Innovative desalination process to be developed by Texas A&M at Qatar and QSTP

Known as 'Zero Liquid Discharge', the technology promises to replace the salty brine that normally remains from desalination plants with easily-disposable solids.

Qatar's farms could be among the first to benefit.

As seawater intrudes into inland aquifers, it is increasingly necessary to desalinate groundwater before using it for irrigation.

The ZLD technology could solve both problems of increasing groundwater salinity and brine disposal.

The current method of dealing with brine is to evaporate it in ponds or with petroleum-fired vaporisers.

This typically accounts for 70% of the system cost and consumes either land or fuel.

Instead of evaporating the brine, TAMUQ's innovation would remove the salt chemically via a lime-aluminium process.

If successful, the technology could be commercialised and exported to other parts of the world affected by groundwater salination.

The project will be carried out by TAMUQ under a $419,800, 18-month grant from QSTP's Proof of Concept Fund.

The university will conduct bench-scale testing of the ZLD process to study its effectiveness, energy requirements and overall cost per litre of water produced.

'Many farms have been run out of business in Qatar because of seawater intrusion' said Dr. Ahmed Abdel-Wahab, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at TAMUQ, who is leading the project.

According to Qatar's Department of Agriculture and Water Research, 298 of 1285 farms in the country had been abandoned by 2005, partly because of reduced usable groundwater.

'The ZLD process could be of tremendous benefit and alleviate the water supply challenges not only in Qatar, but in communities worldwide struggling with aquifer salinity' said Abdel-Wahab.

Paul Field, QSTP's Technology Transfer Manager, said 'In TAMUQ's project we see an innovative technology, a benefit to Qatar, and a marketable end product - the key ingredients of a successful Proof of Concept Fund project. We hope to see the ZLD technology move from the lab and onto farms, in Qatar and around the world'.