NAWADES

The aim of the NAWADES project is to research, design, manufacture and test a new concept for seawater desalination using membranes. Four developments are pursued in this concept:

1. The ultra-membrane filtration typically upstream of an osmosis membrane stage is compactly integrated directly into a multilayer membrane filter.
   
2. The formation of deposits (scaling and fouling) is reduced by surface treatment of the membranes with plasma technology.
   
3. Titanium dioxide nanofibers are integrated into the membrane to prevent fouling by microbial growth in combination with the introduction of UV light via a glass fabric in the space between the membrane units.
4. To monitor the condition of the membranes, a coating is applied on both sides, which acts capacitively and is evaluated.
   

The new technology is intended to enable self-cleaning, low-maintenance membrane filtration, which can be used in seawater desalination with high efficiency and service life as well as reduced energy requirements (as a result of pressure reduction through reduced fouling).

The research leading to results in this project will be funded under the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union (FP7/2007-2013) in accordance with Grant Agreement No 308439.