I-Corps: Water separation using progressive freeze concentration

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发称为冷冻浓缩的技术，从高盐沃茨或海水中生产饮用水，并从工业加工沃茨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的生产或水回收更具可持续性，节能和环保。公用事业可以从其废水流中回收水，并增加生产的水量，最大限度地减少废物排放。减少食品加工行业的用水量可以创造更可持续的运营，同时降低生产成本。该技术的总体商业影响是最大限度地回收水，减少废水排放，保护和维护宝贵的原水资源。 这个I-Corps项目是基于冷冻浓缩技术的发展，在这种技术中，冰形成并从含有高度盐或有价值产品的废水流中分离出来。形成的冰被回收、融化并重新使用或返回进行进一步处理。由于冷冻水所需的熔化潜热小于蒸发水（热）或将海水泵送通过半透膜（RO）所需的能量，因此FC可能是一种节能工艺。实验室结果表明，使用FC技术，来自RO处理厂水的约70%的盐水废水流（总溶解固体为2600 mg/L）可以作为饮用水回收-将RO处理厂的总产水量从83%增加到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 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.