Novel Drinking Water Systems
Novel Drinking Water Systems
We target drinking water supplies, particularly for remote and undeveloped areas and for emergency provision due to natural disasters. Examples include gravity driven membrane devices for application in flood and earthquake areas, and batch forward osmosis for emergency drinking water. Forward osmosis is being studied as a low energy alternative for desalination, particularly the design of novel draw solutions which are inexpensive, generate high osmotic pressure, non-toxic and can be regenerated at low energy. We are also applying pre-coagulation behind a UF membrane to intensify the treatment of raw, upland waters.
Publications
M.S. Siddique, S.J. Khan, M.A. Shahzad, M. S. Nawaz and N. Hankins: “Insight into the Effect of Organic and Inorganic Draw Solutes on the Flux Stability and Sludge Characteristics in the Osmotic Membrane Bioreactor”, Bioresource Technology, 2018, 249, 758-766.
Xiafu Shi, Galit Tal, Nicholas P. Hankins, and Vitaly Gitis: “Fouling and Cleaning of Ultrafiltration Membranes: A Review”, Journal of Water Process Engineering. 2014, 1, 121–138.
Gabriela Gadelha, Muhammad Saqib Nawaz, Nicholas P. Hankins, Sher Jamal Khan, Rong Wang and Chuyang Y Tang: “Assessment of Micellar Draw Solutions for Forward Osmosis”, Desalination. 2014, 354, 97-106.
Hankins, R. Price and N.A. Debacher: “Process Intensification During Treatment of NOM-laden Raw Upland Waters: Control and Impact of the Pre-Coagulation Regime During Ultra-filtration”, Desalination and Water Treatment. 2009, 8:1,1-15.
M. Wallace, Z. Cui, and N.P. Hankins: “A Thermodynamic Benchmark for Assessing an Emergency Drinking Water Device Based on Forward Osmosis”, Desalination. 2008, 227:1, 34-45.