Professor Ed Jacobs

Associate Professor Office Room 2013, Polymer Science Building Tel: +27-21-808 3178 Email

 

Tertiary education

• BSc, BEng (Chemical), University of Stellenbosch, 1976
• MEng (Chemistry), University of North West, 1980
• PhD (Polymer Science), University of Stellenbosch, 1988

Research summary

My research and that of my students involve membrane technology and water, in that we treat water with the aid of the membranes and membrane processes that we develop. The research, development and establishment of filtration technology, with the accent on eventual commercialization of any successful technology, lie at the core of the effort.

Research description

The membrane research is by nature multidisciplinary and inter-institutional, with a touch of basic and a lot of applied work. Our research is also purpose driven, and aimed at improving the quality of water of which we do not have much in our country, either by direct or enhanced filtration or biological processing or combinations.

The following illustrates our approach: We did the basic research to develop an ultrafiltration membrane by which to treat surface water for drinking purposes. Together with the Departments of Chemical Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch and the Durban Institute of Technology we developed a process to treat river water to bottled water quality for drinking purposes. Along the way we also worked with the Department of Biochemistry of this University on membrane fouling and the use of enzymes to clean the membranes.

We are presently developing different membranes and other filtration technologies with enhanced characteristics, by making use of our knowledge of materials, chemistry and polymer science, in the hope of adding to the inventory of the company. Did anyone say research, science and engineering cannot be rewarding?

Awards

Water Institute of South Africa Fellow

Chemical and Allies Industries Award for 1992

Publications

• Enzymatic cleaning of ultrafiltration membranes fouled by abattoir effluent, Z Allie, EP Jacobs and P Swart, J of Membrane Science, 218 (2003) 107-116.

• UF of pulp and paper effluent: membrane fouling-prevention and cleaning, A Maartens, EP Jacobs and P Swart, J of Membrane Science, 209 (2002) 81-92.

• Ultrasonic cleaning of nylon microfiltration membranes fouled by Kraft paper mill effluent, Jianxin Li, RD Sanderson and EP Jacobs, J of Membrane Science, 205 (2002) 247-257.

Other interests