TWRI grant recipient researches regeneration of Carbon Aerogel Ions
By Emily Baker
Carbon-based derivatives such as charcoal, carbon cloth, activated powder and pellets are frequently used in water treatment. Sanjay Tewari, a graduate student in Texas A&M University’s Department of Civil Engineering and 2005-2006 TWRI research grant recipient, under the direction of the late Dr. Timothy Kramer, is researching the use of Carbon Aerogel (CA) on water treatment and the problems associated with its use. CA is the newest carbon-based resource for water treatment and is highly conductive, a suitable quality for capacitive de-ionization (CDI) technology.
“CA electrodes were used in CDI for metal ions, bacteria and some organic pollutant removal,” Tewari said. “The problem is, once these electrodes are used and saturated, they lose their capacity for removing ions and they need to be replaced.”
Tewari said developing an effective regeneration technique is necessary because CA is expensive and the replacement of CA electrodes increases the cost of water treatment.
“The focus of my research is to regenerate used and saturated CA and also prepare a mathematical model to predict the behavior of CA during this regeneration process,” Tewari said. “It will help in accurately predicting behavior of CA while purifying water using CDI.”
Tewari said that water resources are increasingly polluted and are under high demand due to a rapidly growing global population. An economic and energy-efficient water purification and desalination process is needed in order to reuse available water resources.
“This research is about removing heavy metals and salinity from water using CA and regeneration of used and saturated CA,” Tewari said. “In Texas, where we have saline ground water, heavy metal contamination in water and other similar problems, this research can be used as a part of water purification systems.”
Tewari said the results of his study, which is still underway, will alleviate pollution in ground water and surface water in an energy-efficient way.
“Once completed successfully, this research will help in developing economic water purification processes with very low energy demand. Initial results show that this process is working,” Tewari said.
Tewari’s research was funded by TWRI as part of the National Institutes for Water Research annual research program through the USGS. TWRI is the designated institute for water resources research for Texas. For more information on his research, visit USGS Research Grants or download his final report.
