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

SusChEM：超越热分离：开发超高压反渗透膜，用于高盐卤水的节能脱盐

• 批准号: 1701658
• 负责人: Menachem Elimelech
• 金额: $ 34万
• 依托单位: Yale 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: 2017-07-15 至 2020-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1701658&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SusChEM; Beyond; Thermal; Separations; Development

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.

高盐度工业废水的处理，如来自石油和天然气工业、燃煤发电厂和内陆海水淡化设施的废水，是一项重大挑战。由于与工业废水处理有关的成本上升和环境问题，必须发展低成本、高能效的处理技术，使水能够再利用，同时尽量减少需要处理的废水量。与基于膜的反渗透（RO）工艺相比，目前的热脱盐技术效率较低，成本较高，但大大降低了海水淡化的能耗和成本；然而，由于目前的反渗透膜系统所能承受的最大液压压力有限（通常约为75 bar），传统的反渗透膜系统只能处理或浓缩高达约两倍海水盐度的给水。因此，传统的反渗透不能用于处理工业废水，因为工业废水的含盐量通常是海水的几倍。pi寻求开发和表征可以在高达400 bar的高压下工作的新型反渗透膜。这些膜将促进高压反渗透（HPRO）或超高压反渗透（UHPRO）系统的发展，这些系统能够以节能和经济的方式处理高盐度工业废水。为了促进多样性，加强在科学和工程领域未被充分代表的群体的参与，PI将参与耶鲁大学K-12的外展活动，通过研究和高级项目培训本科生，以及为研究和学术事业培训研究生。该项目的具体目标包括：(1)为高耐压TFC反渗透膜提供对膜压实和理想支撑层特性的基本理解；(2)在为HPRO和UHPRO操作量身定制的聚合物和金属支撑层上使用牺牲纳米链层开发聚酰胺选择层；(3)分析在超高压和盐度下通过反渗透膜的水和盐运输行为。pi将开发HPRO和UHPRO膜的新制造技术，并研究超高压和盐度下膜的基本特性和质量传输行为。这种突破性膜将使反渗透技术扩大应用于大量高盐盐水的脱盐/浓缩，从而节省大量能源和成本。

项目成果

Thin film composite membrane compaction in high-pressure reverse osmosis

• DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2020.118268
• 发表时间: 2020-09-01
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
• 影响因子: 9.5
• 作者: Davenport, Douglas M.;Ritt, Cody L.;Elimelech, Menachem
• 通讯作者: Elimelech, Menachem