CO2-triggered draw agents for forward osmosis

用于正向渗透的 CO2 触发吸引剂

• 批准号: 494487-2016
• 负责人: Jessop, Philip
• 金额: $ 13.42万
• 依托单位: Queen's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Strategic Projects - Group
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=641984
• 关键词: CO2; triggered; draw; agents; forward

The primary goal of the research is to create a new process that lowers the environmental and economic cost of recovering fresh water from wastewater or seawater. Methods for obtaining fresh (potable) water include distillation, reverse osmosis (RO) and forward osmosis (FO). RO requires the least energy but unfortunately it still requires too much energy to make desalination of seawater and recycling of wastewater economically viable. We are developing a new FO technology that uses low-grade or waste heat as its primary energy source. Waste heat is low-grade (< 80 °C) heat produced as a byproduct of processes such as power generation or cement manufacture and is available at little or no cost at these types of facilities. However a water purification system primarily powered by low-grade heat could also be used for the generation of drinking water or agricultural water, including at remote sites and communities. For example, solar energy can be used to generate heat at the low temperatures required for our process. Similarly, low-grade geothermal sources of hot water could supply both the feed water and the heat required for the production of clean water. We will design new materials for use in FO systems that are "switchable", meaning their properties can be changed by changing their environment. Our materials will be able to undergo dramatic in properties simply by adding or removing carbon dioxide (CO2), similarly to what is done with carbonated beverages. CO2 is an ideal "trigger" in that it is non-toxic, environmentally benign, inexpensive and plentiful. Furthermore, our process uses CO2 but does not produce CO2. By using these CO2-switchable materials, we will address critical shortcomings in current FO technology since the switchability of the materials we are using will allow us to obtain a desired combination of properties not attainable with any other single material. Our three industry partners span the range from developers of FO technology to end users of water treatment systems, providing across the spectrum expertise from new idea inception to technology implementation.

这项研究的主要目标是创造一种新的工艺，降低从废水或海水中回收淡水的环境和经济成本。获取新鲜（饮用水）水的方法包括蒸馏、反渗透（RO）和正向渗透（FO）。反渗透需要最少的能源，但不幸的是，它仍然需要太多的能源，使海水淡化和废水回收在经济上可行。我们正在开发一种使用低品位或废热作为主要能源的新型FO技术。废热是低品位（< 80°C）的热，是发电或水泥制造等过程的副产品，在这些类型的设施中很少或不需要成本。然而，主要由低品位热能提供动力的水净化系统也可用于生产饮用水或农业用水，包括在偏远地区和社区。例如，太阳能可以在我们的工艺所需的低温下产生热量。同样，低品位的地热热水源既可以提供给水，也可以提供生产净水所需的热量。我们将设计用于FO系统的新材料，这些材料是“可切换的”，这意味着它们的性能可以通过改变它们的环境来改变。我们的材料只需添加或去除二氧化碳（CO2），就能产生巨大的性能变化，就像处理碳酸饮料一样。二氧化碳是一种理想的“触发器”，因为它无毒、环保、廉价且储量丰富。此外，我们的工艺使用二氧化碳，但不产生二氧化碳。通过使用这些二氧化碳可切换材料，我们将解决当前FO技术的关键缺陷，因为我们使用的材料的可切换性将使我们能够获得任何其他单一材料无法实现的理想性能组合。我们的三个行业合作伙伴涵盖了从水处理技术的开发人员到水处理系统的最终用户的范围，提供从新想法开始到技术实施的各种专业知识。