SusChEM: Beyond Thermal Separations: Development of Ultra High Pressure Reverse Osmosis Membranes for Energy Efficient Desalination of Hypersaline Brines

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PI Name: Menachem ElimelechProposal Number: CBET 1701658The treatment of high-salinity industrial wastewaters, such as those from the oil and gas industry, coal-fired power plants, and inland desalination facilities, is a major challenge. Rising costs and environmental concerns associated with the disposal of industrial wastewaters necessitate the development of low-cost, energy-efficient treatment technologies that can allow for water reuse while minimizing the volume of wastewater requiring disposal. Current thermal desalination technologies are relatively inefficient and expensive compared with membrane-based reverse osmosis (RO) processes, which have dramatically lowered the energy consumption and cost of seawater desalination; however, conventional RO can only treat or concentrate feedwaters up to approximately twice the salinity of seawater because of the limited maximum hydraulic pressure that current RO membrane systems can tolerate (typically about 75 bar). Therefore, conventional RO cannot be used to treat industrial wastewaters, which are typically several times more saline than seawater. The PIs seek to develop and characterize new RO membranes that can operate at very high pressures of up to 400 bar. These membranes will facilitate the development of high-pressure RO (HPRO) or ultra-high pressure RO (UHPRO) systems that are capable of treating high-salinity industrial wastewaters in an energy efficient and cost effective manner. To promote diversity and to enhance the involvement of under-represented groups in science and engineering, the PI will be engaged in Yale's K-12 outreach activities and in the training of undergraduate students through research and senior-level projects, and graduate student training for research and academic careers.Specific objectives of the project include: (i) providing fundamental understanding of membrane compaction and the ideal support layer properties for highly pressure-tolerant TFC RO membranes, (ii) developing a polyamide selective layer using sacrificial nanostrand layers on polymeric and metallic supports tailored for HPRO and UHPRO operation, and (iii) analyzing water and salt transport behavior through RO membranes at ultra-high pressures and salinities. The PIs will develop new fabrication techniques for HPRO and UHPRO membranes and investigate fundamental membrane properties and mass transport behavior at ultra-high pressures and salinities. Such breakthrough membranes would enable the expanded application of RO to desalination/concentration of large volumes of highly saline brines, which would in turn result in significant energy and cost savings.