Australia’s parliamentary secretary for sustainability and urban water, Senator Don Farrell, announced ten new innovative desalination research projects which will benefit from the 4th funding round for the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia (NCEDA).
Announcing funding worth Aus$ 2.7 million (US$ 2.65 million) at the opening of NCEDA’s International Intakes and Outfalls Workshop in Adelaide on 16 May 2012, Farrell said, “Australia now has 44 world class desalination research projects advancing Australian science and ingenuity while safeguarding the national public water interest.”
“These projects align with the Centre’s mission to optimise desalination technology for use in Australia’s unique circumstances; to develop suitable technology for use in rural and regional areas and to reduce desalination’s carbon footprint, ” he affirmed.
CEO Neil Palmer said there had been a focus on renewable energy solutions, with one of the projects proposing to use geothermally heated groundwater to power desalination. Projects funded in previous rounds have included solar-powered desalination and innovative use of waste heat generated from large-scale minerals processing.
“Further reduction of the energy consumption of desal plants and fast-tracking new green technologies will continue to reduce the carbon footprint of the Australian water and desalination industry and make us more competitive internationally,” Palmer said.
A further Aus$ 4.9 million (US$ 4.82 million) of in-kind contributions and Aus$ 535,000 (US$ 527,000) in additional funding from participating organisations and research participants will bring Aus$ 8.1 million (US$ 8 million) of new investment into Australian desalination research.
Round 4 projects
Title – Principal University- Principal Investigator(s) – Other Participants
Resilient Desalination Pre-Treatment Of Saline Secondary Effluent By Ceramic Membranes – Victoria University – A/Prof Mikel Duke – Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, City West Water, Melbourne Water, Water Quality Research Australia
Web-Based Public Interface Tool For Climate-Resilient Water Sources (CREWS) – Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) – Dr Shiroma Maheepala- Bureau of Meteorology, Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence
Optimal Water Supply Sources For Resilient Urban And Remote Communities – A Review Of Current Australian And International Governance Arrangements And Suggestions For Law Reforms To Promote Resilience In Australian Arrangements – University of South Australia – Prof Jennifer McKay – Valoriza Water Australia, Acciona Water, Australia, Ernst & Young, Hatch
Optimising SWRO Concentrate Discharge During “Hot Standby” Operation – University of Queensland – Dr Badin Gibbes – Seqwater, BMT WBM, Veolia Water Australia
Opportunities For Desalination In Australian Agriculture – CSIRO – Dr Olga Barron – Valoriza Agua, University of Alicante, Spain
Prefeasibility Investigation Of Water And Energy Options Utilising Geothermal Energy, Multi-Effect Distillation And Reverse Osmosis – The University of Western Australia – Prof Klaus Regenauer-Lieb – CSIRO Land and Water, Pilbara Cities Office of Department of Regional Development, Water Corporation, WA Department of Water
Extraction Of Water And Minerals From Coal Seam Gas Produced Water For Beneficial Use – University of Wollongong – Dr Long Nghiem – Victoria University, AGL, Osmoflo, Colorado School of Mines, Sasakura, AquaStill
Brine Management Using Ecube™ Accelerated Evaporation – Victoria UniversityA/Prof Jun-De Li – AVIVAPURE
Desalination Within Supply Networks: Exploring And Communicating The Bigger Picture For Water, Technology And Economic Development – Deakin University – Prof Michael Porter – Griffith University, University of Technology, Sydney, Curtin University, The University of Western Australia
Forward Osmosis As A Low Energy And High Efficient Pre-Treatment Process For Ro Desalination – University of South Australia – Prof Linda Zou – SA Water, KWR Watercycle Research Institute (Netherlands), Modern Water plc.