Abu Dhabi scientists hail 'huge achievement' in desalination drive to boost water security


John Dennehy
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  • Arabic

Scientists in the UAE have taken a crucial step forward in efforts to develop more effective desalination and water treatment in the Gulf.

A team from the NYU Abu Dhabi Water Research Centre said it has manufactured the first reverse osmosis membrane system in the country. It is not new technology but the membranes, which work by forcing saltwater through tiny pores, have previously been imported.

The development opens a path to local industrial-scale production that can be tailored to suit the conditions in the Gulf, boosting sustainability and bolstering water security.

“It is a huge achievement,” Nidal Hilal, director of the centre and a professor of engineering at the university, told The National. “It is a life achievement in a way. We were able to show that we can develop this here."

Prof Nidal Hilal with the reverse osmosis module, made at the NYU Abu Dhabi Water Research Centre. Victor Besa / The National
Prof Nidal Hilal with the reverse osmosis module, made at the NYU Abu Dhabi Water Research Centre. Victor Besa / The National

Countries across the Middle East have long sought ways to ensure they have reliable sources of water. Desalination – removing salt from seawater to make it drinkable – helps to do that.

Boosting water security

Today, about 50 per cent of all desalinated water in the world is produced in the Middle East and North Africa and this is expected to grow. While techniques such as atmospheric water generation are being assessed, most of the UAE’s potable water – about 40 per cent – comes from desalination, the latest figures show. But it could be higher, with desalination considered crucial to helping supply the UAE's future water needs as the population increases.

Yet the dominant technology used in the Middle East since the 1950s is energy-intensive thermal desalination, which is essentially boiling seawater to remove the salt. Reverse osmosis, by contrast, pushes salty water at high pressure through tiny pores in membranes. The technique uses about a fifth of the energy needed for thermal desalination.

While it is the preferred choice for new installations around the world, the transition in this region has been slow, partly due to the harsh conditions of the Gulf, legacy reasons and the abundance of fuel. Less than 20 per cent of desalinated water in Abu Dhabi comes from reverse osmosis, but its use is increasing.

"It is much [more] environmentally friendly compared with other technologies,” said Prof Hilal, adding that reverse osmosis does not use chemicals to separate the salt. "You could save a lot of ... energy."

A crucial part of the research aims to make membranes suited to conditions in the region. The Gulf has high salinity – more than 50 per cent higher than the Atlantic – meaning more pressure is required to remove the salt. The turbidity, which refers to the clarity of the water, is also higher, meaning it is cloudier with more particles. This can cause membranes can become clogged.

“That is the biggest challenge,” said Prof Hilal. “You need a tailored, specific membrane.”

Scientists could tweak the surface of the membrane to repel certain impurities found in the water. Those unique to the Gulf come from algal blooms and silica from the region's geology, Prof Hilal explained. Desalination could be made even more efficient by treating the water before it is passed through the membrane.

“Researchers in general produce membranes in the labs ... on a small scale for study,” he said. “We produce a paper, we publish the results, we get excited and that's it.”

About 50 per cent of all desalinated water in the world is produced in the Middle East and North Africa. Leslie Pableo for The National
About 50 per cent of all desalinated water in the world is produced in the Middle East and North Africa. Leslie Pableo for The National

But Prof Nidal set about proving the membranes could be made in the region by creating a mini desalination system at the centre's lab. Membranes are made from plastic – even discarded plastic bags or bottles – and then reinforced with fibreglass to make what looks like a long tube. Saltwater enters through one side and is pushed through membranes, coming out as filtered water.

A standard reverse osmosis membrane module can generate between 75 litres and 380 litres of desalinated water an hour, depending on the size and design of the system. Such a device currently costs about $500, but that is expected to drop.

A further issue is the disposal of brine, a byproduct of desalination, which can harm marine life if not managed properly. Brine also contains precious chemicals such as lithium and Prof Hilal said the centre was looking at brine mining projects to extract and reuse them.

The UN has said the Middle East and North Africa includes 15 of the world's 20 most water-scarce countries. It forecast the situation will worsen as populations increase, with other factors such as conflict, unsustainable water management and economic growth also having an effect.

Addressing growing need

It is a global issue and, in 2022, the UN said about half of the world’s population experienced severe water scarcity for at least part of the year. Prof Hilal said sustainability was important to him and the centre's work was dedicated to finding solutions to these global issues.

