I-Corps: A Controlled Cavitation Technology (CCT) Biofouling Removal Device

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响和商业潜力是，每年可将2.13亿美元的水质监测运营成本减少约5000万美元。水质监测系统是收集水资源数据、保护人类赖以生存的水环境的重要设备。目前，全国各地部署了6000多个WQMS。这些系统需要经常维护，维修间隔平均约为三周。这大大增加了水管理区整体运营预算的开支。我们的控制空化技术（CCT）系统可以与现有的WQMS集成，通过将维护周期延长到三个月来解决生物污染问题。通过I-Corps项目的成功客户发现，将为WQMS的CCT生物污垢去除产品在美国打开一个每年1800万美元的新市场。CCT设备可以降低WQMS的维护成本，从而降低整体运行预算。此外，它将提供一个机会，在节省预算的情况下部署约20%的WQMS，并减少由于生物污染增长而导致的数据损坏，从而支持和提高水资源环境管理的有效性。I-Corps项目将专注于为我们的第一批目标客户（狭义定义为WQMS运营商）提供CCT生物污垢去除设备。CCT是一种去除水下表面生物污垢的创新解决方案。它可以有效地去除生物污垢，而不会损坏受影响的表面。此外，生物污垢的去除可以在不接触目标表面的情况下有效地完成。该技术适用于去除水下光学传感器表面的生物膜。此外，CCT是一种环保技术，因为它不使用化学物质来去除生物污垢。CCT将在生物污垢开始影响传感器之前阻止其生长。与现有的“刷式”清洁设备相比，这项技术在技术上和商业上都是可行的。此外，该技术的其他商业机会包括去除海洋（船体清洁）和医疗（手术工具）应用中的生物污垢。知识产权（IP）是通过专利申请解决的。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to reduce the annual water quality monitoring operating cost of $213MM by an estimated $50MM per year. Water quality monitoring systems (WQMS) are crucial equipment to collect the water resource data and to protect the water environment which is essential to sustain human life. Currently, over 6,000 WQMS are deployed all over the country. These systems require frequent maintenance with service intervals of about three weeks on average. This adds significant expenses to the overall operating budget of the water management districts. Our controlled cavitation technology (CCT) system would be able to integrate with the current WQMS to solve the biofouling problems by expanding the maintenance period to three months. Through the successful customer discovery of this I-Corps project a new annual $18MM market will be opened in the US for the CCT biofouling removal product for WQMS. The CCT device can reduce maintenance costs of WQMS and thereby reduce the overall operating budget. Furthermore, it will support and increase effectiveness of water resource environment management by presenting an opportunity to deploy about 20% more WQMS with the saved budget and reducing the corrupted data due to the biofouling growth.This I-Corps project will focus on a CCT biofouling removal device for our first target customers narrowly defined as WQMS operators. CCT is an innovative solution for removal of biofouling growth on underwater surfaces. It can remove biofouling effectively without damaging the affected surfaces. Also, the removal of biofouling can be done effectively without contacting the target surface. This technology is applicable for removal of biofilm on underwater optic sensor surfaces. Furthermore, CCT is an environmentally friendly technology because it does not use chemicals for biofouling removal. CCT will prevent the growth of biofouling before it starts to affect the sensor. This technology lends itself into a technically and a commercially feasible state-of-the-art solution compared to the existing "brush type" cleaning devices. Furthermore, other commercial opportunities for this technology include the removal of biofouling in marine (hull cleaning) and medical (surgical tools) applications. Intellectual property (IP) is being addressed through a patent application.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.