UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology





Welcome to the website for the UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, UNSW

The UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology is located in
the School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering
at the University of New South Wales

News

Update from the Director
In 2008, our Centre moved to newly refurbished laboratories on the second floor of the Chemical Sciences Building from our temporary quarters on the 8th floor as part of a multi-million dollar facilities project at UNSW. These laboratories incorporated newly acquired membrane characterisation and fabrication facilities as well as bench scale units for filtration and gas separation experiments. The move required enormous effort and patience by our staff and students to keep the projects running smoothly during the transition.

The Centre has also acquired as part of ARC-LIEF grants access to LCD-OCD Liquid Chromatography – organic carbon and nitrogen detectors (LC-OCND) and other state of the art analysis for water and wastewater treatment. These facilities have enhanced our ability to carry out a growing number of membrane autopsies for industry as well as support research projects.

We have expanded the portfolio of research activities in the area of membrane synthesis and fabrication for mitigation of membrane fouling as well as development of enhanced membranes for carbon dioxide removal from natural gas. Our work in desalination now ranges from studies of biofouling, energy analysis, and pretreatment in reverse osmosis to potential applications to drip irrigation. Our membrane bioreactor work continues to expand in the direction of anaerobic systems as well as advanced foulant characterization.  We expect that alternative membrane technologies in desalination and water treatment and greenhouse gas capture will provide further opportunities for the Centre as energy issues expand in importance.
 

Prof. Vicki Chen
Director

 

AMS6/IMSTEC10 Conference
The UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology is pleased to announce the upcoming AMS6/IMSTEC10, the 6th conference of the Aseanian Membrane Society, which will coincide with the 7th International Membrane Science and Technology Conference.

For more information please visit the conference website by clicking here.

Membrane Library

The Membrane Research Environment is a collaborative project aimed at providing a comprehensive resource for researchers in the area of separation membrane materials and in particular those related to desalination membrane processes. The Membrane library website is now accessible here.

MBR Projects at UNSW
Many research projects based on Membrane Bioreactors are currently carried out in The UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology. More details about this technology and the work done at UNSW could be found here.

Better understanding of fouling formation and removal videos
Direct observation of the fouling formation and removal during the filtration of an alginate-bentonite mixture was presented during the Euromembrane Conference, Italy. The videos can be viewed by clicking here. More details about this project will be published soon.

Solving water problem could come down to using city's kidneys
Sydney Morning Herald Article 19th April 2004 by Associate Professor Greg Leslie
more>>

Contact Information

Mail: The UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology,
School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering,
The University of New South Wales,
Sydney 2052 Australia
Tel: +61-2 9385 4813
Fax: +61-2 9385 5966
E-mail: Click here
URL: http://www.membrane.unsw.edu.au/

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