I-Corps: A Non-Chemical Green Process to Treat Wastewater

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一步废水处理技术，以减少能源需求和对添加化学品的需求。全球废水处理市场预计到2025年将超过150亿美元，受严格的政府法规的推动。主要细分市场包括：使用大量水的啤酒厂（每生产一品脱啤酒需要5-7品脱淡水）;垃圾填埋场的渗滤液，如果不进行处理，会污染新鲜的地下水;以及非常规的石油和天然气钻井作业，2018年使用超过20万亿加仑的淡水进行水力压裂。对于现场处理，整个废水处理涉及多个步骤，包括气味控制，去除大型生物固体物质（初级），产生甲烷的厌氧消化（二级），去除无机物（三级）以及添加氯和次氯酸钠。另一种选择是将工艺用水直接排入城市下水道排放系统，但需付费。该项目可以实现纯水提取一步到位，占地面积小。 这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种使用可回收气体的一步废水处理技术，这种技术减少了能源需求，消除了对添加化学品的需求。概念验证研究已在实验室完成，目前正在建造一个阿尔法测试装置，用于实地测试。初步的技术经济分析表明，该过程可以减少70%的成本和空间需求比商业流程。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to develop a one-step wastewater treatment technology to reduce energy requirements and the need for added chemicals. The global wastewater treatment market that is expected to cross $15 billion by 2025, driven by stringent government regulations. Key market segments include: breweries that use huge amounts of water (5-7 pints of fresh water per pint of beer produced); leachates from landfills that would contaminate fresh groundwater if not treated; and unconventional oil and gas drilling operations that used over 20 trillion gallons of fresh water for hydraulic fracturing in 2018. For on-site processing, whole wastewater treatment involves multiple steps including odor control, removal of macrobiotic solid matter (primary), anaerobic digestion that produces methane (secondary), removal of inorganics (tertiary), and addition of chlorine and sodium hypochlorite. The alternative is to discharge process water directly into the city sewer discharge system at a fee. The proposed project can achieve pure water extraction is one-step with small footprint. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a one-step wastewater treatment technology using a recyclable gas that reduces energy requirements and eliminates the need for added chemicals. The proof-of-concept study is completed in the laboratory, and an alpha-test unit is being built for field testing. Preliminary techno-economic analysis indicates that the process may reduce both the cost and space requirements by 70% over commercial processes.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.