Project to Focus on Engineering, Scaling-up and Commercialization of Novel Class of Selective Ion Sponges for Desalination ��

Khalifa University and the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) announced they have signed a research collaboration agreement to jointly fund a project to engineer, scale-up and commercialize a novel class of selective ion sponges for desalination supporting enhanced water recovery and a circular approach to desalination.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University and His Excellency Saeed Albahri Salem Alameri, Director-General, ADAFSA. The project represents both the partners’ intense involvement in water management and food security – two sectors strategic for the UAE.

The project will lead to the delivery of intellectual property (IP) in desalination, advanced materials design, process integration and trigger responsive systems, with applications and scope of study spanning far beyond the project’s ambit. It will also place Khalifa University, ADAFSA and the UAE in a leadership position in advanced separation materials design for the development of a significant and scalable technology for desalination. Additionally, it will find potential applications beyond desalination in areas such as resource recovery, selective toxins or pathogens removal, and nutrients benefaction. Highly novel materials and manufacturing routes are also expected to be developed and translated in the scale-up stage.

Dr. Al Hammadi said: “Khalifa University is delighted to enter into this partnership with ADAFSA and inspire innovation in the UAE’s strategic sectors. In addition to food security and desalination, this project is expected to yield IP in several related sectors, which will help highlight the UAE’s role in advancing development of fresh technologies. We believe our expert faculty, who are leading this research project with their collaborators, will not only drive innovation but will also develop human capital for the local and regional industries.”

H.E Saeed Alameri said: “We are happy to collaborate with Khalifa University in conducting this research project, which will create environmentally and economically sustainable freshwater resources. Due to the increased pressure on the available water resources and the depletion of groundwater, there is a pressing need for investing in scientific research to localize modern technologies and innovations in desalination.”

Alameri noted the agriculture sector is the largest consumer of groundwater in the Emirate, stressing this collaboration stems from ADAFSA’s keenness on leveraging all possible opportunities to achieve agricultural sustainability, thus boosting the food security of Abu Dhabi and the UAE in general.

The project was initially submitted to Khalifa University within ADAFSA’s efforts to build strategic partnerships with key research entities in the UAE, to develop the agricultural and food sector. It was prioritized as water is of the essential natural resources used in agricultural production, especially as this sector faces many challenges in providing the needed irrigation water for crops.

The project will be led by Dr. Ludovic Dumee, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, an expert in advanced and responsive separation materials development at Khalifa University, who will be assisted by post-doctoral researchers and two PhD students. Dr. Hassan Arafat, Director, Khalifa University Center for Membranes and Advanced Water Technology (CMAT), and Professor, Chemical Engineering, will also support and co-lead this project.

From ADAFSA’s side, the research project will be supervised by a team specialized in economic, agricultural and irrigation development under the directives and follow-up of H.E. Saeed Alameri, ADAFSA’s Director General.

The project will eventually lead to development of a library of light responsive MOF materials and module configurations enabling relatively low-cost water recoveries, as well as analytical databases that can predict water quality based on ‘source’ waters. In addition, it will generate freshwater streams from saline groundwater or treated wastewaters at par quality or above that is required for farming applications, while leading to a scalable technology for deployment at the end of the project with relevant stakeholders in the water utilities and materials engineering areas.

Khalifa University’s CMAT focuses on advanced desalination technologies, nanomaterials and membranes, energy efficiency and sustainability of water processes, as well as technology transfer and capacity building in desalination.

Meanwhile, ADAFSA will follow-up and utilize the project’s outcomes in developing the agricultural sector and finding ways to desalinate water in a sustainable, economic and environmental manner, in cooperation with the stakeholders.

Clarence Michael
English Editor Specialist
6 April 2021

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While desalination technology is becoming increasingly popular as costs come down and demand for water grows, some sociopolitical factors still hamper its adoption.

Water scarcity is a global challenge, with growing populations putting pressure on a finite supply of water. Responding to this challenge is desalination technology, with the cost of desalinated water coming down as technology evolves.

Desalination, however, is plagued by some serious problems, including environmental issues. Often overlooked are the sociopolitical factors impacting the adoption and proliferation of this technology, but a team from Khalifa University has used multiple cases from several countries to identify these factors and their influence on desalination around the world.

