INFEWS US-China: Creating Ocean Wave Powered Resilient FEW Systems in Saline Coastal Regions

INFEWS 美中：在盐碱海岸地区创建海浪驱动的弹性 FEW 系统

• 批准号: 2246608
• 负责人: Lei Zuo
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-10-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2246608&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: INFEWS; US; China; Creating; Ocean

This project was awarded through the "National Science Foundation (NSF) / National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Joint Research on Environmental Sustainability Challenges" opportunity. Interconnected food-energy-water (FEW) demands are increasing due to increasing population and economic growth. In the US and China, there is a trend of population concentrated on the coastlines. However, the resilience of coastal ecosystems is weak since the coastal zone, an interface of land, water, and air, is greatly affected by human activities. Coastal lands frequently contain salt-affected soils rendering these lands unsuitable for agriculture. Reclamation of these lands could vastly improve worldwide food production. However, reclamation of salt-affected soils currently requires huge inputs of fresh water and energy. One promising solution is to desalinate seawater in coastal areas, but desalination requires a large amount of energy. This project proposes wave energy as the renewable energy source to desalinate seawater for coastal reclamation. Furthermore, to optimize a reclamation management plan, the demand-supply relationship between FEW Systems will be established through a stronger understanding of how the dynamic coastal soil-water-salt balance is impacted by changes in tidal cycles, society, and the environment.In this US-China collaborative project, five researchers in multidisciplinary areas from Virginia Tech, Wuhan University of Technology in China, and Nanjing Agricultural University in China will team up to create a self-sustainable FEW System in saline coastal regions. This system will be realized through the integration of three areas of innovation: 1) Wave energy-based seawater desalination systems, 2) sustainable reclamation of saline-sodic-alkaline soils, and 3) a nexus of ocean energy, freshwater, and coastal agriculture. Specific research tasks include: 1) Modeling and design of a novel ocean wave surge energy converter and an ocean wave energy powered desalination system; (2) Modeling of coastal salt-soil-water balance dynamics and optimizing soil reclamation management and agriculture irrigation specific to coastal regions; and (3) Development of a supply-demand model for the FEW System to estimate the optimal operation conditions for each system, followed by conducting field tests and verification. If successful, the proposed research will convert traditional coastal agriculture from a freshwater- and energy-consuming practice into a self-sustainable, environmentally friendly practice that balances ecosystems. Success of the proposed research can potentially convert millions of acres of salt-affected coastal lands in the US into arable lands, with minimal interference on the current roles of these lands to purify water, sequester carbon, provide habitat, and support recreation. Furthermore, this project will involve a collaboration between the US and China and provide unique international education experiences for students. Hence, the proposed self-sustainable FEW System can serve as a demonstration to inspire industry worldwide and provide a new avenue for international collaborations to creatively solve FEW System problems.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.

本项目通过“国家自然科学基金（NSF）/国家自然科学基金（NSFC）环境可持续性挑战联合研究”的机会获得资助。由于人口增长和经济增长，相互关联的粮食-能源-水需求正在增加。在美国和中国，人口有向海岸线集中的趋势。然而，沿海生态系统的复原力很弱，因为沿海地区是陆地、水和空气的界面，受人类活动的影响很大。沿海土地经常含有受盐影响的土壤，使这些土地不适合农业。 开垦这些土地可以大大提高全球粮食产量。然而，目前受盐影响的土壤的复垦需要大量的淡水和能源投入。一个有希望的解决方案是在沿海地区淡化海水，但淡化需要大量的能源。本计画提出以波浪能作为再生能源，淡化海水以供海岸填海之用。此外，为了优化填海管理计划，将通过更深入地了解潮汐周期、社会和环境的变化如何影响沿海动态土水盐平衡来建立FEW系统之间的供需关系。在这个中美合作项目中，来自弗吉尼亚理工大学、中国武汉理工大学、和中国南京农业大学将合作在沿海盐碱地区建立一个自我维持的FEW系统。该系统将通过整合三个创新领域来实现：1）基于波浪能的海水淡化系统，2）盐碱地的可持续改良，以及3）海洋能源，淡水和沿海农业的联系。具体研究任务包括：1）新型海浪能转换器和海浪能海水淡化系统的建模与设计：（2）沿海地区盐-土-水平衡动力学模型的建立与优化;以及（3）开发FEW系统的供需模型，以估计每个系统的最佳操作条件，然后进行实地测试和验证。 如果成功，拟议的研究将把传统的沿海农业从消耗淡水和能源的做法转变为自我可持续的、环境友好的做法，平衡生态系统。拟议研究的成功可能会将美国数百万英亩受盐影响的沿海土地转化为可耕地，而对这些土地目前净化水，固碳，提供栖息地和支持娱乐的作用的干扰最小。此外，该项目将涉及美国和中国之间的合作，并为学生提供独特的国际教育体验。因此，拟议的自我可持续的FEW系统可以作为一个示范，以激励世界各地的行业，并提供一个新的途径，为国际合作，创造性地解决FEW系统的问题。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

项目成果

Experimental investigation of a reverse osmosis desalination system directly powered by wave energy

• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.121194
• 发表时间: 2023-08
• 期刊: Applied Energy
• 影响因子: 11.2
• 作者: J. Mi;Xian Wu;J. Capper;Xiaofan Li;A. Shalaby;Ruoyu Wang;Shihong Lin;Muhammad R. Hajj;L. Zuo