STTR Phase I: Hardness Sensor Using Cation-Exchange Fibers

这个小企业技术转让第一阶段项目将包括一个研究计划，为一种新型传感器准备新材料，以检测软水器何时需要再生。采用低成本、精确的水硬度传感器可以大幅减少释放到市政下水道系统中的盐量和用于冲洗树脂的水量。正在申请专利的硬度传感器可以取代更昂贵和效率较低的组件和方法，目前使用的水软化器启动再生。这将使渗透到市场，一直服务不足，由于环境问题的盐排放。软化器制造商将受益于所提出的硬度传感器，因为它将使其再生控制现代化，同时还提高了水软化效率和环境可持续性。全球软水器销售额年增长率约为8%。随着15-20%的市场渗透率，传感器的销售额可能在9000万美元左右（软水器型号）。离子交换纤维的拟议开发预计将具有硬度传感器以外的应用。同样的方法可以用来制造阴离子交换纤维，这种纤维可以用于检测类似于软化器的设备中的硝酸盐，以从饮用水中去除硝酸盐。该项目的智力价值是开发了一种制造离子交换纤维的新方法。拟议的工作将建立在过去的研究基础上，并最终开发出可用于硬度传感器和其他应用的市售阳离子交换纤维。使用硬度传感器的阳离子交换材料有很大的好处。传感器检测电极之间的阳离子交换材料的整个质量的电阻。早期的实验表明，与膜相比，阳离子交换纤维提供了上级性能，但不存在市售的纤维。在生产出可靠的纤维后，它们将被安装在硬度传感器中，并在德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校使用小型柱测试设备进行评估，以及安装在大学外的软水器中，以验证盐和水的节约潜力。拟议的研究不仅包括传感器的开发，还包括自动检测硬度和控制软水器树脂床和传感器本身的再生所需的测量和控制。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will include a research program to prepare new materials for a novel sensor to detect when a water softener needs regeneration. The adoption of a low cost, accurate water hardness sensor can drive a substantial reduction in both the amount of salt released into municipal sewer systems and the amount of water used to rinse the resins. The patent-pending hardness sensor can replace more expensive and less effective components and approaches that are currently utilized by water softeners to initiate regeneration. This will enable penetration into markets which have been underserved due to environmental concerns about salt discharge. Manufacturers of softeners will benefit from the proposed hardness sensor, because it will modernize their regeneration controls while also improving water softening efficiency and environmental sustainability. Annual global water softener sales growth is around 8%. With a 15-20% market penetration, sensor sales could be around $90 million (water softener model). The proposed development of ion-exchange fibers is expected to have applications beyond hardness sensors. The same approach can be used to make anion-exchange fibers that can be employed for the detection of nitrate in devices similar to softeners to remove nitrate from drinking water. The intellectual merit of this project is the development of a new method for making ion-exchange fibers. The proposed work will build upon past research performed and will culminate in the development of commercially available cation-exchange fibers that can be used for hardness sensors and other applications. There is a substantial benefit of using the cation-exchange material of the hardness sensor. The sensor detects the electrical resistance of the entire mass of the cation exchange material between the electrodes. Earlier experiments indicate that cation-exchange fibers offer superior performance compared to membranes, but no commercially available fibers exist. After reliable fibers have been produced, they will be installed in hardness sensors to be evaluated using small column testing equipment at The University of Texas at El Paso, as well as in water softeners outside of the university to validate the salt and water savings potential. The proposed research will include not only sensor development, but also the measurement and control needed to automatically sense hardness and control regeneration in both a water softener resin bed and for the sensor itself.