Development of Functionalized Nano Carbon Immobilized Membranes for Sea and Brackish Water Desalination

PI：Mitra，Someath#1603314这个项目解决了世界上的一个主要机会--从海洋和咸水中生产饮用水。传统的高能海水淡化工艺包括反渗透(RO)，这是一种基于膜的技术，需要高压，以及热蒸馏，如多级闪蒸(MSF)和多效海水淡化(MED)，其中盐水被蒸馏以产生纯净水。这些方法都有其局限性，下一代净水技术的开发对于产生供公众消费的软水到一系列工业应用具有重要意义，例如使用微咸水进行工业冷却，以及通过水力压裂处理石油和天然气生产中的产出水。膜蒸馏(MD)是一种通过膜将水汽化以产生纯水的热蒸发过程。与上面提到的传统方法相比，它有几个优点。这包括低温操作(60-90摄氏度)，在这种操作中，工业废热以及太阳能可以用来淡化海水。本项目的目标是开发基于碳纳米管的高性能膜，可以通过分子动力学在低温下高效地淡化海水。该项目的目标是利用纳米碳(NC)创造突破性的膜性能，通过膜蒸馏(MD)进行海水淡化。在MD中，疏水多孔膜将热盐水进料和冷渗透流分开。当加热的盐水通过膜时，它会部分转化为水蒸气。膜的疏水性阻止了水溶液进入毛孔。然而，脱离氢键后，水蒸气通过并冷凝在膜的渗透侧。这种新型的膜被称为NC固定膜(NCIM)，通过将NC固定在膜孔中，它们将作为分子转运体和吸附剂，从而为水的运输提供额外的途径。该项目将开发用于水蒸气输送的NC功能化的新技术和最佳工艺，以及将NC纳入用于海水淡化的膜结构中。该项目还将通过强调废热利用和该行业遇到的特定废水流来实现发电厂的实际应用。

PI: Mitra, Somenath# 1603314This project addresses one of the world's major opportunities - the generation of potable water from sea and brackish water. Conventional high-energy processes for generating desalinated water include reverse osmosis (RO) which is a membrane based technique that requires high pressure, and thermal distillations such as Multi Stage Flash (MSF) and Multiple Effect Desalination (MED) where the brine is distilled to generate pure water. These methods have their limitations, and the development of the next generation of water purification technology is of great importance for generating soft water for public consumption to a range of industrial applications such as using brackish water for industrial cooling and the treatment of produced water from oil and gas production via fracking. Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermal evaporative process that vaporizes water through a membrane to generate pure water. It offers several advantages over traditional methods mentioned above. These include low temperature operation (60-90C) where industrial waste heat as well as solar energy can be used to desalinate water. The objective of this project is develop carbon nanotube based high performance membranes that can efficiently desalinate water at low temperature via MD. The resulting materials can be used of generate energy and treat saline or contaminated water in a cost effective and efficient manner.The objective of this project is to utilize nano carbons (NC) to create breakthrough membrane properties for desalination via membrane distillation (MD). In MD, a hydrophobic porous membrane separates a hot salt water feed and a cold permeate stream. As the heated brine passes on the membrane, it is partially transformed to water vapor. The hydrophobicity of the membrane prevents the aqueous solution from entering the pores. However, freed from hydrogen bonding the water vapor passes through and is condensed on the permeate side of the membrane. The novel membrane referred to as NC immobilized membranes (NCIM) will be developed by immobilizing NCs into membrane pores where they will serve as molecular transporters and sorbents, thus providing additional pathways for water transport. This project will develop new technology and insight into the optimum process for functionalizing NC for water vapor transport as well as the incorporation of NC in membrane structures for desalination. The project will also real-world applications for power plants by emphasizing waste heat utilization and specific waste water streams encountered in that industry.