Decentralized wastewater treatment systems can serve small communities and supply water suitable for reuse applications such as irrigation. An example of decentralized treatment is a sequencing batch membrane bioreactor (SBMBR), which treats small batches of wastewater and implements membrane filtration as a final treatment step. While treated effluent from the SBMBR is very high quality, high operating costs are a significant drawback. The following study examines energy optimization strategies to reduce operating costs of an SBMBR designed by Aqua- Aerobic Systems that treats water from Mines Park, a student apartment complex affiliated with Colorado School of Mines.

Meeting the world’s growing demand for energy without contributing to the emergent problem of anthropogenic climate change requires the use of renewable, carbon-free energy sources which in turn are contingent on advances in materials science. A newly synthesized statistical co-polymer of vinylidene fluoride, hexafluoropropylene and phenylphosphonic acid functionalized hexafluoropropylene (PolyPPA) shows potential for use as a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) in a variety of green-energy applications including proton pumps, flow batteries and high temperature-low relative humidity fuel cells. Preliminary testing of PolyPPA samples synthesized using a high molecular weight and low molecular weight feedstock show comparable conductivity, thermal stability and water uptake. Both high and low molecular weight PolyPPA exhibit minimal water uptake, are thermally stable to 160 °C, contain tightly bound water and exhibit low but measurable conductivity with best relative performance in high temperature and low relative humidity conditions. Despite a relatively low conductivity, the absence of liquid acid and the thermal stability suggests possible high temperature and high pressure applications. Future work needs to be conducted to determine how the degree of phenylphosphonic acid functionalization affects the conductivity and mechanical properties to determine an optimal formulation to minimize area specific resistance.