Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Desalination, industrial, and agricultural wastes are at all-time highs, containing brine output from various cleaning processes full of chemicals, radiation, pharmaceuticals, nutrients, heavy metals, endocrine disrupters, boron, hormones, and salts. This waste is discharged back into the soil and oceans either through surface water and sewer discharge, injection wells, evaporation ponds, or land application from agriculture irrigation. The planet needs a cleaner, more environmentally sustainable approach, to treating wastewater discharge. Due to future limitations on certain constituents and the need for conserving the world's water, companies are seeking new technologies to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. During the program effort, Micronic Technologies demonstrated a revolutionary wastewater cleaning technology based on a tornadic flow process. Micronic engineers considered this water purification technology as revolutionary in its effectiveness across a broad range of contaminants and a wide range of applications. However, it was realized that to ensure the success of a start-up business model, the company would initially have to focus on a very specific target audience. As a result, the program Investigators choose to pursue a target audience and associated market in the cheese production industry. This rationale was based on the significant wastewater issues faced by cheese production facilities. For each ton of raw milk processed, depending on the product, the dairy industry generates anywhere from over 100 gallons to nearly 16,000 gallons of wastewater (Fluence, 2020) and producing 1 pound of cheese leaves 9 pounds of whey as a byproduct (Danovich, 2018). In fact, the dairy industry is considered one of the most polluting components of the food industry due to the large volume of wastewater it generates as compared to associated water consumption (Paçal et al., 2019). In general dairy production, the main contaminants are organic (e.g., carbohydrates, fats, proteins, etc.). More specifically, in cheese production, a substantial component of the waste product is whey. It is considered a significant pollutant due to its high organic load. Geiling (2016) states... "Whey leftover from the cheese-making process is not an easy product to dispose of. High in phosphorus and nitrogen, it can't be dumped into water sources - like fertilizers, an excess of whey could lead to things like dead zones and algal blooms. Domestic environmental regulations also restrict the amount of whey that can be spread across land - in the top cheese-producing states of Wisconsin and New York, the application of whey to land is regulated by government agencies, and farmers are required to limit the amount they apply. In California, whey regulations have been so burdensome for some producers that they've been forced to shutter their cheese-making operations. Imperial Valley Cheese, the state's last producer of Swiss and Muenster cheeses, shuttered its doors in 2013, citing a lack of financially feasible disposal options for their whey." Guerreiro et al. (2020) note that overall, making cheese manufacturing environmentally sustainable is a major concern in the industry due to the significant environmental impact from the discharge of manufacturing wastewater. These streams carry heavy loads of salinity, nutrients, organic matter, solids and oils and fats. In addition, such discharges are meeting increasingly stringent quality requirements. With the decision by Micronic to pursue the cheese manufacturing market as the target audience, the Investigators partnered with Grande Cheese on the technical effort. With annual revenues over $500 million and over 1,000 employees, Grande is a major cheese producer in the state of Wisconsin. Grande Cheese provided in-kind services and sample wastewater for testing during the program effort. As noted earlier, Grande Cheese is one of the largest cheese manufacturers in Wisconsin. Grande, like most midwestern companies that use water, "freely" pumps it out of the ground, uses it, treats it, and discharges it to a small creek where it eventually ends up in the Gulf of Mexico. Grande's two largest cheese and whey plants each pull 500,000 gallons of water out of the ground every day. This is typical for plants of this size. References: Danovich, Tove (2018, August 16). One pound of cheese makes nine pounds of whey. Where does it all go? https://thecounter.org/whey-disposal-reuse-cheese-dairy-byproduct/ Fluence (2020, April 20). Generating