Yazan Ibrahim, Research Engineer, Roqaya Ismail, Graduate Student, Dr. Fawzi Banat, Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Dr. Hassan Arafat, Director of Khalifa University’s Center for Membranes and Advanced Water Technology (CMAT), all members of CMAT, with Adetola Ogungbenro, graduate student from the KU Department of Chemical Engineering, and Tom Pankratz from Global Water Intelligence, reviewed the sociopolitical factors involved and published their findings in the Elsevier’s international journal

“Historically, water availability has always been considered fundamental for human civilizations to evolve and flourish, from the early Mesopotamian age to the current rapidly growing cities in the Middle East,” explained Ibrahim. “Over time, wasteful water use, mismanagement, and significant environmental challenges have triggered severe depletion and degradation of the available freshwater resources, with adverse effects on human health, living conditions, and social and economic prosperity.”

The UAE has limited natural water resources and uses desalination to make seawater drinkable. Today, most of the country’s potable water comes from over 70 major desalination plants, which account for 42 percent of the country’s water needs and nearly all of its potable water, and around 14 percent of the world’s total production of desalinated water. However, water scarcity is not confined to arid countries.

“Since its inception, the evolution and growth of desalination technologies have made water production appear more sustainable than ever before,” explained Ibrahim. “Scarce freshwater resources in MENA countries have resulted in an upsurge in the number and size of desalination plants. Furthermore, the rapid development of this region has led to higher dependence on desalination to sustain this development.”

Yet, despite the benefits that can be reaped from using desalination to provide such a critical resource, the adoption and proliferation of desalination are impacted by a variety of economic, environmental, and sociopolitical factors.

Much of the resistance to desalination stems from the cost. Energy accounts for around 70 percent of the cost of desalination, with this energy typically derived from fossil fuels. However, the sociopolitical factors must not be overlooked.

“Although the economic and environmental factors have received more attention, there is evidence to suggest that the use of desalination technologies and their associated impacts would most likely exacerbate the existing inequalities in a society,” explained Ibrahim. “This was attributed to the increased greenhouse gas emissions, increased water prices, urban growth motivation, shifting geopolitical relations related to water security, and increased chemical pollution.”

Even building a desalination plant in certain areas can be difficult. One study proposed aesthetic acceptability – the noise and look of a desalination plant – as a barrier.

The research team used a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis as the framework for a critical review of the sociopolitical factors that impact the adoption and proliferation of desalination. A SWOT analysis is typically employed to help gain insights into the strengths and opportunities of an initiative or concept as well as the associated weaknesses and threats.

“We defined ‘sociopolitical’ factors as factors with a significant social dimension, which have either underlying social, economic, or political root causes and consequences within those spheres,” explained Ibrahim. “We identified eight strengths and opportunities, and seven weaknesses and threats.”

The strengths and opportunities include: the decentralization of water supply, fast deployment, and low physical footprint that comes with some desalination technologies with the potential to help remote communities and tourist facilities flourish. Desalination can provide sufficient quantities of water as and when needed, which can significantly enhance the water security of a nation, while also supporting regional stabilities by evading any conflict over water resources. This also means there are a plethora of opportunities for society to benefit from desalination technologies. Local employment opportunities during the construction and operation of desalination plants are one such benefit, but easy access to water also means more work and education opportunities for women.

As for weaknesses, the visual impacts, noise and land use issues were among the most-cited concerns. Beyond this, another weakness of desalination lies in the unintended consequences of excessive reliance on desalination and the potential impacts of poor mineralization of desalinated water on human health. Freshwater contains various minerals which may offer health benefits and it’s not yet understood if desalinated water that has not been re-mineralized could have adverse health effects. Threats to desalination stem from social tension among those who mistrust the technologies as well as the wide range of anthropogenic and natural causes that could halt operation. The latter ranges from cyberattacks to natural disasters and oil spills.

The team’s research makes it clear that integrating desalination into a country’s water supply can yield significant direct and indirect benefits, in terms of political stability, water security and economic growth. Desalination can also provide a boost to tourism, agriculture and education although various threats and weaknesses are also noted.

“We wanted to note that these sociopolitical benefits and challenges can be difficult to quantify and compare across different domains,” explained Ibrahim. “But understanding these factors can help make the adoption and proliferation of desalination technologies much smoother, with more robust engagement among the multiple process stakeholders involved.

