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John Thompson
Written by John Thompson
Sunday, 04 April 2010 11:45
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North Carolina State University
B.S. Chemical Engineering (2007)
Research Interests
Current Project
The main effort of my work focuses on developing and testing more advanced methods for monitoring the performance of reverse osmosis (RO) systems. This work focuses on two main areas: integrity monitoring and fouling detection. Membrane integrity describes the ability of a membrane to provide a barrier for the removal of the solute or suspended particle/matter of interest. Damaged or defective membranes will typically exhibit failure or loss of integrity and will need to be replaced. Integrity monitoring is very important for ensuring the removal of dangerous contaminants, particularly viruses, from sources such as wastewater and seawater, for water reuse applications. There is a need for sensitive, real-time monitoring to indicate when there is an integrity breach. Methods for microfiltration and ultrafiltration (MF/UF) are well standardized and accepted. However, this is not currently the case fo RO, and therefore the applicability of RO for water reuse applications is limited; nonetheless RO can theoretically provide a complete physical barrier to pathogens when there is not a breach of integrity. Membrane fouling, in general, occurs due to the accumulation of dissolved or suspended matter near the membrane surface, wherein the matter either deposits or precipitates out of solution onto the membrane, thereby blocking the surface. This leads to poor membrane performance, more frequent membrane cleaning and/or replacement, and higher energy consumption. Currently, monitoring methods are quite well established for low-pressure membrane systems such as MF and UF. However, in high-pressure membrane systems such as nanofiltration (NF) and RO, current methods are insufficient. For fouling detection, current methods for detecting the onset of membrane fouling in real-time, as well as characterizing the foulant in real-time, are also insufficient. Industry typically relies on the measurement of flux decline to detect whether fouling is occurring and subsequent membrane autopsies and additional analysis methods to identify the type of foulant. The development of more sensitive real-time monitoring methods would aid in the development of more efficient desalination processes and reduced costs and downtime in water desalination plants. They will also contribute to prolonged membrane life and overall steady operation of RO desalination plants. Publications J. Thompson, H. Gu, M. Uchymiak, A. Bartman, A. Rahardianto, P. Christofides, W.J. Kaiser, J.I. Faria, Y. Cohen, “A Novel Approach and System for Rapid Field Evaluation of Water Desalination”, In Preparation J. Thompson, N. Lin, R. Arbel, E. Lyster, J. Gilron, Y. Cohen “The Kinetics of Gypsum Crystallization in the Presence of Biofilm on RO Membranes,” In Preparation Selected Presentations “The Kinetics of Gypsum Crystillization in the Presence of a Biofilm on RO Membranes”, NAMS/ICIM 2010, Washington D.C., USA “A Novel Approach for Rapid Evaluation of Reverse Osmosis Desalination of Agricultural Drainage Water” 2010 UCLA Engineering Tech Forum, Feb. 11, 2010 “A Novel Approach and System for Rapid Field Evaluation of Water Desalination”, 2009 AIChE Annual Meeting, November 8-13, 2009, Nashville, Tennessee “Mineral Scale Detection and Monitoring in RO Desalination by Direct Membrane Surface Observation”, 2009 UCLA Engineering Tech Forum, April 23, 2009 “Real-time Mineral Scale Detection by Direct Observation of RO Membranes”, 2009 American Water Works Association, CA-NV Section, April 6-9, 2009, Santa Clara, CA
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