UOB Publishes the First Joint Scientific Research in Cooperation with the British University of Oxford

UOB Publishes the
First Joint Scientific Research in Cooperation with the British University of
Oxford

In cooperation with the University of Oxford in Britain, researchers
at the University of Bahrain (UOB) published the first joint scientific
research in the Desalination Journal, which is considered one of the most
prestigious scientific journals in the field of water desalination.

The research focused on the most important methods used in
treating sea water desalination membranes using reverse osmosis technology, and
finding effective solutions to extend the life of these membranes, in order to
reduce the energy used in desalination, as it’s one of UOB’s concerns, to
improve the efficiency of technologies used in the desalination process.

Reverse osmosis is a process in which water moves from the
highest concentrated solution to the lowest concentration solution, through a
semi-permeable membrane using pressure, and it is a process used to purify
water by its passage through several stages after which the water would be
separated from other salts and minerals.

However, the reverse osmosis technology used in Bahrain and
the Arab Gulf region suffers of certain properties such as high salinity and
large biological activity, which affect the efficiency of these membranes and
increase the operational cost of these stations.

Therefore, the study sheds light on the most important
characteristics of the membranes used in desalination technology, whether used
in desalination of sea water, groundwater or water treatment in general, and results
of the study showed that nanomaterials – such as mixed polymer compounds –
significantly improve the performance of the desalination process. Also, the
study sheds light on the scientific gaps that lead to not currently use nanotechnology
on a larger scale in the manufacture of these membranes.

Participants in the research included each of Researcher and
faculty member in the Physics Department at the College of Science at UOB and PhD
student in Environment and Sustainable Development Basma Al-Najjar, Oxford
student researcher Chris Peters, and Associate Professor at the University of
Oxford in Britain, Dr. Nick Hankins.

Through its joint research cooperation with the University
of Oxford in Britain, UOB seeks to reach the best effective and feasible
solutions in the field of addressing the deterioration of the efficiency of
membranes in water desalination, increasing its life span and reducing the
energy used in this treatment.

It’s worth mentioning that the research cooperation
agreement between UOB and the University of Oxford in Britain began in April
2018 and will extend for four years, as UOB has given directions for conducting
its research related to water desalination systems with the University of
Oxford in Britain and a number of prestigious universities interested in this
field, in addition to having research partnership with governmental and other
interested private entities.