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.

河流和地下含水层的高质量水的常规来源不再足以满足全球对淡水不断增长的需求。人们转向质量较差的来源，例如咸淡的地下水，必须淡化才能使其饮用。脱盐通常是使用反渗透（RO）膜进行的，这些膜在排除盐的同时可以通过。但是，现有的RO脱盐植物浪费了很大一部分源水，因为盐水被拒绝。由于常规技术的效率低下，它们还浪费了大量的能源。现有技术的第三个缺点是RO膜的短期寿命，因为它们很容易堵塞少于可溶的盐和胶体。批处理RO是一种新的淡化方法，与传统的过程相比，它减少了水和能量的浪费，并且不容易结垢。与传统的RO通过稳定的连续过程起作用，批量RO通过尚未完全研究或理解的环状，不稳定的过程来工作。试点结果表明，批处理实际上是可行的，并且可能比传统的RO技术提高能源效率2-3倍。已经确定了实现目标绩效所需的特定改进领域。为了实现上面列出的目标和目标，将在三个工作包中进行研究。第一个工作包将通过使用亚微米颗粒来跟踪RO膜附近的流体运动，从而对批处理RO过程进行微观视图，从而提供了对类似大小的粒子（如胶体二氧化硅）的行为的理解，这些粒子往往会导致犯规。除了强大的直接数值模拟外，这些实验还将为局部运输现象提供预测工具。模拟的重要输出（例如穿过膜的清洁水通量，所需的驾驶压力和消耗能量）将被平均用于在第二个工作包中开发的更粗糙的规模模型。该模型将预测整个系统性能，使我们能够在批处理RO系统配置的几种选项中选择最佳选择，每个选项都有某些优点和缺点。最后，在第三个工作包中，我们将构建和测试首选设计，并将其与常规的RO系统进行比较。我们将测试该系统的能源效率，恢复淡水的部分，以及通常在地下水中发生的污染物（尤其是硫酸钙和二氧化硅）污染的趋势。将执行RO膜的尸检，以检查我们的预测并对RO模块中的犯规及其分布有充分的了解。由于测试将代表批处理系统的真实应用，因此结果将与工业合作伙伴合作提供并支持该技术的随后商业化。

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