Spanish energy sustainability company Abengoa has formed a research partnership with the Masdar Institute and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company to optimize membrane distillation technology for the treatment of reverse osmosis brines.
The study aims to improve the water recovery and productivity of seawater reverse osmosis plants while reducing the volume of brine discharge, to increase the sustainability of the desalination process.
As part of the work Abengoa is developing a seawater reverse osmosis pilot scale project las Ghantoot city, at Abu Dhabi’s border with Dubai. This 1,000 m³/d pilot plant will use a hybrid system of reverse osmosis combined with an innovative membrane distillation system.
Abengoa said the research partnership will consolidate its commitment to research and development in the water sector to improve the performance of existing products and the development of new technologies.