SBIR Phase I: Development and Evaluation of Novel Polymeric Sheet Membranes for Membrane Bioreactors

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is that it delivers a novel polymeric membrane filtration material that is resistant to fouling by sticky organic matter present in wastewaters treated in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). Membrane fouling is a leading problem encountered in MBR systems, and is poorly served by incumbent technologies. Filtration membranes made from the proposed engineered polymer material could be significantly more fouling resistant, easily cleanable, and display enhanced chemical resilience compared to conventional polymeric membranes used in commercially available MBRs. The global MBR applications market is at its early growth phase, with no clear dominant technology and market leader. The proposed membrane technology will be highly differentiated and is expected to substantially improve the economics and reliability of MBRs. The technical objectives of this Phase I research project are to develop a flat sheet membrane with (1) high water permeability, (2) hydrophilic and super-oleophobic surface properties, (3) high mechanical/thermal/acid/base resistance, and (4) high oxidant resistance. Membranes with high water permeability require lower operating pressures (lower energy requirements). Membranes that are extremely hydrophilic are more fouling resistant, and membranes that are highly oleophobic are more oil-tolerant. Mechanical, thermal, and chemical (acid, base, chlorine) tolerance are critical for enabling aggressive membrane cleaning. The oxidant tolerance is specifically desired to render the membranes functional in high purity oxygen membrane bioreactors (HPO-MBR), where high organic loading is maintained in persistently higher oxidation potential (high dissolved oxygen) media. Thus, polymeric membranes with better long-term oxidant resistance could exhibit longer lifetimes, and lower cleaning frequencies and downtime in an HPO-MBR process. This project aims to molecularly design the side chain functionality of the backbone polymer entity to create such an oxidation tolerant membrane. A polymeric membrane with these specifications has never been made, but would be very attractive to customers that need to treat wastewater with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) in advanced MBR processes.