Next Wednesday, April 23rd 2014, I will present the research I have conducted over the past two and a half years. This presentation, the details of which follow, is open to the general public and I encourage you to attend.

Thesis title: The economics of future membrane desalination processes and applications Date: 10 am on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014 Location: MIT room 35-225 (see here), Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.

Abstract:

Seawater desalination, the desalination of waters flowing back from hydraulic fracturing processes and brackish water desalination constitute important desalination applications. These have a combined market size in excess of $25 billion per annum and a combined water production rate equivalent to the domestic consumption of over 300 million people. Each application offers its own distinct challenge. Reductions in energy consumption are key to driving down seawater desalination costs. The optimisation of water treatment in tandem with the formulation of fracturing fluids is key to reducing water management costs and environmental impacts in hydraulic fracturing. The development of desalination technologies that allow for high water recovery and high product purity is key to meeting industrial and municipal needs from brackish water sources. This thesis analyses and develops three emerging technologies: forward osmosis, electrodialysis at high salinity and hybrid electrodialysis-reverse osmosis with a view to addressing the three above challenges.