GOALI: Integrated Oxidation Vapor-gap Reverse Osmosis Systems for Water Reuse

美国西部正经历着近千年来最严重的干旱状况。因此，确保可靠的水供应对于确保国家的健康和繁荣至关重要。净化废水(经过处理的污水)，使其可以作为水源重复使用，是一种可持续的增加供水的方法，与从海水中提取饮用水等替代方法相比，使用的能源更少。为了安全饮用，废水必须经过彻底处理，以去除所有有害污染物，这是一种昂贵和资源密集型的做法。该研究项目将开发一种新的处理系统，将氧化和膜工艺相结合，以更有效地回收废水。这项工作将确定如何在新的膜工艺中去除废水污染物，以及如何使用氧化与膜相结合的方法进一步提高污染物的去除效果。该项目还将测试新系统与特鲁塞尔技术公司(Trussell Technologies)密切合作，从实际废水中去除受监管化合物的能力。特鲁塞尔技术公司是工业项目合作伙伴，也是加州水再利用的领先者。该项目将通过培训将在特鲁塞尔技术公司实习并了解水回用的社会重要性的学生来建立一支多样化的科学队伍。对社会的其他好处将通过教育和培训实现，包括指导科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的一名研究生。将废水转化为饮用水需要高度去除病原体和污染物，这是能源密集型和昂贵的。这一建议将推进以气隙反渗透(VGRO)为核心的膜回用处理系统的发展，该处理系统集成了强大的预氧化污染和有机微污染物控制。VGRO是一种新兴的过程，它通过挥发性分离成分，允许几乎完全拒绝非挥发性和半挥发性污染物，反渗透去除效果不佳的污染物，反渗透是目前重复使用操作中监管的去除基准污染物的传统系统。对该项目的初步研究还表明，VGRO中使用的膜可以抵抗强氧化剂(例如臭氧、游离氯)的降解，有可能克服传统反渗透膜的一个主要弱点。这项研究的科学目标是：(1)探索模拟废水污染物的氧化转化及其如何影响其在VGRO中的截留，(2)确定臭氧和氯化对膜性能和污染行为的影响，以及(3)与工业合作伙伴Trussell Technologies密切合作，对照污染物去除基准评估集成臭氧和VGRO工艺的性能，同时处理实际的废水回用进水。行业协作对于将研究保持在重用实践的现实边界内是必不可少的，它们将共同领导任务和指导学生。总体而言，这项工作的结果将推进VGRO与氧化作为一种潜在的替代目前昂贵的水再利用的做法，并提高对氧化和膜系统中污染物去除的基本理解。该项目还将通过一个向小学生传授用水、舞蹈和艺术的外展计划来提高科学素养。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The American West is experiencing drought conditions worse than those seen in nearly a millennium. Securing reliable water supplies is therefore essential to ensuring the health and prosperity of the nation. Purifying wastewater (treated sewage) so that it can be reused as a water source is a sustainable method to increase water supplies and uses less energy than alternatives, such as making drinking water out of seawater. To be safe for consumption, wastewater must be thoroughly treated to remove all harmful contaminants, a practice that is costly and resource intensive. This research project will develop a new treatment system that combines oxidation and membrane processes to reuse wastewater more efficiently. The work will determine how wastewater contaminants are removed in a new membrane process and how using oxidation combined with membranes can further improve contaminant removal. The project will also test the ability of the new system to remove regulated compounds from actual wastewater in close collaboration with Trussell Technologies, the industrial project partner and a leader in water reuse in California. The project will build a diverse scientific workforce by training students that will work as interns at Trussell Technologies and learn about the societal importance of water reuse. Additional benefits to society will be accomplished through education and training including the mentoring of one graduate student at the University of Colorado at Boulder.Converting wastewater effluent into potable water requires a high degree of pathogen and contaminant removal, which is energy-intensive and costly. This GOALI proposal will advance a new membrane-based reuse treatment train centered on vapor-gap reverse osmosis (VGRO) integrated with strong pre-oxidation for fouling and organic micropollutant control. VGRO is an emerging process that separates constituents by volatility, allowing for near-complete rejection of non-volatile and semi-volatile contaminants poorly removed by reverse osmosis, the conventional system for removal of benchmark contaminants regulated in current reuse operations. Preliminary research on this project also indicates that the membranes used in VGRO resist degradation from strong oxidants (e.g., ozone, free chlorine), potentially overcoming a major weakness of conventional reverse osmosis membranes. The scientific objectives of the research are to (1) explore the oxidative transformation of model wastewater contaminants and how this affects their rejection in VGRO, (2) determine the impact of ozonation and chlorination on membrane properties and fouling behavior, and (3) evaluate the performance of an integrated ozonation and VGRO process against contaminant removal benchmarks while treating actual wastewater reuse influents in close collaboration with the industrial partner, Trussell Technologies. The industrial collaboration is essential for keeping the research within realistic boundaries for reuse practices and they will be co-leading tasks and mentoring students. Overall, the results of this work will advance VGRO with oxidation as a potential alternative to current costly practices in water reuse and improve the fundamental understanding of contaminant removal in oxidation and membrane systems. The project will also improve scientific literacy through an outreach program that teaches elementary school students about water using dance and art.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.