Batch Reverse Osmosis (RO): Desalination with minimum wastage of energy and water

批量反渗透 (RO)：以最少的能源和水浪费进行海水淡化

• 批准号: EP/T025867/1
• 负责人: Philip Davies
• 金额: $ 77.67万
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FT025867%2F1
• 关键词: Batch; Reverse; Osmosis; RO; Desalination

Conventional sources of good quality water from rivers and underground aquifers are no longer sufficient to meet the growing demand for fresh water across the world. People are turning instead to sources of poorer quality, such as brackish groundwater, that have to be desalinated to make them potable. Desalination is typically carried out using reverse osmosis (RO) membranes that allow water to pass while excluding salt. However, existing RO desalination plants waste a significant fraction of the source water as rejected brine. They also waste significant amounts of energy due to inefficiency of the conventional technology. A third drawback of existing technology is the short life of the RO membranes, as they readily clog with sparingly soluble salts and colloids. Batch RO is a new approach to desalination that, compared to conventional processes, reduces the wastage of water and energy and is less prone to fouling. Unlike conventional RO that works by a steady continuous process, batch RO works by means of a cyclic, unsteady process which is not yet fully studied or understood. Pilot results have shown that batch RO is practically feasible and likely to achieve energy efficiency 2-3 times better than conventional RO technology. Specific areas of improvement needed to achieve the target performance have been identified.To achieve the aims and objectives listed above, research will be undertaken in three work packages. The first work package will take a micro view of the batch RO process by using submicron particles to track motion of fluid near the RO membranes, thus providing understanding of the behaviour of similarly-sized particles such as colloidal silica, that tend to cause fouling. Alongside powerful direct numerical simulations, these experiments will result in a predictive tool for local transport phenomena. The important outputs from the simulations - such as clean water flux through the membrane, required driving pressure and consumed energy - will be averaged for use in a coarser scale model to be developed in the second work package. This model will predict the whole system performance, enabling us to choose the best among several options for the configuration of the batch RO system, each of which has certain pros and cons. Finally, in the third work package, we will build and test the preferred design and compare it against a conventional RO system. We will test the system for energy efficiency, recovered fraction of freshwater, and tendency to foul with contaminants (especially calcium sulfate and silica) which commonly occur in groundwater. Autopsies of the RO membranes will be performed to check our predictions and gain a full understanding of fouling and its distribution within the RO module. Because the tests will be representative of real applications of the batch RO system, the results will inform and support subsequent commercialisation of the technology in collaboration with industrial partners.

来自河流和地下含水层的传统优质水源已不足以满足世界各地对淡水日益增长的需求。人们转而使用质量较差的水源，例如微咸地下水，这些水必须经过淡化才能饮用。海水淡化通常使用反渗透 (RO) 膜进行，该膜允许水通过，同时排除盐。然而，现有的反渗透海水淡化厂将很大一部分源水作为废盐水浪费。由于传统技术效率低下，它们还浪费了大量的能源。现有技术的第三个缺点是反渗透膜的寿命短，因为它们很容易被难溶盐和胶体堵塞。间歇式反渗透是一种新的海水淡化方法，与传统工艺相比，可以减少水和能源的浪费，并且不易结垢。与通过稳定连续过程工作的传统反渗透不同，批量反渗透通过循环、非稳定过程进行工作，这一过程尚未得到充分研究或理解。试点结果表明，间歇式反渗透实际上是可行的，并且可能实现比传统反渗透技术高2-3倍的能源效率。已经确定了实现目标绩效所需的具体改进领域。为了实现上述目的和目标，研究将分三个工作包进行。第一个工作包将通过使用亚微米颗粒跟踪反渗透膜附近流体的运动，从微观角度观察批量反渗透过程，从而了解类似尺寸的颗粒（例如胶态二氧化硅）的行为，这些颗粒往往会导致结垢。除了强大的直接数值模拟之外，这些实验还将产生本地交通现象的预测工具。模拟的重要输出——例如通过膜的清洁水通量、所需的驱动压力和消耗的能量——将被平均，以用于第二个工作包中开发的更粗略的模型。该模型将预测整个系统的性能，使我们能够在批量反渗透系统的配置的多个选项中选择最佳的，每个选项都有一定的优缺点。最后，在第三个工作包中，我们将构建和测试首选设计，并将其与传统的反渗透系统进行比较。我们将测试系统的能源效率、淡水回收率以及地下水中常见污染物（尤其是硫酸钙和二氧化硅）的结垢倾向。我们将对 RO 膜进行尸检，以检查我们的预测并充分了解污垢及其在 RO​​ 模块内的分布。由于测试将代表间歇式反渗透系统的实际应用，因此结果将为与工业合作伙伴合作的后续技术商业化提供信息和支持。

项目成果

Computational and experimental study of flow and fouling in a membrane channel

膜通道中流动和污染的计算和实验研究

• 发表时间: 2022
• 作者: Fadhila, H

Numerical investigation of unsteady microscale flow in a spacer-filled membrane channel

填充垫片膜通道中不稳定微尺度流动的数值研究

• 发表时间: 2021
• 作者: Dhila H

Desalination by batch reverse osmosis (RO) of brackish groundwater containing sparingly soluble salts

• DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2023.116875
• 发表时间: 2023-08-12
• 期刊: DESALINATION
• 影响因子: 9.9
• 作者: Hosseinipour，Ebrahim;Harris，Ellie;Davies，Philip A.
• 通讯作者: Davies，Philip A.

Direct Numerical Simulation of Flow in a Membrane Channel Under Oscillating Inlet Conditions

振荡入口条件下膜通道流动的直接数值模拟

• DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4596912
• 发表时间: 2023
• 作者: Fadhila H