Commercialization of Backwashable Microfiltration Screens

ORAL

Abstract

Much of the applied research done in university laboratories is never developed into a usable product. Here I present on the process of commercialization applied physics research and particularly on the path that we have gone through in commercializing my undergraduate research. I've worked for 2 1/2 years as an researching microfiltration screens. Throughout the research process I have hoped that the research I was doing would have practical application. After initial testing on screens we developed, we began looking at commercialization potential of the technology. For the past 6 months we have been looking at different markets and variations on the initial fabrication technique in order to address needs in the 1-10 micron filtration space. We have found considerable traction with self-cleaning backwash filtration system manufacturers. In general these systems currently are only viable for filtration over 50 microns. Using our screen technology this could allow for filtration down to 1 micron. This would open up opportunities for use of these systems in frack water disposal and reuse. In these applications thousands of gallons of produced water are processed daily. Through using our high throughput backwashable screens maintenance and cost could be reduced.

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Authors

  • Andrew Davis

    Brigham Young University

  • John Colton

    Brigham Young University Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, None, The College of William and Mary/Jefferson Lab, Brigham Young University-Idaho, Blue Ridge Research and Consulting LLC, Air Force Research Laboratory - Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Brigham Young Univ - Provo, Blue Ridge Research and Consulting, University of Utah, SRI International, Utah State University, Utah Valley University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Professor, Graduate, United States Air Force Academy, Arizona State Univ, SiO2 NanoTech, Entrepix Inc, AFRL, Advisor, Brigham Young University- Provo, University of New Mexico, Univ of Utah, University of Wisconsin -- Madison, New Mexico Tech Physics Dept., Retired, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Department of Physics \& Astronomy, University of Hawai'i, JILA and University of Colorado, Boulder, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, University of Colorado, Boulder, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Space Dynamics Lab, New Mexico Tech, BYU Professor, Brigham Young University -- Provo, Northern Arizona University, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University, University of Utah, Department of Physics, New Mexico State University

  • Robert Davis

    Brigham Young University

  • John Colton

    Brigham Young University Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, None, The College of William and Mary/Jefferson Lab, Brigham Young University-Idaho, Blue Ridge Research and Consulting LLC, Air Force Research Laboratory - Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Brigham Young Univ - Provo, Blue Ridge Research and Consulting, University of Utah, SRI International, Utah State University, Utah Valley University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Professor, Graduate, United States Air Force Academy, Arizona State Univ, SiO2 NanoTech, Entrepix Inc, AFRL, Advisor, Brigham Young University- Provo, University of New Mexico, Univ of Utah, University of Wisconsin -- Madison, New Mexico Tech Physics Dept., Retired, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Department of Physics \& Astronomy, University of Hawai'i, JILA and University of Colorado, Boulder, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, University of Colorado, Boulder, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Space Dynamics Lab, New Mexico Tech, BYU Professor, Brigham Young University -- Provo, Northern Arizona University, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University, University of Utah, Department of Physics, New Mexico State University