Title: ElectrodialysisReverse Osmosis to Recover Dissolved Organics from Seawater
1Electrodialysis/Reverse Osmosis to Recover
Dissolved Organics from Seawater
Peter H. Pfromm, Tarl Vetter Department of
Chemical Engineering, Kansas State
University Manhattan, Kansas E. Michael Perdue,
Ellery Ingall, Jean-François Koprivnjak School
of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Georgia
Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia
2- Overview
- Introduction and Motivation
- Electrodialysis
- Reverse Osmosis
- Combined Process
- Process Characterization
- Experiments/Results
- Conclusions and Outlook
3Units Gigatons C, GtC/yr(1 GtC 109 tons of
carbon)
- Source NASA
- http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/CarbonCyc
le
4- Earth scientists would like to know
- Composition of carbon reservoirs
- Origin/fate of carbon reservoirs
- The problem with DOC in the oceans
- Only 1 gram of carbon in 1000 liters of
seawater...... - Salt
- The approach
- Engineers and scientists collaborate
- Develop a new separation approach
5What is marine dissolved organic carbon (DOC)?
- 30wt of DOC is high molecular weight (HMW)
gt1000 Da - 70wt of DOC is low molecular weight (LMW)
lt1000 Da - DOC is composed of many types of molecules,
examples
Aminosugars
Aromatics
Polysaccharides
Humic Species
6How do you detect marine dissolved organic carbon
(DOC)?
- Not a trivial issue reasonably accurate
part-per-billion level analysis for organic
carbon in a high-salt (chloride) matrix. - Shimadzu TOC-VCSN high-temperature catalytic
oxidation analyzer - Sample is acidified to remove inorganic carbon,
then combusted over Pt catalyst and CO2 is
detected by infrared - Many papers, book chapters, and meetings are
dedicated to this issue. Perdue at Georgia Tech
is one of the well known experts on this.
7The issue recover pure DOC for scientific
analysis. The problem salt
Water
Solid DOC sample
Salt
35 g/L salts 0.001 g/L1 ppm DOC
8State of the Art Recovery
Ultrafiltration
Adsorption Methods
Seawater
Porous Non-polar Resin
Salt 30 DOC
Resin Columns
Pore
100-300 µm
Seawater with remaining DOC
- Only recovers High Molecular Weight DOC (gt1000
Da) - Salt still present in final sample
- Only recovers select species (humic, etc)
- Must use pH or other method to desorb
9New Approach
RO removes fresh water concentrating salt and DOC
Water
Process
Freeze Dry
Solid DOC sample
Salt
35 g/L salts 1 ppm DOC
ED removes salt with minimal loss of uncharged
species
10The Processes
Electrodialysis
Reverse Osmosis
11Electrodialysis Spacers and Membranes
Astom AMX/CMX
12Electrodialysis
-
13Electrodialysis Characterization Limiting Current
(Ilim)
Limiting Current (Amps)
Temperature 25C
14The Processes
Electrodialysis
Reverse Osmosis
15Reverse Osmosis
Pure Water
Higher Concentration Retentate
Polyamide barrier
0.2 µm
Salt
Water
Water
Microporous polysulfone
40 µm
Polyester fabric
120 µm
Salt
Water
Discarded Permeate
Low Concentration Feed
http//www.dow.com/PublishedLiterature/
16Spiral Wound RO Module
http//www.purewaterplanet.com/images/ROMembrane.j
pg
17Reverse Osmosis Characterization
18Combined Process Operation
RO Unit
Electrodialysis Stack
19Overall
Retrieve seawater sample (200- 400 l)
Drive to site
Purge ED/RO systems
ED/RO 200 l seawater
Hope for good weather!
20Experimentation
21Examples Three shipboard experiments Start
with 200 liter seawater
22ED follow the limiting current density
23Summary
103
7
15
6
Final DOC ppm
3
14
26
21
24
15
6
21
21
2
17
Brackish
Seawater
24Conclusions
- ED/RO can recover a significant fraction of DOC
from seawater (60-90) - The process is fast, allowing treatment of large
volumes of samples - We are able to reduce salt concentration and
water volume to make a sample ready for freeze
drying - Preliminary results by NMR differences from the
high MW fraction that was previously available. - Scientists and engineers think differently but
can communicate and collaborate successfully
25Outlook
- Examine the impact of temperature
- Further minimize losses to the ED concentrate,
possibly with different membranes - Examine modulation of the ED current to optimize
DOC recovery - Applications for recovery of sensitive molecules
(proteins, enzymes)?
26Acknowledgements
- This work is supported by the National Science
Foundation, Grants No. 0425624 and 0425603. (Any
opinions, findings, and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect the views of NSF) - Dr. Mary Rezac who initiated the contact between
scientists and engineers that made this work
possible. - Poulomi Sannigrahi for help at sea and in the
laboratory. - We would especially like to thank Captain Raymond
Sweatte and the excellent crew of the R/V
Savannah for two great and productive cruises.