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uring the past decades, our mother Earth has been embattled by numerous man-made environmental issues such as deterioration of water quality and alteration of quantity by climate change, water scarcity and air pollution. This is expected to continue into the future and urgent solutions are needed for
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these problems. The availability of good quality water - an essential requirement for all living organisms - n sufficient quantities determines the survival of societies and their development. However, we are in the midst of a water crisis that has been posing considerable challenges to mankind. Water consumption has doubled in the last fifty years while water quality continues to worsen in many parts of the world. The ever increasing growth in water demand also clearly suggests that there is an urgent need to derive drinking water efficiently and economically from non-conventional sources.
 Figure 1: Long channel reverse osmosis test cell for water reclamation and seawater desalination.
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Tackling these environmental issues will require a multi- and even trans-disciplinary approach which cuts across traditional research boundaries and paradigms. Fundamental concepts from chemistry, physics, biology and health sciences as well as engineering, need to be harnessed in an integrated way to solve the challenging environmental problems facing society today. An example of a multi-disciplinary project in the Division of Environmental Science and Engineering (ESE) includes the Environment & Water Industry Development Council (EWI)-sponsored project, “Microbial fuel cell technology for wastewater treatment and alternative clean energy production,” that involves faculty from the Department of Material Science and Engineering and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Another example of a collaborative research project is titled “Towards improved urban water management through aquatic science centres in Singapore”. This is a Singapore-Delft Water Alliance project
involving Co-PIs from the Department of Biological Science, NUS, and external collaborators from Delft Hydraulics, The Netherlands.
ESE faculty members are engaged in cutting-edge research that deals with all aspects of air, land, and water systems to tackle these challenging environmental problems. Areas of research include:
(1) Water Quality Enhancement. Research in this area addresses the sources, transport and treatment of chemical and microbiological contaminants that affect water quality. It also focuses on the application of principles of science and engineering to understanding and develop solutions for evolving problems in water quality enhancement, and water reclamation and desalination. Research focuses on enhancement of wastewater treatment, membrane and processes development for water treatment, reclamation and seawater desalination (Figure 1), environmental chemistry, drinking water quality in the distribution system, advanced oxidation processes, disinfection and bioremediation. Optimization of processes to increase treatment and energy efficiencies is another area of research focus in this research group.
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(2) Bioenergy. This is an emerging research area of global interest and has the potential to transform the way in which we live by providing abundant, inexpensive and clean energy sources to power our homes, businesses and transportation systems. The division of ESE is developing a holistic program of complementary basic and applied bioenergy research, engineering, process development, and commercialization. More specifically, R&D on bioenergy focuses on production of biodiesel from algae, production of electricity from wastewater using microbial fuel cell (Figure 2), and production of methane or hydrogen from waste/wastewater using anaerobic technology. To realise the full potential of bioenergy, the division is mobilizing its research and education infrastructure in collaboration with the government and the private sector.
(3) Environmental Particles. This area of research involves understanding the processes leading to the creation, transformation and transport of airborne particles. This is an especially compelling area of research because links between adverse human health effects and exposure to airborne particulate matter have recently been documented. Adding expertise in environmental health would bring another important dimension to many of the environmental health research projects on campus to take advantage of the growing interest at NUS for interdisciplinary approaches.
 Figure 2: Microbial fuel cell prototype.
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In this Special Focus, five ESE research projects have been featured. The topics covered range from development of ideal forward osmosis membrane and membrane processes for pharmaceutical products separation, identification of specific microorganisms for dechlorinating pollutants, and ultra-violet disinfection to biodiesel production.
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Dr
Ng How Yong is currently an Associate Professor and the Deputy Head (Research) of the Division of Environmental Science and Engineering. His research interests are in water reclamation, focusing on fouling in membrane processes, biological processes for wastewater treatment, and energy reduction and recovery from waste and wastewater. He is the recipient of the International Water Association’s Young Professional Award 2006, the Singapore Young Scientist Award 2007, the Singapore Youth Award 2008 and NUS Young Researcher Award 2009.
Email: esenghy@nus.edu.sg |
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