STTR Phase I: Design of Diffusiophoresis Processes for Drinking Water

STTR第一期项目的更广泛影响将是通过一种降低成本的新工艺来改善水净化。目前，全球有18亿人饮用受粪便污染的水，其中每年有50万人死于水传播的腹泻。这项拟议的技术还将降低较发达地区的资本成本，因为它消除了对泵和滤膜的需求。工艺设备的模块化特性使其具有可伸缩性，从没有配电网络服务的孤立农村社区的适度要求，到为大城市服务的最大规模的公用事业产能。这项技术利用流体力学和电动力学的新研究，为饮用水净化提供了新的方法。需要在具有多种溶解杂质的水流所代表的复杂化学物质存在的情况下，证明扩散渗透过程对饮用水净化的适用性，以及对包括细菌在内的胶体污染物的去除。需要获得一系列参数的实验结果，并对照数学模型进行测试，以建立放大设计规则。一个实验室实验方案，辅以定量理解的数学模型，目的是：(1)在实际的“多离子”环境中建立工艺的可行性和纬度；(2)绘制设备尺寸、颗粒特性、水化学、颗粒去除效率、所需二氧化碳的图；(3)展示胶体的去除，以使膜将至少显著‘无负担’，以及细菌，从而能够安全地最小限度地显著减少化学处理；(4)确定不同胶体和微生物负荷的过程参数和值。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 of this STTR Phase I project will be to improve water purification with a new process offering reduced costs. Currently 1.8 billion people worldwide drink feces-contaminated water, of whom half a million die from waterborne diarrhea annually. The proposed technology also will reduce capital costs in more developed areas as it eliminates the need for pumps and filtration membranes. The modular nature of the process equipment makes it scalable, from the modest requirements of isolated rural communities not served by distribution networks to the largest-scale throughputs of utilities serving major cities. This technology advances new methods for drinking water purification leveraging new research in fluid mechanics and electrokinetics. The suitability for drinking water purification of a diffusiophoresis process needs to be proven in the presence of complex chemistries representative of water streams with multiple dissolved impurities, and for the removal of colloidal contaminates, including bacteria. Experimental results spanning a range of parameters need to be obtained and tested against mathematical models, to establish design rules for scale-up. A laboratory experimental program, supplemented by mathematical modelling for quantitative understanding, aims to: (1) establish process feasibility and latitude in practical, ‘multi-ion’ environments; (2)map device dimensions, particle characteristics, water chemistries, particle removal efficiency, CO2 required; (3)demonstrate removal of colloids such that membranes will be at minimum significantly ‘unburdened’, and of bacteria such that chemical treatment can safely be at minimum significantly reduced; (4) determine process parameters and values for varying colloidal and microorganism loads.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.