Spring Break
Stuff of life
Research in Texas and Qatar provides water in desert climates
By: Nathan Ball
Issue date: 7/29/08 Section: News
|
"There are two types of desalination," said civil engineering professor Bill Batchelor. "Desalination to remove salts from seawater, and to remove salt, minerals and metals from inland brackish water."
The project was aimed at developing an inexpensive and environmentally friendly technology for inland desalination of brackish groundwater that produces zero liquid discharge, according to a June report issued by the Qatar Science and Technology Park.
"There is very little rainfall in Qatar," said professor Mahmoud El-Halwagi. "There are only two sources of drinking water in the region: you get water from the sea, or from inland brackish water."
Most of Qatar's drinking water comes from the Persian Gulf. Salt is removed using thermal distillation, Batchelor said, and is very energy-intensive, but this has been the method of choice in a region rich in natural gas reserves and lacking fresh water resources. Aggie researchers are working to build a prototype desalination plant which they believe will save the Qatari people energy and money.
"The problem [with osmosis desalination] is that these metals, as you concentrate waste, they form solids which clog up the membranes. Cleaning these membranes is very expensive. The idea of this project is to remove these waste products that clog up the membrane filters," Batchelor said.
The process uses a progression of stages to remove solids. Adding more lyme and aluminum is the key to removing more of the metals and salts before they clog up the osmosis membranes.
The project lead in Qatar is Professor Ahmed Abdel-Wahab. He received his doctorate at A&M in College Station where he, ironically, studied under Batchelor. Batchelor said he was pleased to be working with his old student again.
"Eighty to 90 percent of the work is being done in Qatar," Batchelor said. "So far, I have been helping to identify sources for pilot plant equipment, providing analysis for precipitants and helping to model and describe them."
Be sure to include your name, major, and class year. Submissions without this information are subject to deletion.
By submitting a comment, you agree to thebatt.com's Terms of Use.
You may also send a Mail Call to The Battalion at mailcall@thebatt.com