SBIR Phase I: Commercial Scale Separation Modules with Integrated Sensors for Cost-Effective, Real-time Detection of Membrane Fouling

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的广泛影响/商业潜力是显著提高膜基脱盐生产的水的效率和降低运营成本。水资源短缺是一个日益重要的全球问题，对健康、安全和经济产生重大负面影响。最近的预测显示，由于人口增长，预计全球用水将大幅增加，因此不久将受到缺水影响的国家数量将急剧增加。膜基海水淡化需要大规模的资本投资，但它被认为是一种可以显著改善供应、有效抵消水资源短缺及其影响的主要技术。海水淡化厂运行的一个关键因素是能源消耗，由于膜污染而增加能源消耗，因此使污染成为控制海水淡化厂效率的最重要因素之一。所提出的原位实时传感系统可以成为实现先进的工厂控制算法的使能技术，该算法基于在污垢的早期阶段精确检测。这种主动检测能力将能够最有效地实施可优化的污垢缓解策略，以节省能源和降低成本。该SBIR一期项目拟开发一种新型时间反转波导传感器，用于反渗透（RO）膜淡化中早期（ES）污染的检测，这是咸淡水和海水淡化的主导技术。反渗透系统中的污垢具有无机（结垢）和有机（生物污垢）成分，并且可能是一个高度可变的过程，取决于操作参数和环境条件。为了有效地实现反渗透海水淡化的实时控制，需要实时传感。这项工作的总体目标是开发复杂的超声波传感器技术，能够可靠地检测商业规模RO系统中具有挑战性的多层螺旋缠绕（SW）几何结构中的结垢和生物污垢。所提出的工作将利用时间反转镜从多模波导中产生一个简单的信号，而不依赖于波导结构的几何形状，从而克服了与使用独立波导相关的极其复杂和难以解释的信号。该项目的目标是展示在实际操作条件下检测早期无机和有机污垢的能力，该技术的可靠性和稳健性，以及将该技术应用于商业运行中日益重要的更大尺寸模块的能力。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to significantly increase the efficiency and reduce operating costs for water produced by membrane-based desalination. Water scarcity is an increasingly important global-scale issue that has significant negative impacts on health, security and economies. Recent forecasts show a dramatic increase in the number of countries that will soon be affected by water scarcity given that global water consumption is expected to significantly increase due to population growth. Membrane-based water desalination, which at large scale requires a huge capital investment, is recognized as a primary technology that can significantly improve supply to meaningfully offset scarcity and its impacts. A critical factor in desalination plant operations is energy consumption, which increases due to membrane fouling, thus making fouling one of the most significant factors controlling the efficiency of these plants. The proposed in-situ, real-time sensing system can be the enabling technology to allow implementation of advanced plant control algorithms based upon accurate detection of fouling at its earliest stages. Such active detection capability will enable the most effective implementation of fouling mitigation strategies that can be optimized to save energy and reduce cost.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a novel time-reversal waveguide sensor for detection of early-stage (ES) fouling in reverse osmosis (RO) membrane desalination, which is the dominant technology for desalinating brackish water and seawater. Fouling in RO systems has inorganic (scaling) and organic (biofouling) components and can be a highly variable process that depends on operational parameters as well as environmental conditions. Efficient implementation of real-time control of RO desalination for fouling mitigation requires real-time sensing. The overall objective of the proposed work is to develop sophisticated ultrasonic sensor technology that can reliably detect scaling and biofouling in the challenging multi-layer, spiral-wound (SW) geometry of commercial-scale RO systems. The proposed work will make use of time-reversal mirrors to produce a simple signal from a multi-mode waveguide independent of the geometry of the waveguide configuration, thus overcoming the exceedingly complex and difficult to interpret signals associated with the use of a standalone waveguide. The goals of the project are to demonstrate the capability to detect both early-stage inorganic and organic fouling under realistic operating conditions, the reliability and the robustness of the technology, and the ability to adapt the technology to the larger size modules that are increasingly important for commercial operation.