Power from Dairy Waste. https://www.fluencecorp.com/generating-power-from-dairy-waste/ Geiling, Natasha. (2016, January 8). Electricity From Cheese Is Possible - And Happening Around The World. https://thinkprogress.org/electricity-from-cheese-is-possible-and-happening-around-the-world-6c1f0792ef36/ Guerreiro, R. C., Jerónimo, E., Luz, S., Pinheiro, H. M., & Prazeres, A. R. (2020). Cheese manufacturing wastewater treatment by combined physicochemical processes for reuse and fertilizer production. Journal of environmental management, 264, 110470. Paçal, Müge, Semerci, Neslihan, Çall, Bar. (2019). Treatment of synthetic wastewater and cheese whey by the anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor. Environmental Science & Pollution Research, 09441344, Nov 2019, Vol. 26, Issue 32. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Micronic's Cooperative R&D Agreement (CRADA) collaborator, EPA - Dr. Leland Vane, has been provided the details of all testing so he might develop testing protocols for further testing at EPA. Pat Cardif, Sr. Environmental Manager at Grande Cheese has also been apprised of the testing results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The Phase II program has been completed.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Phase II program was completed during this reporting period. The purpose of the SBIR Phase II research program was structured around three main goals: advancement of the Phase I proof-of-concept system to a Phase II testing design through component modeling and validation and the fabrication of a Phase II unit; the collection of operational and cost data for system value engineering; and the development of a scalability tool for future commercialization applications. During the Phase I program research that was carried out entailed the modification of a variant of the MicroEVAP™ technology, the ME1 system, to produce a more advanced variant, the ME1A, with a near-ZLD (zero liquid discharge) capability. The ME1A system was then run against target contamination wastewater samples provided by Grande Cheese. These samples included both high TDS (total dissolved solids) cheese brine and lower TDS Reverse Osmosis (RO) retentate which is produced during whey processing. The Phase I research results showed that the ME1A consistently removed over 99% of TDS and most other solids. The Phase I operational testing also indicated system issues with fouling from very high TDS wastewater streams. Phase II research has been conducted to address the design changes needed to address these issues and to increase the throughput and overall efficiency of the system. The results of the Phase II research have produced a detailed system design for the Phase II prototype, branded as the Tornadic One-Pass™ or TOP™. A TOP™unit was fabricated and has been delivered to the Environmental Protection Agency at the Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER) in Cincinnati, Ohio for controlled environment testing. The program research work was achieved through collaboration and team building among the five Principals on the program; the Prime, Micronic Technologies; the Strategic Partner, Grande Cheese; the Subcontractors on the Program, NovaTech and the Larta Institute; and the Consultant on the Program, Dojo Research & Consulting. Grande Cheese provided guidance on cheese industry needs, requirements, and applications while NovaTech and DoJo assited in the development of the Phase II design. NovaTech fabricated the Phase II unit based on this design. Larta worked with Micronic on commercialization identifying opportunities for customer piloting and potential sales. The TOP™ technology provides two products: clean water and a concentrated contaminant sludge. Potential applications for these products are found in a myriad of recycling and reuse scenarios such as clean water for process reuse or wash water, salt recovery for recycling back into the manufacturing process, conversion of dairy solids to animal feed, etc. In general, the successful development and commercialization of Micronic's technology will allow cheese producers to more efficiently reuse water and reduce the water footprint of such operations.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Vane, Leland M., Rock, Kelly, and Jordan, Don, (2022). Energy efficient vortex-enhanced water evaporation technology for concentrated brine management: Theory and process simulation evaluation. Desalination, Volume 522, 2022, 115427, ISSN 0011-9164, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2021.115427.

Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:During the program effort, Micronic Technologies demonstrated a revolutionary wastewater cleaning technology based on a tornadic flow process. Micronic engineers considered this water purification technology as revolutionary in its effectiveness across a broad range of contaminants and a wide range of applications. However, it was realized that to ensure the success of a start-up business model, the company would initially have to focus on a very specific target audience. As a result, the program Investigators choose to pursue a target audience and associated market in the cheese production industry. This rationale was based on the significant wastewater issues faced by cheese production facilities. For each ton of raw milk processed, depending on the product, the dairy industry generates anywhere from over 100 gallons to nearly 16,000 gallons of wastewater and producing 1 pound of cheese leaves 9 pounds of whey as a byproduct. In fact, the dairy industry is considered one of the most polluting components of the food industry due to the large volume of wastewater it generates as compared to associated water consumption. In general dairy production, the main contaminants are organic (e.g., carbohydrates, fats, proteins, etc.). More specifically, in cheese production, a substantial component of the waste product is whey. It is considered a significant pollutant due to its high organic load. Overall, making cheese manufacturing environmentally sustainable is a major concern in the industry due to the significant environmental impact from the discharge of manufacturing wastewater. These streams carry heavy loads of salinity, nutrients, organic matter, solids and oils and fats. In addition, such discharges are meeting increasingly stringent quality requirements. With the decision by Micronic to pursue the cheese manufacturing market as the target audience, the Investigators partnered with Grande Cheese on the technical effort. With annual revenues over $500 million and over 1,000 employees, Grande is a major cheese producer in the state of Wisconsin. Grande Cheese provided in-kind services and sample wastewater for testing during the program effort. Grande, like most midwestern companies that use water, "freely" pumps it out of the ground, uses it, treats it, and discharges it to a small creek where it eventually ends up in the Gulf of Mexico. Grande's two largest cheese and whey plants each pull 500,000 gallons of water out of the ground every day. This is typical for plants of this size. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Micronic has established a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the goal of testing a commercial unit as part of the Phase III commercialization effort. The Lead on the CRADA is Dr. Leland Vane. Dr. Vane has been provided the details of all testing so he might develop protocols for further testing at EPA. In addition, Pat Cardif, Sr., the Environmental Manager at Grande Cheese, has also been apprised of the testing results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Executive Summary The purpose of the SBIR Phase II research program was structured around three main goals: advancement of the Phase I proof-of-concept system to a Phase II testing design through component modeling and validation and the fabrication of a Phase II unit; the collection of operational and cost data for system value engineering; and the development of a scalability tool for future commercialization applications. During the Phase I program research that was carried out entailed the modification of a variant of the MicroEVAP™ technology, the ME1 system, to produce a more advanced variant, the ME1A, with a near-ZLD (zero liquid discharge) capability. The ME1A system was then run against target contamination wastewater samples provided by Grande Cheese. These samples included both high TDS (total dissolved solids) cheese brine and lower TDS Reverse Osmosis (RO) retentate which is produced during whey processing. The Phase I research results showed that the ME1A consistently removed over 99% of TDS and most other solids. The Phase I operational testing also indicated system issues with fouling from very high TDS wastewater streams. Phase II research has been conducted to address the design changes needed to address these issues and to increase the throughput and overall efficiency of the system. The results of the Phase II research have produced a detailed system design for the Phase II prototype, branded as the Tornadic One-Pass™ or TOP™. A TOP™ unit was fabricated and has been delivered to the Environmental Protection Agency at the Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER) in Cincinnati, Ohio for controlled environment testing. The TOP™ technology provides two products: clean water and a concentrated contaminant sludge. Potential applications for these products are found in a myriad of recycling and reuse scenarios such as clean water for process reuse or wash water, salt recovery for recycling back into the manufacturing process, conversion of dairy solids to animal feed, etc. In general, the successful development and commercialization of Micronic's technology will allow cheese producers to more efficiently reuse water and reduce the water footprint of such operations. 