MI. The lead poisoning is uncompromised and it may have lifelong consequences on Flint children. Lead may cause severe consequences, such as dropping the IQ and behavioral abnormalities with multi-generational impacts. In such cases in urban areas, the drinking water needs to be treated in household levels since it may take a long time to have the problem fixed by the administrative organizations and regulators. The proposed device can be utilized in these conditions to purify the drinking water and eliminate the undesired elements from water. The device can also be distributed in cities where residents prefer to purchase bottled water or use household water treatment systems to ensure that there will not be any long-term effects of undesired elements in water. Additionally, the device can be used for drinking water purification in rural areas where residents often suffer from unavailability of safe drinkable water. Through the NSF I-Corps program, the team intends to prove the value proposition of the technology and evaluate prospective clients.The goal of this project is building a new portable efficient drinking water purification device for removal of heavy metals and other ions from water. The proposed device, utilizes not only physical adsorption approach, which is the main heavy metal removal method in common heavy metal removal filters, but also the electrical force to enhance the ion removal process. In this device, the applied electrical field triggers the electro-migration of the ions toward electrodes and then the ions are physically adsorbed on the adsorbent surface. Additionally, the mixing feature of the device enhances the overall mass transfer rate in the process. The adsorbent can be regenerated effectively or replaced after a period of functioning. Therefore, the operating cost of this new device will be much lower than common membrane-based technologies and its efficiency is higher than the adsorption-based water treatment filters. The device will be made in two models, one for urban areas, which can utilize AC electricity and has mixing capability with higher efficiency, and the other for use in off-grid and rural areas, which is simpler and can be energized using batteries. Therefore, the scope of the potential customers will be wider and the device's application will not be limited to a specific condition due to its effective and quick removal of heavy metals and other common ionic pollutants in water. The experience during the I-Corps program will help the team develop a business and commercialize a needed product.

由于一些城市和农村偏远地区的饮用水问题，这个I-Corps团队设计了一种便携，简单，有效的饮用水净化设备，以达到基本标准。该设备可以去除自来水中的重金属，如铅，铜，砷和其他可能导致严重健康问题的元素。旧配水系统和旧建筑物中的含铅管道可能会将铅引入自来水，正如密歇根州弗林特正在进行的水危机案例所示。铅中毒是不妥协的，它可能会对弗林特儿童终身的后果。铅可导致严重后果，如智商下降、行为异常等，影响多代人。在这种情况下，城市地区的饮用水需要在家庭一级进行处理，因为行政组织和监管机构可能需要很长时间才能解决这个问题。所提出的装置可以在这些条件下用于净化饮用水并从水中去除不期望的元素。该设备还可以在居民更喜欢购买瓶装水或使用家庭水处理系统的城市中分发，以确保水中不需要的元素不会产生任何长期影响。此外，该装置可用于农村地区的饮用水净化，在农村地区，居民经常无法获得安全的饮用水。通过NSF I-Corps项目，该团队打算证明该技术的价值主张并评估潜在客户。该项目的目标是构建一种新型便携式高效饮用水净化设备，用于去除水中的重金属和其他离子。所提出的装置，不仅利用物理吸附的方法，这是主要的重金属去除方法，在常见的重金属去除过滤器，但也电力，以加强离子去除过程。在该装置中，施加的电场触发离子向电极的电迁移，然后离子被物理吸附在吸附剂表面上。此外，该装置的混合特征提高了工艺中的总传质速率。吸附剂可以有效地再生或在运行一段时间后更换。因此，这种新设备的运行成本将远低于普通膜技术，其效率高于吸附式水处理过滤器。该设备将分为两种型号，一种用于城市地区，可以利用交流电，具有更高效率的混合能力，另一种用于离网和农村地区，更简单，可以使用电池供电。因此，潜在客户的范围将更加广泛，并且由于其对水中重金属和其他常见离子污染物的有效和快速去除，该设备的应用将不限于特定条件。在I-Corps计划期间的经验将帮助团队开发业务并将所需产品商业化。