Overview of the Clemson WEC David A. Ladner Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences Representing the 43 WEC fellows .

Overview of the Clemson WEC

David A. LadnerDepartment of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences

Representing the 43 WEC fellows

http://www.clemson.edu/ces/ladnergroup/WEC.pptx

Water-Energy Nexus

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Water for Energy (e.g., cooling water, oil extraction)

Water Energy

Energy for Water (e.g., desalination, wastewater treatment)

About the WEC

Multidisciplinary group of faculty assembled to address a global challenge: water-energy nexus

Broad perspective on sustainability to include the environmental impact of both water and energy systems

Established within a framework of existing research centers and institutes at Clemson University

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Vision: to promote global recognition of Clemson University as being at the forefront of research addressing the water-energy nexus.

Mission: to contribute research leading to technology innovations in water systems with a minimization of energy and carbon footprints as well as energy systems with a minimization of water and carbon footprints

Strategic Goal: to serve as a vehicle for attracting government and industry supported research.

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Research Themes

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Theme 1Innovative, energy-efficient water/wastewater purification

processes and systems

Theme 2Improved water efficiency of

energy resource development and production processes and systems

Theme 3Material science in water and energy

processes and systems

Theme 4Water and energy

informatics, sensors, monitoring, and

modeling

Theme 5Water and energy

management, policy, and economics

Cross-Cutting ThemeTechnology demonstration and transfer

Cross-Cutting ThemeEducation and Mentoring

Theme 1

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Innovative, energy-efficient water/wastewater purification processes and systems

Grand Challenge: Energy neutral water/wastewater purification­ Decrease the energy required for water/wastewater treatment­ Drive water/wastewater treatment processes with renewable or waste energy­ Generate energy while treating water/wastewater (ties with Theme 2)

Water– Lakes and rivers – Brackish waters– Seawater

Wastewater– Municipal wastewater– Industrial wastewater (wide variety)

• e.g. Fracking/produced waters

Both municipaland industrial use(e.g. drinking and process water)

Water reuse and resource recovery are goals

In other words, ALL water and treatment types are within our purview.

Project Examples

Energy Sources

Solar (AC or DC) Wind Tidal Waste heat from power

production Salinity gradients

Water/Wastewater Treatment Techniques

Reverse osmosis Nanofiltration Ultrafiltration Microfiltration Membrane bioreactors Membrane distillation Engineered osmosis Activated algae Catalysis Multi-stage flash distillation Sorbents Hybrid processes

Creative coupling of energy sources with treatment techniques.

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Theme 2

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Improved water efficiency of energy resource development, and production processes and systems

Focus:  Reductions in water use/footprint in all aspects of electrical power generation.

Thermoelectric power generation is an important motivating example.

Domestic, 1%Public Supply, 13%

Mining, 1%

Thermoelectric, 41% Livestock, 1%

Industrial, 5%

Aquaculture, 3%

Irrigation, 37%

U.S. Freshwater Withdrawals (USGS/NREL)

Recapture of evaporated water from cooling towers using atmospheric condensation

Surface modification of porous materials with polymer layers for improved cooling of water in cooling towers

Efficient atomization of water for evaporative cooling in cooling towers (iStockPhoto)

Project Examples

Reduced water use in mining and natural gas development (e.g. fracking)

Use of saline and impaired water for power plant cooling Energy production from salinity gradients via pressure-

retarded osmosis

Theme 3

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Material science in water and energy processes and systems

Project examples New materials for capacitive

desalination New membranes for engineered

osmosis Computational design of fouling-

resistant water purification membranes Ceramic and magnetic nanoparticle

materials for removal of trace organics, e.g., pharmaceuticals, from water

Deployable wet-responsive materials for removing heavy metals

Fibrous materials for reuse of water and recycling

Theme 4

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Water and energy informatics, sensors, monitoring, and modeling

Big data and data mining Sensors and remote sensing Monitoring (real time, strategies) Geographic information systems (GIS) Modeling Decision support systems (DSS) Smart water and grid systems (including distributed systems)

Example: The Intelligent River® Research Enterprise

SOURCES:­Some­images­used­on­this­slide­were­retrieved­from­public­websites­and­media­outlets.­Their­use­is­believed­to­be­covered­under­fair­use­copyright­provisions.

Foundations for Innovation

Theme 5

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Water and energy management, policy, and economics

Water and energy management and policyEconomics including CAPEX versus OPEX tradeoffs, and carbon

tax implicationsSocietal issues (stakeholders) including communicationsWater and energy securityRegulatory/compliance issuesUrbanization, renewal of aging

infrastructure, and climate change as technology drivers

Regional versus global applicability of potential technologies

NSF­PIRE­PROPOSAL• Preliminary­proposal­accepted­for­second­round­(Sustainable­Desalination­Technologies­Consortium­(SDTC))­to­NSF­

• Clemson­(lead)­joined­by­the­University­of­Texas-Austin,­University­of­Southern­California,­the­University­of­Texas-El­Paso­as­well­as­international­partners­from­Korea,­Singapore,­and­Saudi­Arabia

• $5M­Budget­over­5­years

Process Driving­Force

Potential­Niches

Seawater­Reverse­Osmosis­(SWRO)

(Applied)­Pressure

Seawater­Desalination

Forward­Osmosis­(FO) Osmotic­Pressure

Desalination,­Produced­Water­Treatment

Membrane­Distillation­(MD)

Thermal­Gradient

Desalination,­Produced­Water­Treatment

Electrodialysis­(ED) Electrical­Gradient

Brackish­Water­Desalination

Pressure­Retarded­Osmosis­(PRO)

Salinity­Gradient

SWRO­Brine

Reverse­Electrodialysis­(RED)

Salinity­Gradient

SWRO­Brine

Water Desalination and Salinity Gradient Energy Processes

NSF­ERC­Proposal

• On­the­horizon• Primary­target­of­the­WEC­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

• Tentative­working­title:­Center­for­Integrated­Water­and­Energy­Systems­(CIWES)

• An­ERC­would­involve significantly more WEC fellows­than­other­initiatives

• External­Partners• U.­Arizona­

• U.­Texas­–­Austin­

• U.­Southern­California

• U.­Texas­–­El­Paso

CIWES Research Themes

Industrial Affiliates Program

Member Recruiting is Ongoing– Engineering consulting firms– Public and private sector utilities– Manufacturers/companies

Each IAP member have a representative on the Industrial Affiliates Board (IAB)

Annual meeting with WEC to provide input on research WEC can respond quickly to the research needs of individual IAP

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Recent Press

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Who to Contact

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Gary AmyWEC CoordinatorEmail: gamy

David LadnerTheme 1 LeaderEmail: ladner

John SaylorTheme 2 LeaderEmail: jsaylor

Scott HussonTheme 3 LeaderEmail: shusson

Jason HallstromTheme 4 LeaderEmail: jasonoh

Jeffrey AllenTheme 5 LeaderEmail: jsallen

Innovative energy-efficient water/ wastewater purification processes and systems

Improved water efficiency of energy resource development, and production processes and systems

Material science in water and energy processes and systems

Water and energy informatics, sensors, monitoring, and modeling

Water and energy management, policy, and economics