Sliding Element Energy Recovery (SEER) For Water Purification Systems

In the US, there is unaddressed waste energy in membrane-based water treatment processes worth >$500M annually, across several sectors which current commercially available energy recovery devices cannot extract: brackish desalination, process water production, food/beverage production, potable reuse, produced water, and emergency/military systems. The lower pressures and flowrates in these markets have been neglected because municipal seawater desalination has much greater energy expenses and energy waste, and the developed technology did not effectively scale down in pressure or size. Today’s commercial options are not designed to provide a reasonable return on investment (ROI) for customers at relevant operating conditions: flowrates, pressures, and dynamic changes. The DOE Water Security Grand Challenge provides 5 goals for the US to reach by 2030 - adding energy recovery to unaddressed waste streams would help to satisfy 4 goals. A novel energy recovery device was developed focusing on effective simplicity to make reject stream energy recovery attainable for all: only five unique components, serviceability without removing piping, and decreased operating expenses up to 20%. Part count reduction is achieved by novel fluid passage design in combination with highly efficient sliding vane pump technology. The resulting device has low capital cost and high efficiency over a wide operating range, yielding a rapid return on investment in 12 months. During Phase I, business and technical groundwork was established for rapid commercialization through improvements from: 1) advanced computer simulation to enable rapid design evolution, 2) customer pipeline development with thirty interviews of industry leaders providing critical insights, yielding interest in pilot tests; 3) additive manufacturing innovations that enabled rapid prototyping and identifying applications of metal printing; 4) implementation of 6-axis lathe for complex manufacturing, and 5) completing a new scaled prototype and test loop (up to 50 gal/min, 570 psi). In Phase II, the analysis, design, manufacture, and test of the energy recovery device evolved to meet the high standards necessary for commercial use across brackish and seawater reverse osmosis. Manufacturing capabilities were expanded to include novel, high precision multi-axis grinding of the hardest man-made materials. Hundreds of components were designed and prototyped, 44 build-test cycles were completed, novel materials/processes were incorporated, and vane propulsion was improved. Intellectual property was generated, with three provisional patent applications and one full patent application submitted. In Phase IIA, the manufacture and incorporation of ceramics into the device will be tested and optimized for durability and performance. Prototypes will be iterated until lab performance meets expectations. Field tests will then begin with leaders in the industry to confirm real world performance and the commercialization strategy. Pre-orders and financing will be generated to support production scale-up and industry-wide adoption. FY 2023 Phase II, Release II Andrew Schevets (PI), Amorphic Tech Ltd Topic 6.d. Sliding Element Energy Recovery (SEER) For Water Purification Systems The commercial applications and other benefits of a universal energy recovery device are to reduce the energy use and operating expense of membrane systems by up to 20%. A Phase III project would support 1) the production of devices for the significant market demand; and 2) rollout of devices to desalination systems with governmental agencies (e.g., Bureau of Reclamation).