“Since its inception, desalination has delivered a range of benefits to societies in arid regions and supported their economic development and political stability. It must be recognized, however, that many factors are at play when it comes to the sociopolitical dimension of desalination. A holistic approach to this subject is essential.”

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
20 January 2021

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Team Develops First Index to Account for the Sustainability Performance of Desalination Technologies

In water-scarce urban environments like those of the UAE, desalination technologies play a central role in transforming plentiful saline and brackish water to create freshwater that meets the population’s needs. In the UAE, natural gas-powered thermal��desalination��is estimated to produce around 80% of the country’s domestic water.

However, desalination is not an entirely benign process, with associated economic, environmental and social impacts. This makes ensuring that desalination does not harm the very environments and populations that they are meant to help support an ongoing challenges. In response to this need, a Khalifa University research team has collaborated with both international and regional experts to develop the first universal integrated framework to assess the sustainability of desalination technologies.

“As far as we could find out, there was no unified sustainability metric to measure the sustainability of a desalination plant in the UAE. That is why we decided to formulate a comprehensive framework for the UAE, to generate a sustainability index that takes into account the four factors of sustainability, which are environmental, social, technical, and economical,” explained Dr. Faisal AlMarzooqi, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Khalifa University.

A paper on the framework titled “An integrated framework for sustainability assessment of seawater desalination” was recently published in journal Desalination, co-authored by research associate Yazan Ibrahim, Dr. AlMarzooqi, Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Dr. Hassan A. Arafat, and Professor of Engineering Systems and Management Dr. Toufic Mezher, all from Khalifa University.

“What makes desalination a different and more urgent challenge than ever before, is the rapid evolution of this region in its social, environmental, and economic contexts. This led to a significant dependence on desalination as a reliable freshwater alternative due to the geographical and geological structure of the UAE that limit the number of natural water resources,” Ibrahim shared.

The framework developed by the team combines different desalination-related sub-factors and covers the four sustainability factors. It took a unique methodological approach to integrate the different framework components to be able to assess the sustainability of any desalination technology worldwide. The framework consists of three levels, the first being the goal sought to be reached, the
second level being the main sustainability factors and the third being the sub-factors assigned to each factor.�� The framework was then demonstrated by assessing the sustainability of the three main desalination technologies in the UAE, which are multi-stage flash distillation (MSF), multiple-effect distillation (MED), and seawater reverse osmosis��(SWRO).

“SWRO, which is a membranes-based process, is the most widely adopted technology worldwide, with a global share of around 68% in 2018. It is characterized with low environmental impacts, low cost, reduced land use, and ease of operation. On the other hand, MED and MSF, which are thermally-based technologies, are known for their reliability and robustness as well as their high environmental footprint. Therefore, the challenge for sustainable desalination today lies in the ability to find a tradeoff between the economic, social, and environmental aspects of these technologies,” Yazan explained.

Overall, the three main sustainability factors were environmental, techno-economic and social, each of which had 5-6 desalination-related sub-factors, which were selected from published literature and expert opinion on the topics. The technical factor demonstrated the technically feasible of the technology. This is closely related to the economic factor. Therefore, the team decided to combine those two factors into one representative factor namely techno-economic. Some of the sub-factors included water extraction and discharged brine impacts in the environmental factor, quality of produced water and scaling and fouling propensity in the techno-economic factor, and technology safety and level of noise in the social factor.

When the framework was applied to the three major types of desalination technologies used in the UAE, SWRO was found to be the most sustainable technology followed by MED and MSF.

“This was due to the unique local conditions and parameters of the UAE – like the relatively low price of natural gas and the relatively higher weightage of environmental impact. That is why it is important to calculate the sustainability of a technology in a way that is specific to its local application. In the future if new technologies emerge, these too can be added to the index and framework,” Dr. Al Marzooqi explained.

The team is now working on the technological aspects of sustainable desalination and hope that opportunities are generated in the near future to further develop sustainability indices.

“Till date, the economics and efficiency of sustainable desalination technologies are not able to fully replace traditional desalination technologies. Sustainable desalination technologies are still awaiting a technological breakthrough to give it a competitive advantage against traditional desalination technologies. This research will serve as a performance metric for sustainable desalination. This will benefit the UAE and the world by enabling the government and regulatory bodies in measuring the
current sustainability of desalination plants and setting future targets which will help in achieving other sustainability related targets such as climate change and other,” Dr. Arafat added.

