Advanced Membrane Based Water Treatment Technologies

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Advanced Membrane Based Water Treatment
Technologies Sohail Murad, Chemical Engineering
Department Prime Grant Support US Department of
Energy
Problem Statement and Motivation

• Understand The Molecular Basis For Membrane
  Based Separations
• Explain At The Fundamental Molecular Level Why
  Membranes Allow Certain Solvents To Permeate,
  While Others Are Stopped
• Use This Information To Develop Strategies For
  Better Design Of Membrane Based Separation
  Processes For New Applications.

Solvated Ion Clusters Prevent Ions from
Permeating the Membrane
Key Achievements and Future Goals
Technical Approach

• Explained The Molecular Basis Of Reverse Osmosis
  in a Desalination Process (Formation of Solvated
  Ionic Clusters).
• Used This Improved Understanding To Predict The
  Zeolite Membranes Would Be Effective In Removing
  A Wide Range Of Impurities From Water.
• This Prediction Was Recently Confirmed By
  Experimental Studies Carried Out In New Mexico.
• Showed That Ion Exchange Is Energetically Driven
  Rather Than Entropic. Explains The More Efficient
  Exchange Between Ca And Na In Zeolites.

• Determine The Key Parameters/Properties Of The
  Membrane That Influence The Separation Efficiency
• Use Molecular Simulations To Model The Transport
  Of Solvents And Solutes Across The Membrane?
• Focus All Design Efforts On These Key
  Specifications To Improve The Design Of
  Membranes.
• Use Molecular Simulations As A Quick Screening
  Tool For Determining The Suitability Of A
  Membrane For A Proposed New Separation Problem