Develpment of Smart Filter System For Navy Shipboard Reverse Osmosis Applications

Reverse osmosis systems used by the Navy as shipboard systems sometimes experience prefilter plugging. The plugging material is usually neutrally buoyant in seawater, and cannot be removed by centrifuges. We are proposing a n its expanded mode, but will open up to one thousand times its original pore size for rapid backflushing in its collapsed mode. The smart filter will be made from FDA approved materials, and will be reusable indefinitely. In the Phase I program , we will synthesize the smart filter materials, test their effectiveness as a filter, and demonstrate the backflushing mode. Phase II work would focus on scaling up the chemistries for large-scale production.