by Jan Hester

In October, ConocoPhillips’ Global Water Sustainability Center (GWSC), located in Doha, Qatar, was awarded first place in the Green Research — Professional category by the Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) during Qatar Foundation’s 2017 Sustainability Week. The awards recognize the efforts, commitment and achievements of individuals, institutions and organizations to further sustainable development and environmental protection in Qatar and internationally.

The project team includes GWSC Manager Samer Adham, principal investigator; GWSC Engineer Joel Minier Matar, project manager; and representatives of Qatar University and Qatargas. All GWSC team members were involved in the project’s execution. 

The winning project, “Sustainable Application of Osmotic Concentration to Reduce Wastewater Disposal Volumes from Qatari Gas Fields,” was partially funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF). The recently completed proof of concept phase addressed the innovative application of forward osmosis (FO) membranes to reduce the volume of produced and process water injected into disposal wells in Qatar’s North Field. Reducing the volume of injected water will enhance the sustainability of the disposal well formation.

The next phase of the project, recently selected for follow-up funding by QNRF, will include demonstration of the FO process via pilot scale testing.

The awards were presented during a special event by Issa Al Mohannadi, chairman, QGBC.