Nijati to give final seminar in water series Wednesday

Dr. Siamak Nijati, of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Dr. Siamak Nijati, of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Dr. Siamak Nijati, of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will present the final seminar in the 2017 Spring Water Seminar Series: The Right Water for the Right Use at the Right Time" at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, in the Hardin Hall Auditorium.

Nijati, assistant professor in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department, will present "Engineering Solutions for Cleaning Contaminated Water: Membranes for Membrane Distillation."

Synopsis
In the past decades, a new set of pressing challenges at the Water-Energy-Food-Environment Nexus has been identified. The rapid economic development and industrialization of developed countries, the increase in water demand and intensified water pollution, and uneven distribution of supply at the global scale are among the reasons behind these challenges.

At the moment, in some urban areas, urban wastewater treatment facilities are facing challenges to develop low-energy and sustainable technologies for removing organic carbon and nutrients [nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)] from wastewater. Groundwater resources, the essential sources of drinking water for the inland communities, are affected by our current farming practices. The current energy economy and the demand for natural gas production have created a significant environmental impact.

Currently, water resources management scheme, due to the high water demand and scarcity of potable water supply, is at the stage where the technological developments- even of incremental nature- are being transferred for process development. An example of this trend is in Membrane-based separations, one of the most attractive processes in water treatment. At the forefront of the development in membrane-based separation, materials development has a significant place. Thus a discussion on how we benefit from material development and process design for membrane-based separation is of interest.

Under this title, the current status of membrane separation for water desalination and recovery and how to engineer membranes and design integrated processes that allow for water desalination, recovery, and reuse, will be discussed. Special attention will be given to the membrane distillation (MD) processes.

Watch it
The videotapes and PowerPoint presentations for most lectures are available here within a week following the lectures.

Sponsors
The Water Seminar series is organized and sponsored by the School of Natural Resources and the Nebraska Water Center, part of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, with support from Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Natural Resources