索科罗,N.M. – Producing clean, usable water from brackish water and seawater using cost- and energy-efficient methods is the aim of a research project underway at 365彩票在线过滤. Dr. Ashok Ghosh, associate professor of 机械工程, presented his research team’s progress on a “green 海水淡化” project currently in development at Innovate 365彩票在线过滤nology Showcase March 7, 2023, 在阿尔伯克基的桑迪亚高尔夫俱乐部, 新墨西哥.

Representatives and researchers from 新墨西哥’s seven major research institutions, including the University of 新墨西哥, the Air Force 研究 Lab, Los Alamos National Lab, Sandia National Labs, NASA–White Sands Test Facility, 365彩票在线过滤, and New Mexico State University – listened to technical presentations, panel discussions, and discussions of technology capabilities in 新墨西哥 at the daylong annual conference.

Dr. Ghosh and his management and research teams have received nearly $2 million in federal funding to develop this technology to a TRL (Technology Readiness Level) of 6或以上. Current investigation is in collaboration with Sandia National Labs to pursue efforts to develop the next generation of the membrane module that will dramatically 提高技术的可扩展性. 

“Forward osmosis technology has the ability to clean dissolved salts in a cost-effective manner, something that is not possible using reverse osmosis, due to the high pressure and excessive energy required to overcome the osmotic potential,” he said. 

Dr. Ghosh’s presentation highlighted a field demonstration of the green 海水淡化 新墨西哥州东南部Hobbs附近的Jal公司. 的经济分析 data from the field demonstration examined both reverse and forward osmosis, comparing initial costs, energy costs, and operating and maintenance costs. 因为不止 420,000 small independently owned stripper wells exist in the United States that generate billions of barrels of water contaminated with oil and grease, suspended solids, and total dissolved solids, the green 海水淡化 technology under development has major 未来的增长潜力，他说. 

Dr. Ghosh is working with NMT’s 研究 Office and 创新商业化办公室 on business planning efforts, which involve looking for funding partners to fully 开发和商业化该技术.