EAGER: GOALI: Crown Ether-enhanced Electrodialysis for Selective Removal of Problematic Ions in Feed Water and Waste Fluid of Unconventional Energy Production

EAGER：GOALI：冠醚增强电渗析选择性去除非常规能源生产给水和废液中的问题离子

• 批准号: 1701512
• 负责人: Weile Yan
• 金额: $ 7.99万
• 依托单位: Texas Tech University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-04-15 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1701512&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; GOALI; Crown; Ether; enhanced

1701512YanThis proposal aims to develop an innovative selective desalination technology using membranes specifically designed for the treatment of feed water and wastewater of unconventional oil and gas production. Sustainable development of unconventional oil and gas production relies on efficient use of water resources and safe disposal of effluent from hydraulic fracturing processes. A key to attaining these goals lies in the effective removal of a subset of contaminants amid high levels of background electrolytes in alternative (brackish) water sources and in the waste water produced during unconventional oil and gas production operations.Species of key interest in this project include barium (II) and strontium (II), which give rise to scaling problems and interfere with the proper function of gelling agents. The project will involve close collaboration among two university PIs from Chemistry and Environmental Engineering at Texas Tech and an industrial co-PI with extensive experience in water management for a major oil and gas production company, this proposal will explore conjugating commercial electrodialysis membranes with optimized supported crown ether moieties to enable selective binding and transport of target contaminants in electrodialysis processes. The objective of this project is to develop a class of electrodialysis membranes with novel ion-gating functionality for selective removal of problematic ions in alternative brackish water sources for energy production uses. The central hypothesis of this research is that intrinsic ion selectivity of electrodialysis processes can be significantly improved by incorporating a thin layer of ion sequestrants of suitable structure and density at the surface of electrodialysis membranes, creating localized concentration gradients driving highly selective transport of the target ions. The PIs ability to prepare crown ethers of diverse conformations and to adapt their molecular structure for optimal metal binding specificity renders the proposed technology a versatile method for selective ion separation. One attractive application is to enable the use of alternative water sources for hydraulic fracturing operations. In this one-year project, the project will focus on the removal of two ions of primary concerns to unconventional oil and gas production, namely, Ba2+ and Sr2+, although the concept can in principle be extended to other problematic ions, such as Ra2+, which is the major source of radio-activity in naturally occurring radioactive material and its disposal is subject to stringent regulatory control. The research being addressed in the project will potentially reduce the environmental impacts of unconventional oil and gas production and enhance water sustainability at the energy-water nexus, particularly in regions where the fast-growing practice of hydraulic fracturing has imposed a considerable stress on the local fresh water resources. This project will provide excellent academic training and industry exposure opportunity for undergraduate students and two graduate students from Environmental Engineering and Chemistry through participation in a multidisciplinary team involving strong industry-university collaboration. The industrial partner will advise the research team on practical constraints and potential complications associated with alternative water treatment technologies, so that the PIs will formulate research strategies to address the unique water treatment needs of the energy industry, which are substantially different from water treatment for domestic use. The PIs will expand their current outreach programs to engage K-12 and community college students from under-represented groups in STEM curricula and research. Research data will be reported in public domain including conferences, industrial seminars, and peer-reviewed journals.

1701512 Yan该提案旨在开发一种创新的选择性脱盐技术，该技术使用专门设计用于非常规石油和天然气生产的给水和废水处理的膜。非常规油气生产的可持续发展依赖于水资源的有效利用和水力压裂工艺废水的安全处理。实现这些目标的关键在于有效去除替代（微咸）水源和非常规油气生产作业过程中产生的废水中高水平背景电解质中的一部分污染物。该项目中主要关注的物质包括钡（II）和锶（II），它们会引起结垢问题并干扰胶凝剂的正常功能。该项目将涉及来自德克萨斯理工大学化学和环境工程的两名大学PI和一家大型石油和天然气生产公司在水管理方面具有丰富经验的工业合作PI之间的密切合作，该提案将探索将商业电渗析膜与优化的支持冠醚部分结合，以实现电渗析过程中目标污染物的选择性结合和运输。本项目的目标是开发一类具有新型离子门控功能的电渗析膜，用于选择性去除能源生产用替代苦咸水中的问题离子。本研究的中心假设是，电渗析过程的固有离子选择性可以通过在电渗析膜的表面并入具有合适结构和密度的离子螯合剂的薄层来显著改善，从而产生局部浓度梯度，从而驱动目标离子的高度选择性运输。PI能够制备不同构象的冠醚并使其分子结构适应最佳金属结合特异性，使得所提出的技术成为选择性离子分离的通用方法。一个有吸引力的应用是能够使用替代水源进行水力压裂操作。在这一为期一年的项目中，该项目将侧重于去除非常规石油和天然气生产中主要关注的两种离子，即Ba 2+和Sr 2+，尽管该概念原则上可以扩展到其他有问题的离子，例如Ra 2+，这是天然存在的放射性材料中放射性的主要来源，其处置受到严格的监管控制。该项目正在进行的研究将有可能减少非常规石油和天然气生产对环境的影响，并提高能源-水关系的水可持续性，特别是在水力压裂法快速发展的地区，对当地淡水资源造成了相当大的压力。该项目将通过参与一个涉及强有力的产学合作的多学科团队，为环境工程和化学专业的本科生和两名研究生提供优秀的学术培训和行业接触机会。工业合作伙伴将向研究团队提供与替代水处理技术相关的实际限制和潜在并发症的建议，以便PI制定研究策略，以满足能源行业独特的水处理需求，这与家用水处理有很大不同。PI将扩大他们目前的外展计划，让K-12和社区大学的学生从代表性不足的群体参与STEM课程和研究。研究数据将在公共领域报告，包括会议，工业研讨会和同行评审期刊。