Posted on

Short course on Experimental Methods in Desalination and Membrane Technology

This two week course covers the fundamentals of membrane-based desalination and the experimental and analytical methods for water quality characterization applied in desalination and membrane technology processes for producing drinking and industrial water and water for irrigation.

Course coordinator: Sergio Salinas, PhD, MSc

Course description link here.

Learning objectives

Upon completion, the participant should be able to:

  1. To explain the fundamentals of membrane-based desalination.
  2. To explain the fundamentals and main methodological steps involved in the preparation and conduction of experimental methods applied to assess fouling and scaling in desalination and water treatment systems.
  3. To design and conduct experimental methods to assess the fouling and scaling potential of water along a treatment process.
  4. To critically analyze and discuss data and results obtained from experimental methods to assess the fouling and scaling potential in treatment systems.
  5. To evaluate the process performance and characteristics of drinking water treatment processes including desalination.
Posted on

Online course on Desalination and Membrane Technology

This course provides theoretical and practical knowledge on the design and operation of desalination systems and membrane processes (microfiltration, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis). Specific topics such as membrane fouling, scaling and cleaning are dealt with in detail, including pre-treatment options and the latest developments in monitoring and controlling fouling.

Course coordinator: Dr. ir. Sergio Salinas

For whom

Professionals dealing with engineering, management and education in the fields of desalination of seawater and brackish water, water supply and urban infrastructure will benefit greatly from this short course. It is also helpful for post graduate students in civil, chemical, and environmental engineering. Participants from government organisations (such as local administrations and national agencies), non-governmental organisations and the private sector are encouraged to join. This course is ideal for practicing engineers who are working in the water supply systems.

Course content

Desalination: Introduction to desalination and membrane related technologies

Microfiltration/Ultrafiltration: Basic Principles of Ultrafiltration & Microfiltration. MF and UF elements, modules and systems. Membrane Fouling of MF and UF Systems. Membrane Cleaning of MF and UF Systems. Disinfection and MF/UF systems.

Reverse osmosis: Principles of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration, Overview RO / NF membranes and elements. Process design of RO. Fouling and clogging in RO and NF systems. Particulate fouling. Pretreatment in RO systems. Biofouling. Introduction scaling & calculations. Calcium carbonate, LSI and S&DSI. Monitoring, control scaling and anti-scalants. Calculations with software. Manual Calculations for the design of a Seawater Reverse Osmosis Plant. Case studies water reuse and membrane systems.

See more information: OLC DMT info

Posted on

Jordan: Seawater quality monitoring

IHE Delft under DUPC2 SCARCE project delivered a 4-day training on seawater particulate fouling potential quality monitoring for 5 participants from Jordan University/Marine Science Station (MSS), Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ), and Aqaba Water Company (AWC). This training was held from 9-12 July, 2018 at the facility of Jordan University Marine Science Station in Aqaba, Jordan.

The learning objectives of the training programme were:

– Understand the basic fundamental and tools to monitor particulate fouling in seawater reverse osmosis membrane systems
– Able to measure and calculate silt density index (SDI) and modified fouling index (MFI0.45) and modified fouling index ultrafiltration (MFI-UF10kDa) of seawater
– Able to install and uninstall the equipment and software needed for the measurement of  fouling parameters
– Collect seawater samples at different depths of seawater and measure SDI, MFI0.45, and MFI-UF10kDa
– Monitor the performance of pre-treatment in the Kemapco desalination plant with regard to particulate fouling
– Prepare a 6 months seawater quality monitoring plan.

The training was provided by Dr. Nirajan Dhakal. The local partners are: Dr. Tareq Al-Najjar, Dr. Mohammed Wahsha, Muna Gharaibeh, MSc.

Posted on

Jordan: Desalination, Diplomacy & Water Reuse in the Middle East (SCARCE)

 

To address water scarcity caused by increasing population, refugee influx and climate change, Jordan is tapping into resources such as sea water and brackish ground water and maximizing wastewater reuse in agriculture. This project will establish training courses on these challenges at two universities and at the Water Authority, to be included in their permanent training programmes. Course content will be up-to-date with the latest science and tailor made to address practical problems. Seawater Desalination is part of the Red Sea Dead Sea project that includes the first seawater desalination plant in Jordan. Capacity development is therefore essential and two training courses on this topic will be delivered, supplemented by water quality monitoring studies. As a result the Jordanian partners will be able to reduce chemical and energy consumption of the plant. It will desalinate 100 million cubic meters yearly, to be shared with Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Therefore two courses will be delivered on Diplomacy: these will focus on potential conflicts, negotiation and conflict transformation skills. Desalination of Brackish Ground Water: Groundwater used for drinking and irrigation in Jordan often has high salinity, consequently desalination is required. The number of plants in Jordan is rapidly increasing, but the salinity of the groundwater is causing technical problems, resulting in short lifetime of facilities. A TOOLBOX of practical measures will be developed and disseminated to partners, in order to increase water availability from the installations, at lower cost. Waste water is reused in agriculture in Jordan, but most reused water does not comply with Jordanian standards and therefore threatens the environment (groundwater) and public health (contamination of water sources and food crops). The training courses and supplementary individual study projects will focus on improvement of existing wastewater treatment plants and irrigation schemes in terms of design, operation and management.

Duration: 2017-2019
Sponsor: DUPC2
Budget: 600,000 euros
Main local partners: Water Authority of Jordan, Marine Science Station (University of Jordan campus Aqaba), Al-Balqa’ Applied University
IHE Staff: Dr. Maria Kennedy (Project leader, leader Desalination), Dr. Sergio Salinas, Dr. Nirajan Dhakal, Zaki Shubber (water diplomacy), Dr. Branislav Petrusevski (leader brackish water desalination), Dr. Andreas Jonoski, Dr. Peter van der Steen (leader wastewater reuse), Dr. Jack van de Vossenberg, Annelieke Duker.

 

Posted on

PhD programme

The group of desalination performs research in the following areas:

  • Water Quality Methods: development of water quality methods to assess & monitor the fouling & scaling potential of sea, brackish, and wastewater (SDI, MFI, TEP, ATP/AOC, BRP, phosphate, etc.), pre-treatment efficiency and RO system design.
  • Modelling: development of models to predict fouling & scaling in RO systems & removal of priority substances (OMP).
  • Pre-treatment: development of new technologies to minimize the use of chemicals (coagulants, antiscalants, cleaning agents) in combination with MF & UF for direct treatment of seawater, surface water & wastewater.
  • Post-treatment: development of Environmental Impact Approaches and DSS for concentrate disposal in RO plants; minimizing the use of chemicals for re-mineralization processes.

Information about IHE Delft’s International Graduate School for Water and Development is provided in this link. Information about the PhD programme here.

Interested in doing research with our group? All our PhD vacancies are advertised at IHE Delft’s website. Vacancies are open when funding is available.
Please contact us: (s [dot] salinas [at] un-ihe [dot] org).