I-Corps: Water separation using progressive freeze concentration

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是发展称为冷冻浓缩的技术，从高盐水或海水中生产饮用水，并从工业生产用水中回收水或浓缩有价值的产品。这项技术的影响包括使饮用水生产或水回收更加可持续、节能和环境友好。公用事业公司可以从其废物流中回收水，增加产水量，并尽量减少废物排放。在食品加工业中减少用水可以在降低生产成本的同时创造更可持续的运营。该技术的整体商业影响是最大限度地回收水，减少废物流的排放，保护和维持宝贵的原水资源。这个I-Corps项目是基于冷冻浓缩（FC）技术的发展，在这种技术中，冰形成并从含水废物流中分离出来，高度盐或有价值的产品被排除在外。形成的冰被回收、融化、再利用或返回作进一步处理。由于冻结水所需的核聚变潜热小于蒸发水（热）或将海水泵入半透膜（RO）所需的能量，FC可能是一种节能过程。实验室结果显示，反渗透处理厂废水中约70%的卤水废物流（总溶解固体含量为2600毫克/升）可利用FC技术回收为饮用水，使反渗透处理厂的整体产水量由83%提高至95%。研究的总体目标是优化FC技术的操作条件，以最大限度地提高产水量（即减少废物流），降低生产单位（升或加仑）水所需的成本或能源，并探索技术转化的优化参数。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 the development of technology, called freeze concentration, to produce potable water from high-salt waters or seawater, and to recover water from or concentrate valuable products in industrial process waters. The impact of this technology includes making production of potable water or water recovery more sustainable, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. Utilities may recover water from their waste streams and increase the volume of water produced and minimize waste discharge. Reducing water use in food processing industries creates more sustainable operations while reducing the cost of production. The overall commercial impact of the technology is to maximize water recovery, reduce discharge of waste streams and protect and maintain precious raw water resources. This I-Corps project is based on the development of freeze concentration (FC) technology where ice is formed and separates from aqueous waste streams with a high degree of salts or valuable products exclusion. Ice formed is recovered, melted and reused or returned for further treatment. Since the latent heat of fusion needed to freeze water is less than the energy needed to evaporate water (thermal) or to pump seawater through a semi-permeable membrane (RO), FC may be an energy-efficient process. Laboratory results showed that about 70% of the brine waste stream (total dissolved solids of 2600 mg/L) from an RO treatment plant water may be recovered as potable water using the FC technology - increasing the overall water yield of the RO treatment plant from 83% to 95%. The overall goal of the research is to optimize the operating conditions of the FC technology to maximize the amount of water produced (i.e., reduce the waste stream), lower the cost or energy needed to produce a unit (liters or gallons) of water, and to explore optimization parameters for technology translation.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.