2. Tornadic One-PassTM (TOP™) Technology The Micronic patented TOP™ technology is an innovative technology unlike other evaporators which use a smooth, laminar flow resulting in the water flowing in parallel layers against the system's walls and points of contact producing scaling, fouling, and the need for pretreatments and chemical dosing. Other technologies often depend on multiple treatment steps using filters, chemicals, membranes, high pressures, and high temperatures. TOP™, however separates contaminants from water in a single step. It uses a turbulent flow (vs. laminar) creating micro-droplets of water allowing for extremely efficient evaporation and re-capture of clean water through condensation. The basic concept behind the TOP™ technology is closed process driven by a blower moving water vapor around a looping pipe structure. An influent wastewater stream is injected into the Pod. Inside the Pod, contaminants and water are split into a concentrated wastewater stream and a clean water vapor. The concentrated wastewater is separated out of the water vapor flow path leaving clean water vapor to continue circulation in the loop. This clean water vapor is then run through an evaporator/condenser where clean product water condenses out of the air stream. The clean water is then collected using gravity feed into a storage tank. 3. Objective 1: Create R&D TOP™ Unit for Test and Evaluation Initial work on the Phase II system design was directed toward upgrading the Phase I laboratory ZLD design, branded ME1A, to a more advanced food grade system, branded ME2. Once an initial ME2 design was developed in November 2020, a preliminary cost estimate was calculated giving a bottom-line total of almost $700,000. To address the high cost of the ME2 design, Micronic worked with Grande Cheese to adjust the food grade requirement. Grande advised that many of the processes which directly support the food grade production line did not need to conform to 3-A Dairy Standards. This work resulted in the development of a TOP™ design which is estimated to be 20% to 30% lower in cost than the preliminary ME2 design. 4. Objective 2: Create an Accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics Model of the TOP™ Evaporator Pod During the Phase II effort, work toward developing a CFD (computational fluid dynamics) model of the Phase II system Pod focused on the design and implementation of modifications to the Micronic Engineering Flow Bench (EFB). The EFB, which was updated during the program effort, is an instrumented laboratory setup designed to allow various Pod configurations to be tested. Data from this testing was used to develop an accurate CFD model of the Phase II system Pod. 5. Objective 3: Create a CFD Model of a Scaled-Up Evaporator Pod As noted in the previous section, CFD modeling of the Pod using the EFB was conducted during the Phase II program effort. Once this initial characterization was completed, the CFD modeling effort expanded to investigate possible scaled-up configurations for higher throughput Pods. This modeling effort serves to predict the pressure drop and flow energy consumption as a function of scale and to be a source of data for creating a simplified engineering model for scaling of the Pod. 6. Objective 4: Create an Engineering Model of Heat Exchangers Heat exchangers (HX's) are a critical element of the Phase II system. Accordingly, significant work was conducted on the design of each exchanger and the identification of an appropriate vendor to fabricate these designs. Earlier system designs included fin tube exchangers but it was decided they were not a good fit and were replaced for the updated TOP™ design. Instead, a thermohydraulic design approach was implemented for the Phase II TOP™ unit. 7. Objective 5: Simplify Design The preliminary ME2 system design incorporated five heat exchangers (HX's), three moisture/vapor separators, five pumps, and a blower. A key focus area in the development of the TOP™ design was reducing the size and/or the number of HX's, as well as reducing the number of pumps. This design simplification resulted in a reduction to four HX's and three pumps which, in turn, reduced the amount of instrumentation and control equipment required, making the system less expensive and potentially easier to maintain. 8. Objective 6: Improve Energy Efficiency The blower unit is a key component of the Micronic water purification technology, moving the water vapor stream through the system. Accordingly, Micronic focused on this component when considering the energy efficiency of the system and used simulations to ascertain the system blower operating specifications. The preliminary ME2 system design utilized a blower with an efficiency of under 40%. When Micronic made the decision to develop the less costly, more efficient TOP™ design, this blower unit was given further scrutiny. After detailed consideration, the design team decided to replace the blower with an in-house increased efficiency (>70%) unit. 9. Objective 7: Refine Engineering and Develop Scalability Tool Work on this objective was based on the development of accurate CFD modeling of the system as described in previous sections of this report and on the TOP™ P&ID implementation. The development of a Scalability Tool was accomplished through system simulations using ChemCAD software. The ChemCAD tool user interface for the TOP™ simulation provided a simplified spreadsheet driven by mathematical modeling which can provide specific component requirements for configuration of varying system sizes.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Vane, Leland M., Rock, Kelly, and Jordan, Don, (2022). Energy efficient vortex-enhanced water evaporation technology for concentrated brine management: Theory and process simulation evaluation. Desalination, Volume 522, 2022, 115427, ISSN 0011-9164, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2021.115427.

Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Desalination, industrial, and agricultural wastes are at all-time highs, containing brine output from various cleaning processes full of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, nutrients, heavy metals, endocrine disrupters, boron, hormones, and salts. This waste is discharged back into the soil and oceans either through surface water and sewer discharge, injection wells, evaporation ponds, or land application from agriculture irrigation. The planet needs a cleaner, more environmentally and ecologically sustainable approach, to treating wastewater discharge. Due to future limitations on certain constituents and the need for conserving the world's water, companies are seeking new technologies to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. The dairy industry is considered one of the most polluting components of the food industry due to the large volume of wastewater it generates as compared to associated water consumption (Paçal et al., 2019). A typical large cheese and whey plant pulls 500,000 gallons of water out of the ground each day. For each ton of raw milk processed, depending on the product, the dairy industry generates anywhere from over 100 gallons to nearly 16,000 gallons of wastewater (Fluence, 2020) and producing 1 pound of cheese leaves 9 pounds of whey as a byproduct (Danovich, 2018). In general dairy production, the main contaminants are organic (e.g., carbohydrates, fats, proteins, etc.). More specifically, in cheese production, a substantial component of the waste product is whey. It is considered a significant pollutant due to its high organic load. Geiling (2016) states... "Whey leftover from the cheese-making process is not an easy product to dispose of. High in phosphorus and nitrogen, it can't be dumped into water sources - like fertilizers, an excess of whey could lead to things like dead zones and algal blooms. Domestic environmental regulations also restrict the amount of whey that can be spread across land - in the top cheese-producing states of Wisconsin and New York, the application of whey to land is regulated by government agencies, and farmers are required to limit the amount they apply. In California, whey regulations have been so burdensome for some producers that they've been forced to shutter their cheese-making operations. Imperial Valley Cheese, the state's last producer of Swiss and Muenster cheeses, shuttered its doors in 2013, citing a lack of financially feasible disposal options for their whey." Guerreiro et al. (2020) note that overall, making cheese manufacturing environmentally sustainable is a major concern in the industry due to the significant environmental impact from the discharge of manufacturing wastewater. These streams carry heavy loads of salinity, nutrients, organic matter, solids and oils and fats. In addition, such discharges are meeting increasingly stringent quality requirements. Before the submission of the proposal, Micronic engineers recognized that this water purification technology is revolutionary in its effectiveness across a broad range of contaminants and a wide range of applications. However, it was realized that to ensure the success of a start-up business model, the company would initially have to focus on a very specific target audience. Accordingly, the program Investigators choose to pursue a target audience and associated market in the cheese production industry. This rationale was based on the significant wastewater issues faced by cheese production facilities. With the decision by Micronic to pursue the cheese manufacturing market as the Phase I target audience, the Investigators partnered with Grande Cheese on the Phase I technical effort. With annual revenues over $500 million and over 1,000 employees, Grande is a major cheese producer in the state of Wisconsin. References: Danovich, Tove (2018, August 16). One pound of cheese makes nine pounds of whey. Where does it all go? https://thecounter.org/whey-disposal-reuse-cheese-dairy-byproduct/ Fluence (2020, April 20). Generating Power from Dairy Waste. https://www.fluencecorp.com/generating-power-from-dairy- waste/ Geiling, Natasha. (2016, January 8). Electricity From Cheese Is Possible - And Happening Around The World. https://thinkprogress.org/electricity-from-cheese-is-possible-and-happening-around-the-world-6c1f0792ef36/ Guerreiro, R. C., Jerónimo, E., Luz, S., Pinheiro, H. M., & Prazeres, A. R. (2020). Cheese manufacturing wastewater treatment by combined physicochemical processes for reuse and fertilizer production. Journal of environmental management, 264, 110470. Paçal, Müge, Semerci, Neslihan, Çall, Bar. (2019). Treatment of synthetic wastewater and cheese whey by the anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor. Environmental Science & Pollution Research, 09441344, Nov 2019, Vol. 26, Issue 32. