VESITECH INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N153-127

Description

The United States Navy has a special need to provide potable water for deployed personnel worldwide. The logistical and economic cost of provide potable water is considerable. There is a critical need to develop lightweight, energy efficient, squad sized water treatment systems that can create potable water from any water source. Although many technologies which can purify water; current technologies for desalinization are bulky and energy intensive. A new approach to desalinization is needed. Vesitech, Inc has developed a totally new class of water treatment technology utilizing novel hybrid capacitive deionization electrodes which is ideal for this problem. These new hybrid CDI electrodes have a much higher ion capacity and a much more rapid regeneration which if successfully developed in the Phase I, will greatly reduce energy and weight requirements for ion removal. In collaboration with Cascade Design Inc, Vesitechs commercialization partner, a multi stage system consisting of will be evaluated in to optimize water production, while minimizing energy usage and maintenance requirements. Therefore, a considerable portion of the technical effort described herein will focus on further development of Vesitechs hybrid CDI system.