Experimental Methods in Desalination and Membrane Technology

-          Sustainable desalination for drinking, agriculture and industry applications.

-          Fouling and scaling issues in desalination and membrane systems.

-          Pre-treatment systems.

-          Environmental concerns in desalination.

-          Experimental methods to assess fouling and scaling:

            ·       Particulate fouling: i) silt density index (SDI), ii) modified fouling index (MFI0.45), iii) modified fouling index with ultrafiltration membranes (MFI-UF).

            ·       Organic matter: i) total and dissolved organic carbon (TOC, DOC), ii) fluorescence excitation emission matrix (FEEM), iii) ultraviolet absorbance (UV254), iv) liquid                                            chromatography coupled with organic carbon detection (LC-OCD), v) transparent exopolymer particles (TEP)

            ·       Biomass quantification: i) adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP), ii) total, live and dead cells quantification by flow cytometry (FCM)

            ·       Biological fouling: i) bacterial growth potential test (BGP-ATP/FCM), ii) membrane fouling simulator (MFS)

            ·       Scaling: i) induction time tests, ii) scaling and antiscalant dosing projections by standard procedures and free commercial software.

-          Performance assessment of water treatment systems.

-          Field work.