Texas Tech awarded $2 million to research recovering, reuse energy industry wastewater
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a Texas Tech professor a $2 million grant to research how to recover minerals from produced water in oil and gas production.
According to a release from the university, Mahdi Malmali, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, is leading the project titled “Strategic Management and Resource Recovery Transformation (SMAR2T): Recovery of Water and Elements of Interest from Produced Water Using Intensified Membrane Distillation and Metal Extraction.”
The project will study a cascade treatment approach involving an intensified membrane-based desalination to recover water from produced water. The project is designed to allow the selective recovery of metals and elements of interest through staged precipitation, develop a framework for managing produced water and promote workforce development and community involvement.
Forming Malmali's project is Chau-Chyun Chen, a Horn Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and Amrika Deonarine, Hadis Matinpour and Yuexiao Shen from the Department of Civil, Environmental, & Construction Engineering.
Graduate students from the university's Graduate School's Distinguished Graduate Student Assistantships program will also be joining the team.
“Texas Tech is extremely proud of Dr. Malmali and his water research team,” said Joseph Heppert, vice president for Research & Innovation. “Dr. Malmali’s research is incredibly important, especially in semi-arid regions like ours where water availability is a critical priority. Developing technologies that can utilize produced water is beneficial to our environment and economy, and I’m excited to see Texas Tech researchers committed to solving problems that will benefit our community and region.”
This investment in research at Texas Tech comes from the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. It is part of $8 million in funding for exploratory projects across the country, which has been added to the $10 million invested in similar projects in 2023.
“We are excited to announce additional project selections under this important initiative to recover and reuse energy industry wastewater for non-potable uses, which in turn helps to increase the availability of fresh-water resources in regions of the country experiencing drought conditions made worse by a warming climate,” said Brad Crabtree, assistant secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. “At the same time, these projects are helping to develop a domestic source of critical minerals and materials key to achieving our clean energy manufacturing, climate and national security goals.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: U.S. Department of Energy awards TTU $2 million water research grant
