Towards sustainable desalination by minimizing greenhouse gas emissions

About the Project

Climate change and population growth pose a threat to water security worldwide. Sea water desalination is traditionally a promising technology to provide fresh water. There are numerous existing technologies for seawater desalination, with extensive research focusing on optimizing process and operating conditions to save energy, cost and enhance performance metrics like the Gain Output Ratio (GoR), etc. However, comparatively less attention has been paid to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from these technologies towards combating climate change. It is well known that desalination is a highly energy-intensive process and a significant contributor to atmospheric CO2. To achieve Net Zero target by 2050 and the ambitious goal of phasing out fossil fuels in long term (outlined in CoP 2024), the project is focused on identifying the carbon footprint across desalination technologies and conducting a comprehensive comparative analysis. This work primarily involves modelling, simulation, and techno-economic analysis of desalination processes to support a sustainable approach. The involved software’s are gPROMS and Aspen among others. The project aims to quantify CO2 release per unit of produced fresh water, establish a new metric for sustainable desalination, and recommend strategies for enhancing performance while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Suitability

Applications and expressions of interest are invited from prospective researchers with a good background of chemical or mechanical engineering or a closely related field.

How to apply

Formal applications can be submitted via the University of Bradford web site; applicants will need to register an account, select 'Postgraduate Research' as the course and then use the keywords 'chemical engineering'. Applicants should then specify the project title in the 'Research Proposal' section.

Funding Notes

This is a self-funded PhD project; applicants will be expected to pay their own fees or have a suitable source of third-party funding. A bench fee of £3000 per year may also apply to this project, in addition to the tuition fees. UK students may be able to apply for a Doctoral Loan from Student Finance for financial support.

References

Hassan A. Arafat, 2017, Desalination Sustainability, A Technical, Socioeconomic, and Environmental Approach, ISBN 978-0-12-809791-5, Elsvier