I-Corps: A Controlled Cavitation Technology (CCT) Biofouling Removal Device

该I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是将每年2.13亿美元的水质监测运营成本减少约5000万美元。水质监测系统是收集水资源数据和保护人类赖以生存的水环境的重要设备。目前，全国各地部署了6 000多个WQMS。 这些系统需要经常维修，平均维修间隔约为三星期。这给水管理区的总体业务预算增加了大量费用。 我们的受控空化技术（CCT）系统将能够与当前的WQMS集成，通过将维护期延长至三个月来解决生物污垢问题。通过这个I-Corps项目的成功客户发现，一个新的每年1800万美元的市场将在美国为WQMS的CCT生物污垢去除产品打开。CCT装置可以降低WQMS的维护成本，从而降低整体运营预算。此外，它将支持和提高水资源环境管理的有效性，提供了一个机会，部署约20%以上的水质量管理系统与节省的预算和减少损坏的数据，由于生物污垢的增长。这个I-Corps项目将集中在一个CCT生物污垢清除设备，我们的第一个目标客户狭义定义为水质量管理系统运营商。CCT是一种用于去除水下表面生物污垢生长的创新解决方案。它可以有效地去除生物污垢，而不会损坏受影响的表面。此外，可以在不接触目标表面的情况下有效地去除生物污垢。该技术适用于去除水下光学传感器表面的生物膜。此外，CCT是一种环境友好的技术，因为它不使用化学品来去除生物污垢。CCT将在生物污垢开始影响传感器之前防止其生长。与现有的“刷式”清洁装置相比，该技术本身成为技术上和商业上可行的最先进的解决方案。此外，该技术的其他商业机会包括在海洋（船体清洁）和医疗（手术工具）应用中去除生物污垢。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to reduce the annual water quality monitoring operating cost of $213MM by an estimated $50MM per year. Water quality monitoring systems (WQMS) are crucial equipment to collect the water resource data and to protect the water environment which is essential to sustain human life. Currently, over 6,000 WQMS are deployed all over the country. These systems require frequent maintenance with service intervals of about three weeks on average. This adds significant expenses to the overall operating budget of the water management districts. Our controlled cavitation technology (CCT) system would be able to integrate with the current WQMS to solve the biofouling problems by expanding the maintenance period to three months. Through the successful customer discovery of this I-Corps project a new annual $18MM market will be opened in the US for the CCT biofouling removal product for WQMS. The CCT device can reduce maintenance costs of WQMS and thereby reduce the overall operating budget. Furthermore, it will support and increase effectiveness of water resource environment management by presenting an opportunity to deploy about 20% more WQMS with the saved budget and reducing the corrupted data due to the biofouling growth.This I-Corps project will focus on a CCT biofouling removal device for our first target customers narrowly defined as WQMS operators. CCT is an innovative solution for removal of biofouling growth on underwater surfaces. It can remove biofouling effectively without damaging the affected surfaces. Also, the removal of biofouling can be done effectively without contacting the target surface. This technology is applicable for removal of biofilm on underwater optic sensor surfaces. Furthermore, CCT is an environmentally friendly technology because it does not use chemicals for biofouling removal. CCT will prevent the growth of biofouling before it starts to affect the sensor. This technology lends itself into a technically and a commercially feasible state-of-the-art solution compared to the existing "brush type" cleaning devices. Furthermore, other commercial opportunities for this technology include the removal of biofouling in marine (hull cleaning) and medical (surgical tools) applications. Intellectual property (IP) is being addressed through a patent application.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.