MSc., Water and Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE

BSc. Civil Engineering, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine

E-mail: jkharraz@masdar.ac.ae

Jehad Kharraz graduated in 2015 earning a MSc. in Water and Environmental Engineering from Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. He holds a BSc in Civil Engineering. In December 2013, he joined Dr. Arafat’s group as a research assistant. His research focused on the investigation and development of novel PVDF membranes by phase inversion for membrane distillation (MD) applications.

While part of the MSDR group, Jehad worked on developing and testing a novel membrane with integrated spacer for MD. Spacers placed in between the membranes promote turbulence and enhance membrane work; however, using spacers would lead to higher cell resistance and thus to higher power consumption. Having a spacer directly on the membrane surface (membrane with integrated spacer) would gain the advantage of turbulence promotion and at the same time will overcome the disadvantage of thick spacers that increase the cell resistance.

Jehad also worked on the development and testing of novel membranes to be used in membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment. These membranes were tested for use in an aerobic membrane bioreactor (MBR), and in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor based on membrane distillation (AnMDBR). MD can possibly be used for treating wastewater by means of a suitable combination of a thermophilic anaerobic bioreactor and membrane distillation system. The AnMDBR has the potential of achieving in one step the reclamation obtained by the combined Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) and Reverse Osmoses (RO) process. This was done in two main steps: firstly developing a flat sheet membrane module system for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) including the setting up and verification of the system; secondly, investigation of the best operational conditions for the coupling of a thermophilic anaerobic bioreactor with DCMD.

Jehad’s research interests are in the fields of membrane distillation, sustainable desalination, wastewater treatment, and solid waste treatment and management.

Aside from academic and lab work, Jehad likes listing to music, reading, and enjoying a cup of coffee.

 

Publications

J. Kharraz, M. Ro’il Bilad, and H. Arafat, Novel Corrugated PVDF Membranes for Membrane Bioreactors, North American Membrane Society, the 24th Annual Meeting, , Houston, TX, USA, May 31 – June 4, 2014.