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Micronic's Cooperative R&D Agreement (CRADA) collaborator, EPA - Dr. Leland Vane, has been provided the details of all testing so he might develop testing protocols for further testing at EPA. Pat Cardif, Sr. Environmental Manager at Grande Cheese has also been apprised of the testing results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The purpose of this SBIR Phase II research program being conducted by Micronic Technologies is structured around three main goals: advancement of the Phase I proof-of-concept system to a Phase II testing design through component modeling and validation and the fabrication of a Phase II unit; the collection of operational and cost data for system value engineering; and the development of a scalability tool for future commercialization applications. During the Phase I program the research carried out entailed the modification of a variant of the MicroEVAP™ technology, the ME1 system, to produce a more advanced variant, the ME1A, with a near-ZLD (zero liquid discharge) capability. The ME1A was then run against target contamination wastewater samples provided by Grande Cheese. These samples included both high TDS (total dissolved solids) cheese brine and lower TDS Reverse Osmosis (RO) retentate which is produced during whey processing. The Phase I research results showed the ME1A consistently removed over 99% of TDS and most other solids. The results of the Phase II research conducted during this reporting period have helped produce a detailed system design for the Phase II prototype. A design review was completed and subsequent fabrication of a test unit was begun, branded as the TOP1500™. The focus of work during the next reporting period will be the fabrication of the Phase II prototype system and preliminary operational testing of the unit. In addition, work will be conducted on the further development of an accurate model of the Pod and the system to provide a prediction of pressure drops, temperatures, and flow energy consumption as a function of flow rate. It is planned this will help identify and eliminate flow inefficiencies such as separation zones and help create simplified engineering models of pressure drop and energy consumption for any scale system. During the next reporting period, flow inefficiencies will be removed through geometric modifications of the Pod based on flow analyses. The ability to predict and improve the energy consumption is particularly important since energy consumption by the Pod is the largest in the system. Once this initial characterization is completed, the modeling effort will expand to investigate possible scaled-up configurations for higher throughput designs. The development of accurate flow modeling of the system and validation test data collected from the fabrication and operation of the TOP 1500™ system will allow a simplified mathematical modeling tool that reflects specific customer requirements for configuration of varying system sizes at estimated parametric pricing. It will portray critical specifications for larger and smaller capacity systems to support evolving customer scale requirements.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Most of the work conducted during this reporting period was focused on the development of the Phase II system design and the initiation of the fabrication effort. Toward this end, the following activities and accomplishments were achieved during this Phase II reporting period. Technical Objective 1: Create R&D TOP 1500™ Unit for Test and Evaluation The completion of the Phase I program provided insight into the Phase II system design. Using this insight as a fundamental basis, the Phase II system design builds upon the Phase I work and integrates an advanced flow path layout to increase throughput to over 1,000 gallons per day. 3-A Dairy Standards to TOP 1500™: Cost Estimates Drive Design Changes Initial work on the Phase II system design focused on upgrading the Phase I laboratory design, known as ME1A, to a more advanced food grade system. Once an initial design was outlined in November 2020, a preliminary cost estimate was calculated giving a bottom line total of almost $700,000. To address the high cost of the design, Micronic worked with Grande Cheese to clarify the food grade manufacturing and processing requirements. Grande advised that much of the design directly supporting food grade production line did not need to conform to 3-A Dairy Standards so a system build could be used in other facets of plant operations. Grande felt that the demonstration of the system for these ancillary processes would be an acceptable validation for use of the technology in their manufacturing facility. Furthermore, Grande indicated a successful demonstration would likely lead to the future purchase of a more expensive food grade version of the Micronic system for direct use in the food production line. Accordingly, Micronic begin working with Phase II team members to evolve component requirements and develop a lower cost, higher efficiency system that satisfies the goals of this effort. This work comprised a range of design modifications including: • Replacement of food grade materials with corrosion-resistant materials while retaining food grade construction practices such as sanitary welds. • Integration of high efficiency heat exchangers as noted in Technical Objective 4. • Simplification of the design as noted in Technical Objective 5. • Integration of a higher efficiency in-house blower as noted in Technical Objective 6. This work has resulted in the development of a TOP 1500™ design estimated to be 20% to 30% lower in cost. The initial TOP 1500™ design was completed