STTR Phase I: Design of Diffusiophoresis Processes for Drinking Water

STTR第一阶段项目的更广泛影响将是通过降低成本的新工艺来改善水净化。目前，全世界有18亿人饮用被粪便污染的水，其中每年有50万人死于水传播的腹泻。该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过滤膜的需求。 工艺设备的模块化性质使其可扩展，从没有配电网络服务的孤立农村社区的适度需求到服务于主要城市的公用事业的最大规模吞吐量。该技术利用流体力学和电动力学的新研究，推进了饮用水净化的新方法。扩散电泳工艺用于饮用水净化的适用性需要在代表具有多种溶解杂质的水流的复杂化学物质的存在下得到证明，以及用于去除胶体污染物，包括细菌。需要获得跨越一系列参数的实验结果，并根据数学模型进行测试，以建立放大的设计规则。实验室实验计划，辅以数学建模以进行定量理解，旨在：（1）建立实际的"多离子"环境中的工艺可行性和范围;（2）绘制设备尺寸、颗粒特性、水化学、颗粒去除效率、所需的CO2;（3）展示胶体的去除，使得膜将至少显著地“未负担”，以及细菌的去除，使得化学处理可以安全地至少显著地减少;（4）确定不同胶体和微生物负荷的工艺参数和值。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 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.