Field
of expertise
Removal of trace contaminants by NF/RO membranes;
Membrane fouling and autopsy study; Non-potable
and Indirect potable water reuse; Membrane bioreactors;
Membrane extraction
NF/RO membranes
NF/RO membrane filtration has
emerged as a technology of choice in the water
industry. It has numerous advantages over conventional
treatment technology. These include small footprint,
low or almost zero chemical consumption, capability
to upscale and retrofit to existing facility
with ease or to combine with other treatment
processes to maximise treatment efficiency,
and most of all, superior product water quality.
Over the time, problematic technical and economical
drawbacks associated with membrane technology
such as membrane fouling, energy consumption,
and limited membrane lifetime have been progressively
addressed. Consequently, the size and number
of membrane filtration applications in the water
industry have sky-rocked over the last few years.
Although the shear phenomenal development in
such a short time makes it difficult to determine
whether membrane filtration is truly a mature
or still an emerging technology, it is certain
that membrane technology is facing a new challenge,
which is the elimination of emerging water and
wastewater contaminants. The objectives of this
research area are to comprehensively udnerstand
the underlining phenomena involved in the removal
of trace contaminants by NF/RO membranes and
subsequently to accurately evaluate and model
the removal efficiency under various conditions.
Membrane fouling
& Autopsy study
A problematic and yet inevitable
issue encountered in almost any membrane filtration
plant is membrane fouling. Fouling often results
in a severe productivity loss, premature module
replacement and sometimes variation in treated
water quality (membrane retention). Research
activities in this area aim to examine and elucidate
fouling mechanisms and behaviours with a particular
focus on the application of membrane filtration
for water reuse. Membrane autopsy has been demonstrated
to be an excellent tool for the control and
mitigation of fouling.
Membrane bioreactors
(MBRs)
It has been widely recognised
that membrane bioreactors (MBRs), which combine
membrane filtration and biological process for
wastewater treatment, can play a major role
in the production of high quality reclaimed
water suitable for a wide range of water reuse
applications. Although becoming commercially
available only more than ten years ago, the
technology has been well proven and can provide
a superior removal efficiency over many other
conventional processes for most basic water
quality indicators such as pathogens, suspended
solids and nutrient. However, despite the increasing
number of studies and full-scale applications
of MBRs system, further research efforts are
still required. One particular challenge is
the need to better understand the performance
of MBR with respect to the removal of trace
organic contaminants.
Polymer Inclusion
Membranes (PIMs)
The stability of polymer inclusion
membranes (PIMs) relative to other liquid membranes
is amongst the major reasons for the recent
rejuvenation of interest in carrier-mediated
transport for selective separation and recovery
of metal ions as well as numerous organic solutes.
This is reflected by an increasing number of
PIM investigations reported in the literature
over the last two decades. Given the outstanding
performance of PIMs compared to other types
of liquid membranes particularly in terms of
membrane lifetime, it has been predicted that
practical industrial applications of PIMs will
be realized in the near future.
