EAGER: GOALI: Crown Ether-enhanced Electrodialysis for Selective Removal of Problematic Ions in Feed Water and Waste Fluid of Unconventional Energy Production

1701512YAN本提案旨在开发一种创新的选择性海水淡化技术，使用专门为处理非常规石油和天然气生产的给水和废水而设计的膜。非常规油气生产的可持续发展有赖于水资源的有效利用和水力压裂流出物的安全处理。实现这些目标的关键在于有效地去除替代(半咸水)水源和非常规石油和天然气生产作业过程中产生的废水中的高水平背景电解液中的一部分污染物。该项目主要感兴趣的物种包括会引起结垢问题并干扰胶凝剂正常功能的Ba2(II)和Sr2(2)。该项目将涉及来自德克萨斯理工大学化学和环境工程的两所大学PI和一家在水管理方面为一家大型石油和天然气生产公司拥有丰富经验的工业合作PI之间的密切合作，该提案将探索将商业电渗析膜与优化的支撑冠醚部分结合在一起，以实现电渗析过程中目标污染物的选择性结合和传输。本项目的目标是开发一种具有新型离子门控功能的电渗析膜，用于选择性去除替代微咸水中的有问题的离子，用于能源生产。这项研究的中心假设是，通过在电渗析膜表面加入一层结构和密度合适的离子隔离剂，产生局部浓度梯度，驱动目标离子的高度选择性传输，可以显著提高电渗析过程的本征离子选择性。PI能够制备不同构象的冠醚，并调整它们的分子结构以实现最佳的金属结合专一性，这使得所提出的技术成为一种选择离子分离的通用方法。一个有吸引力的应用是能够使用替代水源进行水力压裂作业。在这个为期一年的项目中，该项目将侧重于消除对非常规石油和天然气生产至关重要的两个离子，即Ba2+和Sr2+，尽管原则上这一概念可以扩展到其他有问题的离子，如Ra2+，它是天然放射性物质中放射性活动的主要来源，其处置受到严格的监管控制。该项目正在进行的研究可能会减少非常规石油和天然气生产对环境的影响，并在能源-水关系方面加强水的可持续性，特别是在水力压裂快速增长的做法对当地淡水资源造成相当大压力的地区。该项目将通过参与一个涉及产学合作的多学科团队，为环境工程和化学专业的本科生和两名研究生提供极好的学术培训和行业接触机会。工业伙伴将就与替代水处理技术相关的实际限制和潜在并发症向研究小组提供建议，以便私营部门将制定研究策略，以满足能源行业独特的水处理需求，这些需求与家庭用水处理有很大不同。PIS将扩大他们目前的外展计划，让来自代表性不足群体的K-12和社区大学学生参与STEM课程和研究。研究数据将在公共领域报告，包括会议、行业研讨会和同行评议期刊。

1701512YanThis proposal aims to develop an innovative selective desalination technology using membranes specifically designed for the treatment of feed water and wastewater of unconventional oil and gas production. Sustainable development of unconventional oil and gas production relies on efficient use of water resources and safe disposal of effluent from hydraulic fracturing processes. A key to attaining these goals lies in the effective removal of a subset of contaminants amid high levels of background electrolytes in alternative (brackish) water sources and in the waste water produced during unconventional oil and gas production operations.Species of key interest in this project include barium (II) and strontium (II), which give rise to scaling problems and interfere with the proper function of gelling agents. The project will involve close collaboration among two university PIs from Chemistry and Environmental Engineering at Texas Tech and an industrial co-PI with extensive experience in water management for a major oil and gas production company, this proposal will explore conjugating commercial electrodialysis membranes with optimized supported crown ether moieties to enable selective binding and transport of target contaminants in electrodialysis processes. The objective of this project is to develop a class of electrodialysis membranes with novel ion-gating functionality for selective removal of problematic ions in alternative brackish water sources for energy production uses. The central hypothesis of this research is that intrinsic ion selectivity of electrodialysis processes can be significantly improved by incorporating a thin layer of ion sequestrants of suitable structure and density at the surface of electrodialysis membranes, creating localized concentration gradients driving highly selective transport of the target ions. The PIs ability to prepare crown ethers of diverse conformations and to adapt their molecular structure for optimal metal binding specificity renders the proposed technology a versatile method for selective ion separation. One attractive application is to enable the use of alternative water sources for hydraulic fracturing operations. In this one-year project, the project will focus on the removal of two ions of primary concerns to unconventional oil and gas production, namely, Ba2+ and Sr2+, although the concept can in principle be extended to other problematic ions, such as Ra2+, which is the major source of radio-activity in naturally occurring radioactive material and its disposal is subject to stringent regulatory control. The research being addressed in the project will potentially reduce the environmental impacts of unconventional oil and gas production and enhance water sustainability at the energy-water nexus, particularly in regions where the fast-growing practice of hydraulic fracturing has imposed a considerable stress on the local fresh water resources. This project will provide excellent academic training and industry exposure opportunity for undergraduate students and two graduate students from Environmental Engineering and Chemistry through participation in a multidisciplinary team involving strong industry-university collaboration. The industrial partner will advise the research team on practical constraints and potential complications associated with alternative water treatment technologies, so that the PIs will formulate research strategies to address the unique water treatment needs of the energy industry, which are substantially different from water treatment for domestic use. The PIs will expand their current outreach programs to engage K-12 and community college students from under-represented groups in STEM curricula and research. Research data will be reported in public domain including conferences, industrial seminars, and peer-reviewed journals.