MRes Project Proposal Form 2016
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Chemical Technologies
Project Title: Clean water technologies in a more sustainable way –
Membrane based ozonation reactors
Lead Supervisor, John Chew, Chemical Engineering,
Department and contact [email protected]
details:
Co-supervisor(s), Jannis Wenk, Chemical Engineering,
Department(s) and contact [email protected]
details:1 Davide Mattia, Chemical Engineering,
[email protected]
Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Chemistry,
[email protected]
Industrial / International
Partner(s) contact details:2
Core Areas ☐ Systems
(select 2 as appropriate): ☒ Processes
☒ Materials
☐ Molecules
Main theme: ☒ Energy & Water
☐ Renewable Feedstocks & Biotechnology
☐ Processes & Manufacturing
☐ Healthcare Technologies
Secondary theme(s): ☐ Energy and Water
Optional ☐ Renewable Feedstocks & Biotechnology
☐ Processes & Manufacturing
☐ Healthcare Technologies
Semester preference: ☒ No preference
☐ Project 1: Semester 1/2
☐ Project 2: Semester 3 (Summer 2017)
Research Area & Project Outline (max. 500 words):
Ozone (O3) is an important oxidant for disinfection and removing undesired contaminants from
water. The traditional method of applying ozone to water is by bubbling gaseous O3 through
the water column. While O3 production is energy intensive, the bubbling approach is inefficient
and bears other disadvantages such as mixing problems.
We have developed and tested a simple ozonation reactor that employs a non-porous
polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane for bubble-less transfer of ozone gas into the aqueous
phase (Figure 1(a)). The membrane act as a selective barrier for gas and liquid phase i.e. the
interface for ozone transfer. Initial experiments (Figure 1(b)) were conducted to understand
ozone mass transfer through the membrane and to quantify the degradation of model water
contaminants in the reactor. Computational simulations (Figure 1(c)) were also employed to
simulate gas mass-transfer through the membrane and to determine fundamental gas-transfer
parameters in absence of chemical reactions.
Figure 1: (a) Ozonation membrane batch reactor containing a blue ozone indicator compound
(indigo). (b) Degradation of indigo with ozonation time for different membrane thickness (ratio
outer diameter (OD) to inner diameter (ID). (c) 3-dimensional contour plot of ozone
concentration across a single tubular membrane.
The MRes project has three main tasks consisting of a designing and optimising a lab-scale
reactor, an experimental part and a smaller computational part, in particular:
 To advance the reactor design from a batch reactor into a continuous closed flowthrough type reactor by altering gas-liquid flow configurations, increasing the number of
membranes to increase the contact surface area, and by using a chemically more
resistant membrane material such as the commercially available micro-filtration
hydrophilic polyvinylidene fluoride (MF PVDF) membranes.
 To conduct ozonation experiments to determine contaminant and model compound
degradation under different conditions including dosage of by-product inhibitors (H2O2).
 To compare experimental outcome to computational (no prior knowledge required)
results and simulate the gas-mass transfer in the presence of chemical reactions.
This research builds on a previous successful MRes project, it is linked to a number of research
projects within and beyond the CSCT that are supervised by Jannis Wenk, John Chew, Davide
Mattia, Jan Hofman (all Chemical Engineering) and Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern (Chemistry) and
it is part of a larger research effort to make water treatment methods more sustainable with
neat chemistry and sophisticated materials.
Sustainability Issues Addressed (max. 100 words):
There are several water quality regulations driving the use of advanced water treatment
technologies. Water utilities use ozonation systems because they are effective against
waterborne organisms, through enhanced disinfection. Ozonation also reduces the levels of
disinfection by-products and facilitate in colour, taste and odour removal. Ozonation systems,
however, dramatically increase plant energy usage versus conventional treatment. Therefore, it
is important and timely to explore how to make the treatment process more energy-efficient
and achieve gains in energy conservation. This project focuses on improving ozone mass
transfer to wastewater by exploring new reactor and flow configurations. The main outputs of
this project will facilitate the development of energy-efficient water treatment process.
Multi-disciplinarily Issues Addressed (max. 100 words):
The work on reactor design and computational simulation requires knowledge in chemical
engineering and chemistry. The water treatment aspect of the project requires knowledge in
Water Engineering & Science.
Expected periods of absence (of >2 weeks):
None
Potential external collaborator(s) details:
This project looks into the fundamental aspects of mass transfer of ozone through membranes
using applications drawn from wastewater treatment. This will lead to discussions with water
utilities during the MRes but there is no direct industrial involvement at the stage. Although the
supervisors have all worked with industry on many projects.
Synergies with other CDT MRes projects:
This is aligned with previous studies from Bath: The proposed project is related to the 2015
MRes project ‘Exploring Non-Porous membranes for Bubble-less Ozonation in Water Treatment’
by Caitlin Taylor.
Potential for development into CDT PhD project:
The optimization of ozonation system is a wide area of interest and this can easily become a
PhD, with a focus on reactor configurations as well as membrane materials aspect. We have an
experienced team of academics from Chemical Engineering and Chemistry.
Lead supervisor signature
and date:
Partner signature3
and date:
John Chew
25 August 2016
CDT in SCT PhD projects should be multidisciplinary in nature and the supervisory team should draw on more than
one department. An indication of the agreed percentage contribution to the project by each supervisor is requested
with the lead being more than 50%. This is for Workload Modelling.
1
2
Required. If negotiations are still underway, please indicate this.
3
Or attach email from partner indicating participation.