مجلس التعليم » البحث العلمي والشرق الأوسط لأبحاث تحلية المياه يوقعان عقدا لتسهيل الأبحاث وإنشاء وحدة للتجارب

07-07-2019

Times of Oman

Muscat: A two-year agreement has been signed by The Research Council (TRC) and The Middle East Desalination Research Centre (MEDRC) for the reuse of desalinated water for agricultural and industrial purposes.

The agreement was signed by Dr Hilal Al Hinai, Secretary-General of TRC and MEDRC Centre Director, Ciarán Ó Cuinn.

Under the agreement, MEDRC will lead a 2-year water research project for reusing discarded reverse osmosis desalination membranes for treating wastewater for industrial or agricultural use.

During the process of Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination, salt water is forced through a membrane that allows water molecules to pass but blocks salt and other minerals.

However, these membranes are costly, prone to fouling, have a limited life cycle and usually end up in landfill when they no longer meet performance requirements.

With the surge in demand for desalination expected to continue, a sustainable waste management framework for discarded membranes is required to help improve the industry’s environmental impact.

The research project will deliver an in-depth analysis of membrane used in Oman, including an assessment of the life cycle of RO membranes and the annual mass being consigned to landfill. The project will examine the technical feasibility of removing the outer layer of the membrane and modifying the unit to effectively treat wastewater for agricultural and industrial use.

MEDRC Centre Director, Ciarán Ó Cuinn said: ‘As we move towards sustainable desalination, technological innovations need to be green and cost-effective. Recovering discarded membranes and applying novel chemical and mechanical approaches to enable them to be reused would create considerable financial and environmental benefits. Initiatives such as these underpin MEDRC’s mandate to provide solutions to water scarcity. We are proud to be working with The Research Council and our partners to lead a project that will have a real and practical impact in Oman and beyond.’

As part of the project, a testing unit will be built to perform trials on the recovered membranes at MEDRC’s water research and training facility in Al Hail.

The organization’s on-site water testing laboratory will be used to conduct all water analysis.

MEDRC has issued a call for applications from young water researchers in Oman to form part of the project investigation team. Three positions will be awarded to high performing aspiring candidates who are enrolled in a Master’s Degree Program and are interested in pursuing a career in water. Further details are available on www.medrc.org/research or alhinaai@medrc.org