"The amount of water we have globally is the same amount of water we had millions of years ago,” said Prof Hilal, who this month was named among the top one per cent of researchers around the world, according to Clarivate Analytics. “The population is expanding. Our habits are different. We're using more water than our ancestors – a lot more. Future generations are not going to appreciate that."

He thanked the UAE's Tamkeen company for its support. The next step is to team up with businesses to develop the system and make it ready for potential commercial use, turning the several models currently at the lab into thousands of systems.

“Taking this to a larger scale is a new thing for academics,” said Prof Hilal. “We're looking for people or industries or funders. They come to us and we have a partnership with them and develop this here.”

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Slow loris biog

From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore

Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets

Likes: Sleeping, which they do for up to 18 hours a day. When they are awake, they like to eat fruit, insects, small birds and reptiles and some types of vegetation

Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night

Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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ACL Elite (West) - fixtures

Monday, Sept 30

Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)

Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)

No.6 Collaborations Project

Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)

While you're here

A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro
Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books 

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The biog

Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives. 

The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast. 

As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau

He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker. 

If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah

 

Match info

Karnataka Tuskers 110-3

J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16

Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs

K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18

Structural%20weaknesses%20facing%20Israel%20economy
%3Cp%3E1.%20Labour%20productivity%20is%20lower%20than%20the%20average%20of%20the%20developed%20economies%2C%20particularly%20in%20the%20non-tradable%20industries.%3Cbr%3E2.%20The%20low%20level%20of%20basic%20skills%20among%20workers%20and%20the%20high%20level%20of%20inequality%20between%20those%20with%20various%20skills.%3Cbr%3E3.%20Low%20employment%20rates%2C%20particularly%20among%20Arab%20women%20and%20Ultra-Othodox%20Jewish%20men.%3Cbr%3E4.%20A%20lack%20of%20basic%20knowledge%20required%20for%20integration%20into%20the%20labour%20force%2C%20due%20to%20the%20lack%20of%20core%20curriculum%20studies%20in%20schools%20for%20Ultra-Othodox%20Jews.%3Cbr%3E5.%20A%20need%20to%20upgrade%20and%20expand%20physical%20infrastructure%2C%20particularly%20mass%20transit%20infrastructure.%3Cbr%3E6.%20The%20poverty%20rate%20at%20more%20than%20double%20the%20OECD%20average.%3Cbr%3E7.%20Population%20growth%20of%20about%202%20per%20cent%20per%20year%2C%20compared%20to%200.6%20per%20cent%20OECD%20average%20posing%20challenge%20for%20fiscal%20policy%20and%20underpinning%20pressure%20on%20education%2C%20health%20care%2C%20welfare%20housing%20and%20physical%20infrastructure%2C%20which%20will%20increase%20in%20the%20coming%20years.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Six pitfalls to avoid when trading company stocks

Following fashion

Investing is cyclical, buying last year's winners often means holding this year's losers.

Losing your balance

You end up with too much exposure to an individual company or sector that has taken your fancy.

Being over active

If you chop and change your portfolio too often, dealing charges will eat up your gains.

Running your losers

Investors hate admitting mistakes and hold onto bad stocks hoping they will come good.

Selling in a panic

If you sell up when the market drops, you have locked yourself out of the recovery.

Timing the market

Even the best investor in the world cannot consistently call market movements.

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Remaining fixtures
  • August 29 – UAE v Saudi Arabia, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
  • September 5 – Iraq v UAE, Amman, Jordan (venue TBC)
WORLD'S%2010%20HIGHEST%20MOUNTAINS
%3Cp%3E1.%09Everest%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%09K2%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%09Kangchenjunga%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%09Lhotse%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%09Makalu%0D%3Cbr%3E6.%09Cho%20Oyu%0D%3Cbr%3E7.%09Dhaulagiri%0D%3Cbr%3E8.%09Manaslu%0D%3Cbr%3E9.%09Nanga%20Parbat%0D%3Cbr%3E10.%09Annapurna%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

'Morbius'

Director: Daniel Espinosa 

Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona

Rating: 2/5

Venom

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed

Rating: 1.5/5

The specs

Engine: 3.5-litre V6

Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm

Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km

On sale: now

Price: Dh149,000

 

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:

Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE

Game is on BeIN Sports

Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters

The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.

 Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.

A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.

The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.

The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.

Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.

Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment

But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.

The specs

Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: nine-speed

Power: 542bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: Dh848,000

On sale: now

Updated: December 07, 2024, 6:30 AM`