Title: Self-Adaptive Control of Compact Reverse Osmosis Systems

Speaker: Larry Gao (UCLA)

Abstract: Lack of access to sources of potable water is a huge problem
in many parts of the world today.  In rural communities within
California, up to 250,000 people are unable to use their water for
mundane uses such as for cooking or showering due to high levels of
contaminants.  Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination has become the leading
method for utilizing otherwise unusable water sources, such as seawater
or brackish water.  Today in California, RO desalination plants are
operating in cities like Carlsbad and San Diego to provide water for
their respective communities.  However, large-scale plants such as the
ones existing in Carlsbad and San Diego are not practical for the
agricultural communities spread out over Central Valley.  There is a
need for distributed RO systems capable of automated operation.  To
optimize such systems for use by remote communities, a combination of
novel system design and robust self-adaptive control were developed and
implemented in order to reduce the maintenance/operation cost, as well
as to simplify operation and reduce the required amount of human
interface.  Several pilot-scale plants were designed and constructed by
a team of UCLA graduate student researchers and were deployed in
several field studies.  Various novel design and control concepts were
developed, integrated, then tested.  It was demonstrated that a
combination of these approaches led to a significant improvement in the
efficiency of RO systems.