PRESS RELEASE Report

Thirteen research projects will receive some S$17 million in research funds from the Environment & Water Industry Development Council (EWI) to develop new technologies for the biological processes used in the treatment of used water and new chemical redox technologies employed for raw water treatment.

The projects were selected through Directed Requests-for-Proposal (RFP) called by EWI on 15 January 2008. The primary objective of both RFPs is to develop sustainable technologies that lower energy consumption, reduce chemical usage and/or minimise waste generation. The Directed RFPs generated great interest among the local universities, research institutions and private sector research laboratories and companies. A total of 24 proposals on biological processes and 17 proposals on chemical redox technologies were received. The proposals underwent two rounds of rigorous evaluation. They were first sent to various specialists in the international water research community for peer review. Subsequently, EWI’s Project Evaluation Panel (PEP), comprising distinguished international and local water experts, further evaluated the proposals, and finally recommended 7 biological process proposals and 6 chemical redox technologies proposals for funding (see Annex A for the full list of the projects that are awarded for funding).

Chairman of EWI’s PEP, Prof Lui Pao Chuen, said, “We are extremely pleased with the standard of research ideas presented in the proposals submitted for the two Directed RFPs. The PEP felt that most of the proposals received are innovative and grounded on scientifically sound principles. More importantly, many of them are also internationally competitive. As the global water crisis becomes more acute with rapid urbanisation and water pollution, we believe that technological advancements in these two domains will benefit people in many parts of the world.”

The Directed RFPs are devised by EWI following a thorough review of research trends in the two domains. For each domain, a technology roadmap describing promising technologies and how they can be developed to full-scale application was prepared by EWI with technical inputs from the local academia. The biological process roadmap comprises four technologies: forward osmosis membrane bioreactors, cyclic membrane bioreactors, deflocculated systems and low substrate anaerobic processes. The chemical and redox technologies roadmap describes research and development in the titanium dioxide photocatalysis, silver disinfection and sulphate radicals.

One of the projects supported under the biological process domain is a study on Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC). This promising technology produces clean and renewable energy from organic compounds found in used water. In an MFC, bacteria extract the energy stored in the organic compounds and release it directly in the form of electricity. In this process, the organic pollutants are converted, thereby achieving treatment and energy production at the same time. Another project is in the chemical redox domain, and it involves the development of a new titanium dioxide nano-particle by incorporating nitrogen molecules and powdered carbon. These particles can purify water by attracting organic contaminants onto its surfaces, and then destroying them upon activation by sunlight.

The Directed RFPs were open to all Singapore institutions of higher learning, research institutes, public agencies, corporate research laboratories and companies. Both the Directed RFPs closed on 11 April 2008.

To create a vibrant landscape of R&D activities in Environment and Water Technologies (EWT), and support capability development for the fast-rising environment and water industry in Singapore, NRF, through the EWI, is offering PhD scholarships to develop experts in the field of EWT. The scholarship provides support for up to 4 years of PhD studies in environment and water R&D at either local or overseas universities. More details on the scholarship can be found on www.mewr.gov.sg/ewi/scholarships. Applications must be made by 30 January 2009.

About the Project Evaluation Panel (PEP)

The panel is chaired by Professor Lui Pao Chuen, Advisor to National Research Foundation and comprises the following members:

1. Mr Tan Gee Paw, Chairman, PUB

2. Professor Anthony Fane, University of New South Wales

3. Professor Vernon Snoeyink, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

4. Professor David Jenkins, U.C. Berkeley

5. Professor Martin Reinhard, Stanford University

6. Professor Perry McCarty, Stanford University

7. Professor Ng Wun Jern, Nanyang Technological University

8. Professor Chan Eng Soon, National University of Singapore

About the Environment and Water Industry Development Council

The Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI) is a Program Office under National Research Foundation (NRF) and was set up in May 2006 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) to spearhead the development of the environment and water industry in Singapore and position Singapore as a global hydrohub.

EWI’s strategy for industry development is anchored on technology development and R&D activities to help grow the local industry cluster and to create a competitive edge for Singapore-based companies in the global market.

EWI targets to increase the value-added[1] (VA) contribution from the water sector to $1.7 billion by 2015. Jobs for this sector are expected to double to about 11,000 by 2015.

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For media enquiries, please call:

Ms Tristin Ong

Senior Corporate Communications Executive

Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources

Tel: 6731 9025 or email: tristin_ong@mewr.gov.sg

Annex A

a. Directed RFP in the domain of Biological Processes

S/N	Title	Principal Investigator
1	A Pilot Plant Study on a New Combined Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB)/Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) Process for Treating Municipal Wastewater in Warm Climatic Conditions.	Dr Wong Fook Sin, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
2	Development of Forward Osmosis Membrane Bioreactor (FO-MBR) for Water Reclamation	Dr Ng How Yong, National University of Singapore (NUS)
3	Integration of Novel Forward Osmosis Membranes and Optimised Bioprocess for Water Reclamation	Prof Anthony Fane, NTU
4	Material engineering and fabrication of high-performance nanofiltration-based FO membranes for water reuses	Prof Neal Chung Tai-Shung, NUS
5	MBR Process Modeling and Optimisation: Case Study of Ulu Pandan Water Reclamation Plant with Future Scale-Up Considerations	Dr Jim Chen, NTU
6	Microbial Fuel Cell Technology for Wastewater Treatment and Alternative Clean Energy Production	Dr Ng How Yong, NUS
7	Minimising Energy Usage by Applying Hybrid Anaerobic Digestion for Water Reclamation	Prof Richard Woodling, Siemens Pte Ltd

b. Directed RFP in the domain of Chemical and Redox Technologies

S/N	Title	Principal Investigator
1	Assembling of Multifunctional TiO2 Nanofiber Membrane for Water Treatment	A/Prof Darren Sun, NTU
2	Development of Advanced Oxidation Process Utilising Persulfate Based Radical Generation for Disinfection, Removal of Emerging Organic Contaminants and TOC destruction in Drinking Water Production and Used Water Reclamation	Prof Richard Woodling, Siemens Pte Ltd
3	Low-temperature Solution-processed Protonated Titanium Oxides for Photocatalytic Applications	A/Prof Chen Zhong, NTU
4	Nitrogen-doped TiO2/AC composite for adsorptive-photocatalytic oxidation-reduction of refractory organic substances under solar irradiation in water purification	A/Prof Lim Teik-Thye, NTU
5	Novel Silver Nanoparticle/Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Nanohybrid Coating for Disinfection of Drinking Water Treatment	Dr Xu Rong, NTU
6	Silver-doped mesoporous titanium dioxide for water disinfection and detoxification	A/Prof George Zhao, NUS

[1] Value-Added (VA) is a measure of the returns to factors of production (including labour, capital, entrepreneurship) and is a one-to-one proxy for GDP. For specific projects, the major contributors are profits, remuneration, depreciation, rentals, etc