during this reporting period and a bill of materials (BOM) was generated. Using the finalized design and the BOM, initial fabrication of the Phase II prototype system was begun. Technical Objective 2: Create an Accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics Model of the TOP 1500™ Evaporator Pod During this reporting period, work toward developing a CFD (computational fluid dynamics) model of the Phase II system Pod has focused on the design and implementation of an Engineering Flow Bench (EFB). The EFB, which was completed during this reporting period, is an instrumented laboratory setup designed to allow various Pod configurations to be tested. Data from this testing will be used to develop an accurate CFD model of the Phase II system Pod during the next reporting period. During this reporting period, the design of the flow bench was reviewed and updated to ensure measurements taken from upcoming pod tests are sufficient to make comparisons with future CFD calculations. In addition, calculations were performed for the fluid properties as a function of humidity level for use with the laminar flow element (LFE) sensor installed in the flow bench for mass flow measurement. Technical Objective 3: Create a CFD Model of a Scaled-Up Evaporator Pod As noted in the previous section, CFD modeling of the current Pod using the EFB will be conducted during the next reporting period. Technical Objective 4: Create an Engineering Model of Heat Exchangers Heat exchangers (HX's) are a critical element of the Phase II system. Accordingly, during this reporting period, significant work was conducted on the design of each exchanger and the identification of an appropriate vendor to fabricate these designs. The original system considered fin tube exchangers, but it was decided they were not a good fit and were replaced in the updated TOP 1500™ design. Instead, a thermohydraulic shell and tube design was adopted for the TOP 1500™. To accomplish this, Micronic and NovaTech identified Enerquip as a vendor of choice for this type of HX design and specified the desired fluid conditions entering and leaving each HX and the operational specifications and design constraints (desired pressures, temperatures, flows, etc. at selected state points) for the TOP 1500™ implementation. Using this data, Enerquip optimized the number of tubes, tube pitch, length, baffle placement, etc. based on their experience with HTRI (Heat Transfer Research, Inc) software models and TEMA (Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association) code runs. From this, Enerquip developed a mechanical design based on their standard building blocks and detailed analyses. During the next reporting period, Micronic will review and approve the Enerquip's HX designs and Enerquip will fabricate the units. The HX-1 Air Preheater, the HX-3 Water Preheater, and the HX-4 Excess Heat Removal units are all U-tube style exchangers while the main HX-2 Evaporator/Condensor is a straight tube condenser to be mounted vertically. Technical Objective 5: Simplify Design The original baseline system design incorporated five HX's, three moisture/vapor separators, five pumps, and a blower. During this reporting period, a key focus area in the development of the TOP 1500™ design was reducing the size and/or the number of HX's, as well as reducing the number of pumps. This design simplification resulted in a reduction to four HX's and four pumps which, in turn, reduced the amount of instrumentation and control equipment required, making the system less expensive and potentially easier to maintain. Also, during this reporting period, work was conducted on the simplification of the control system. Originally, the system design utilized a LabVIEW-based control architecture. The updated TOP 1500™ design incorporates a comprehensive Turck control implementation with integrated remote data access/system control features. This approach merges operational control, data capture, and remote system access into a single operational element thus reducing costs, decreasing maintenance, and reducing ancillary subsystem support. Technical Objective 6: Improve Energy Efficiency The blower unit is a key component of the Micronic water purification technology, moving the water vapor stream through the system. Accordingly, during this reporting period, Micronic used simulations to ascertain the system blower operating specifications. The original system design utilized a Tuthill 5514PD stainless steel rotary lobe blower with a price just under $77,000 per unit. Simulation of the design indicated the Tuthill unit would have an efficiency of under 40%. When Micronic made the decision to develop the less costly, more efficient TOP 1500™ design, the Tuthill unit was replaced with an Inovair 2200, anodized aluminum, centrifugal blower which has an increased efficiency (>70%) as compared to the Tuthill unit. Technical Objective 7: Refine Engineering and Develop Scalability Tool Since work on Technical Objective 7, Refine Engineering and Develop Scalability Tool, will be based on the development of accurate flow modeling of the system and validation test data collected from the fabrication and operation of the TOP 1500™ system, the development of a Scalability Tool will occur later in the program.

Publications