ERI: Fertilizer-Based Liquid Desiccants: New Possibilities for Energy Efficient Dehumidification and Water Recycling

增加粮食生产以可持续地养活不断增长的人口需要创新，以提高农业中能源、水和化肥的使用效率。室内植物环境中可持续粮食生产的一个很有前途的解决方案是使用化肥作为气候控制的除湿剂的新概念。在这个过程中，化肥基液体干燥剂被用来从潮湿的环境中抽出水蒸气，然后输送到植物中。通过这种方式，在室内环境干燥的同时回收水，并通过避免大多数液体干燥剂系统常见的密集再生周期来实现显著的节能。为了实现释放化肥干燥剂的潜力以实现高效除湿和水循环的目标，该项目解决了两个基本的科学和工程挑战：(1)开发实时控制液体干燥剂温度的操作规程，以便在动态循环间歇过程中保持较高的除湿率和较低的比能量使用量；(2)通过促进对极化发生在多个并发领域的基本理解，确定改善性能的机制。此外，该项目将通过与学生、社区和行业合作伙伴在一系列外展和教育倡议上合作，支持底特律和庞蒂亚克可持续发展中心的发展。将开发一个跨多个并发区域的极化计算模型，以描述温度、蒸汽浓度和单个离子浓度。由于极化发生在许多不同的膜过程中，跨多个并行结构域的极化发生在许多不同的膜过程中，因此从这项工作开发的模型可能对膜科学界具有深远的实用价值，以改进极化分析的处理。同样，分析化肥除湿性能对干燥剂温度的响应，以及随后适当控制方案的开发，将提供对间歇过程动力学和更广泛的热管理策略的洞察。基于肥料的液体除湿剂可以为室内植物环境的能效闭环水循环和湿度控制开辟新的可能性，从而为可持续农业的未来做出贡献。此外，该项目还包括一个重要的教学和宣传部分，以补充研究活动，并帮助使科学进步与社会需求保持一致。一系列至少6名学生主导的志愿者项目将在底特律和庞蒂亚克支持社区花园和其他可持续发展倡议。至少60名大学生的参与是有目标的，并将由学生俱乐部提供便利。这将有助于将学生与他们的社区联系起来，并促进学生俱乐部和社区组织之间的持久伙伴关系。此外，将与行业合作伙伴密切合作，开发以能源工程为重点的新课程，以帮助为可持续能源未来培养下一代工程师。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。

Increasing food production to sustainably feed a growing population requires innovation to improve the efficiency of energy, water, and fertilizer use in agriculture. One promising solution for sustainable food production in indoor plant environments is the novel concept of using fertilizer as a dehumidification agent for climate control. In this process, fertilizer-based liquid desiccant is used to draw water vapor out of the humid environment for delivery to the plants. In this way, water is recycled while the indoor environment is dried, and significant energy savings are achieved by avoiding the need for intensive regeneration cycles that are common to most liquid desiccant systems. To realize the goal of unlocking the potential of fertilizer desiccant for efficient dehumidification and water recycling, this project addresses two fundamental scientific and engineering challenges: (1) to develop operational protocols for the real-time control of liquid desiccant temperatures so as to maintain high dehumdification rates and low specific energy use throughout the dynamic recirculation batch process; and (2) to identify mechanisms for improved performance by advancing fundamental understanding of polarization when it occurs across multiple concurrent domains. In addition, this project will support the development of sustainability hubs in Detroit and Pontiac through collaboration with student, community, and industry partners on a series of outreach and education initiatives.A computational model of polarization across multiple concurrent domains will be developed to describe temperature, vapor concentration, and individual ion concentrations. Because polarization across multiple concurrent domains occurs in a great many different membrane processes, the models developed from this work may have far reaching utility to the membrane science community to improve treatment of polarization analysis. Likewise the analysis of fertilizer dehumidification performance in response to desiccant temperature, and then the subsequent development of appropriate control protocols, will provide insight into batch process dynamics and thermal management strategies more generally. Fertilizer-based liquid desiccant dehumidification can open up new possibilities for energy efficient closed-loop water recycling and humidity control of indoor plant environments, and thereby contribute to a sustainable farming future. In addition, an important teaching and outreach component of this project is included to complement research activity and help align scientific progress with the needs of society. A series of at least 6 student-led volunteer projects will support community gardens and other sustainability initiatives throughout Detroit and Pontiac. Involvement of at least 60 university students is targeted, and will be facilitated by student clubs. This will help to connect students to their communities and foster lasting partnerships between student clubs and community organizations. In addition, new curriculum focused on energy engineering will be developed in close collaboration with industry partners, to help prepare the next generation of engineers for a sustainable energy future.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.