DEVELOPMENT OF A MEMBRANE-BASED COMPRESSED-AIR DEHYDRATOR

THE NAVY HAS A NEED FOR A RELIABLE, COMPACT, AND ENERGY-EFFICIENT COMPRESSED-AIR DEHYDRATION SYSTEM. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP SUCH A SYSTEM BASED ON SYNTHETIC MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY. PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTAL AND DESIGN STUDIES AT BEND RESEARCH INDICATE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO DEVELOP MEMBRANES AND MEMBRANE MODULES DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS APPLICATION--RESULTING IN A SYSTEM THAT CONTAINS ONLY ABOUT 20 FT2 OF MEMBRANE. AT THE HEART OF THIS SYSTEM IS A NEW TYPE OF MEMBRANE MODULE THAT OVERCOMES THE MAJOR SHORTCOMINGS OF CONVENTIONAL MEMBRANE MODULES WHEN USED FOR AIR DEHUMIDIFICATION. FOR THE PHASE I PROGRAM WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING THESE OPTIMIZED MEMBRANES AND MEMBRANE MODULES AND TO DELIVER A PREPROTOTYPE MODULE; UNDER PHASE II WE WILL BUILD AND DELIVER A FULL PROTOTYPE THAT WILL BE THE MODEL FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION IN PHASE III.