I-Corps: Ceramic Membrane Systems for Produced Water Treatment

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a large-scale membrane system that will be constructed to separate salts from produced water in a more energy efficient manner. Produced water is water trapped in underground formations that is brought to the surface along with oil or gas. The membrane system is expected to purify produced water for commercial applications such as fracking or agriculture depending on the needs of the community. The outcomes of the project will translate technical knowledge to enhance the sustainability of produced water in many municipalities and industries in an energy-efficient way. Using the proposed technology, produced water treatment solutions may be provided to the 900,000 oil and gas wells in the United States. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a ceramic membrane filtration system to clean produced water. Disposal of salty and oily produced water in injection wells is not a sustainable solution because it is costly and induces seismic activity. There is a critical need for new methods to treat produced water in a cost-effective way. Addressing this need will require a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach and the ceramic membranes may offer a chemically-robust treatment option by reducing replacement and cleaning costs. The novelty of the project is in using hydrophilic ceramic membranes to reduce the impurity concentrations in produced water. The innovation of the proposed technology lies in the membrane fabrication technique. The necessary setups will be installed at the site for the treatment of produced water. The program is expected to define the requirements needed to produce an energy-saving scaled-up membrane system for cleaning produced water to levels suitable for reuse. A successful demonstration of the program has the potential to increase water supplies and reduce operational costs, energy consumption, and environmental impacts of produced water management.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.