Nathan T. Hancock

Comprehensive Bench- and Pilot-Scale Investigation of Trace Organic Compounds Rejection by Forward Osmosis

Forward osmosis (FO) is a membrane separation technology that has been studied in recent years for application in water treatment and desalination. It can best be utilized as an advanced pretreatment for desalination processes such as reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) to protect the membranes from scaling and fouling. In the current study the rejection of trace organic compounds (TOrCs) such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, plasticizers, and flame-retardants by FO and a hybrid FO-RO system was investigated at both the bench- and pilot-scales. More than 30 compounds were analyzed, of which 23 nonionic and ionic TOrCs were identified and quantified in the studied wastewater effluent. Results revealed that almost all TOrCs were highly rejected by the FO membrane at the pilot scale while rejection at the bench scale was generally lower. Membrane fouling, especially under field conditions when wastewater effluent is the FO feed solution, plays a substantial role in increasing the rejection of TOrCs in FO. The hybrid FO-RO process demonstrated that the dual barrier treatment of impaired water could lead to more than 99% rejection of almost all TOrCs that were identified in reclaimed water.

A comparative life cycle assessment of hybrid osmotic dilution desalination and established seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation processes

The purpose of this study was to determine the comparative environmental impacts of coupled seawater desalination and water reclamation using a novel hybrid system that consist of an osmotically driven membrane process and established membrane desalination technologies. A comparative life cycle assessment methodology was used to differentiate between a novel hybrid process consisting of forward osmosis (FO) operated in osmotic dilution (ODN) mode and seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO), and two other processes: a stand alone conventional SWRO desalination system, and a combined SWRO and dual barrier impaired water purification system consisting of nanofiltration followed by reverse osmosis. Each process was evaluated using ten baseline impact categories. It was demonstrated that from a life cycle perspective two hurdles exist to further development of the ODN-SWRO process: module design of FO membranes and cleaning intensity of the FO membranes. System optimization analysis revealed that doubling FO membrane packing density, tripling FO membrane permeability, and optimizing system operation, all of which are technically feasible at the time of this publication, could reduce the environmental impact of the hybrid ODN-SWRO process compared to SWRO by more than 25%; yet, novel hybrid nanofiltration-RO treatment of seawater and wastewater can achieve almost similar levels of environmental impact.

Experimental results from RO-PRO: a next generation system for low-energy desalination.

A pilot system was designed and constructed to evaluate reverse osmosis (RO) energy reduction that can be achieved using pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO). The RO-PRO experimental system is the first known system to utilize energy from a volume of water transferred from atmospheric pressure to elevated pressure across a semipermeable membrane to prepressurize RO feedwater. In other words, the system demonstrated that pressure could be exchanged between PRO and RO subsystems. Additionally, the first experimental power density data for a RO-PRO system is now available. Average experimental power densities for the RO-PRO system ranged from 1.1 to 2.3 W/m2. This is higher than previous river-to-sea PRO pilot systems (1.5 W/m2) and closer to the goal of 5 W/m2 that would make PRO an economically feasible technology. Furthermore, isolated PRO system testing was performed to evaluate PRO element performance with higher cross-flow velocities and power densities exceeding 8 W/m2 were achieved with a 28 g/L NaCl draw solution. From this empirical data, inferences for future system performance can be drawn that indicate future RO-PRO systems may reduce the specific energy requirements for desalination by ∼1 kWh/m3.

Bidirectional Permeation of Electrolytes in Osmotically Driven Membrane Processes

Osmotically driven membrane processes (ODMP) are emerging water treatment and energy conversion technologies. In this work, we investigated the simultaneous forward and reverse (i.e., bidirectional) solute fluxes that occur in ODMP. Numerous experiments were conducted using ternary systems (i.e., systems containing three distinct ions) and quaternary systems (i.e., systems containing four distinct ions) in conjunction with a membrane in a forward osmosis orientation. Ten different combinations of strong electrolyte salts constitute the ternary systems; common anion systems studied included KCl-NaCl, KBr-NaBr, KNO(3)-NaNO(3), KCl-CaCl(2), and KCl-SrCl(2); and common cation systems explored were KCl-KH(2)PO(4), NaCl-NaClO(4), NaCl-Na(2)SO(4), NaCl-NaNO(3), and CaCl(2)-Ca(NO(3))(2). For each combination, two experiments were conducted with each salt being used once in the draw solution and once in the feed solution. Quaternary systems studied were NaCl-KNO(3), NaCl-MgSO(4), MgSO(4)-KNO(3), and NaCl-K(2)SO(4). Experimental fluxes of the individual ions were quantified and compared to a set of equations developed to predict bidirectional electrolyte permeation for ODMP in a forward osmosis orientation. Results demonstrate that ion fluxes from the draw solution to the feed solution are well predicted; however, ion fluxes from the feed solution to the draw solution show slight deviations from the model that can be rationalized in terms of the electrostatic interactions between charged ions. The model poorly predicts the flux of nitrate containing solutions; however, several unique mass transfer mechanisms are observed with implications for ODMP process design.

Characterization And Removal of Errors Due to Local Magnetic Anomalies In Directional Drilling

Summary Directional drilling has evolved over the last few decades to become standard operational practice in the oil and gas exploration industry. One method of steering utilizes a technique known as magnetic Measurement While Drilling (MWD). Vector measurements of geomagnetic fields along a well-bore are used to determine it orientation. This method is advantageous in that it is inexpensive and efficient. However, it can suffer from the errors caused by local magnetic anomalies such as those produced by telluric currents and magnetic geologic units. We have developed method to quantify the error associated with magnetic geologic units, and correct the drilling process for this error.