And though the team’s framework was developed to test the sustainability of desalination technologies in the UAE, it can be universally applied to other desalination technologies and/or other countries.

Their research has also been presented through two conference presentations – one at the International Desalination Workshop that was held in Busan, South Korea in November 2017, and another at the Desalination for the Environment Conference of the European Desalination Society that was held in September 2018 in Athens, Greece.

Zarina Khan
Senior Editor
17 December 2018

The post Integrated Framework to Measure Sustainability of Desalination appeared first on Khalifa University.

Reviews Khalifa University Students’ Projects in Renewable-Powered Hydrogen Production Plants and Sustainable Water Desalination Technologies

Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), toured Khalifa University of Science and Technology’s Masdar City Campus during her visit to the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (‘Masdar’) to witness the progress of Abu Dhabi’s flagship sustainable urban community and learn how investment in youth is helping the UAE to deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Lagarde met with young students and researchers of Khalifa University, who presented their research projects, which covered a range of topics including renewable-powered hydrogen production plants and sustainable water desalination technologies.

The visit also included a tour of Khalifa University of Science and Technology’s cutting-edge research laboratories and presentations from three innovative start-up companies supported by The Catalyst – a joint venture between Masdar, Khalifa University’s Masdar Institute, and multinational energy company BP.

Lagarde, on her visit to Masdar City, said: “It is inspiring to hear so many young people speak so passionately about their collective drive towards achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals. We rely on the next generation to continue to innovate and find solutions to address our global sustainability challenges.”

Dr Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, said: “We welcome Christine Lagarde to Masdar Institute and her interest in advanced research projects in energy and water-related areas, which demonstrate our status as a top-ranked academic institution dedicated to encouraging sustainable initiatives among the youth.

“Khalifa University’s 16 research centers that drive intellectual capital creation are focused on the UAE’s strategically essential sectors such as clean energy, aerospace, nuclear engineering, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology as well as oil and gas. We believe Lagarde’s visit will help highlight our scientific research in sustainability among the other United Nations organizations and the benefits they bring to the wider global community.”

Lagarde, who has led the IMF since 2011 and provides financial oversight for its 189 member countries, was briefed on this year’s Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) and how a number of its key initiatives including the Zayed Sustainability Prize, WiSER, Youth 4 Sustainability, and the Masdar Emerging Leaders Programme are empowering youth to become active sustainability leaders.

ADSW 2019 also hosted the inaugural Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum, at which 25 public and private sector organizations, including Masdar, committed to support the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration to jointly advocate sustainable finance and investment that fosters positive social, economic and environmental impacts.

“We are delighted to receive Christine Lagarde at Masdar City, especially at a time when the nation is observing Innovation Month, so that she can see the investment the UAE is making in sustainable development, and the role we at Masdar and other stakeholders are playing in empowering youth through knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar.

“Youth engagement is a core element of our commitment at Masdar to help the UAE achieve its sustainability goals. This opportunity to share insights on these initiatives with Lagarde, and benefit from her vast experience, will help us encourage even more young UAE nationals to become involved in the sustainability sector, whether in research, entrepreneurship, or raising awareness.”

The companies nurtured by The Catalyst and exhibited included BonApp, a mobile application designed to reduce food waste by allowing consumers to purchase fresh but unsold food from restaurants at a discount; De L’Arta, a company specialising in sustainable soil regeneration techniques as well as natural skincare products extracted from UAE native plants; and The Febits, which utilizes autonomous sea-surface cleaning robots to clear oil spills and pollutants.

As part of the tour, Lagarde participated in a roundtable discussion titled ‘Rising to the challenge: how UAE youth are taking the lead on sustainability’. Discussions focused on how government, the private sector and non-profit community are all collaborating to empower youth to shape the sustainability agenda, with input from young participants representing multiple initiatives.

Findings of a Masdar-commissioned global survey of youth attitudes towards sustainability, climate change and renewable energy, indicating that young people are willing to take the lead in finding solutions to climate change, were also debated, along with Masdar-led research released at ADSW 2019 concerning the technologies expected to have the most impact on sustainable development over the next five years.

10 February 2019
Abu Dhabi, UAE

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