Xiujuan Chen, an assistant professor in the Civil Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Arlington, received a Faculty Early Career Development Program award from the National Science Foundation to advance her research and education initiatives.
The award, known as CAREER, is the foundation's highest honor for junior faculty. Recipients are recognized as outstanding researchers who will become leaders in educational excellence and in the integration of education and research at their home institutions.
The $499,645 grant will enable Dr. Chen, who joined UTA in 2022, to study how certain chemicals can improve membrane filtration systems used to treat oily wastewater from oil production. The research could help reduce clogging in filters and make it easier to reuse the treated water.
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"Water-flooding enhanced oil recovery yields three barrels of water for each barrel of oil extracted from the ground, so there is a benefit to finding an efficient way to filter oil droplets out of that water so that it can be reused safely," Chen said.
In water-flooding enhanced oil recovery, companies pump water into an underground oil reservoir to push oil toward production wells. Afterward, the water is often treated as waste rather than cleaned and reused.
Chen's research focuses on membrane filtration technologies commonly used to treat oily wastewater. These systems pass water across a membrane that separates tiny oil droplets from the water. Over time, oil can build up on the membrane surface and clog it, reducing the system's efficiency.
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Chen hopes to develop modified membranes that use chemical demulsifiers—substances that help separate oil from water—to prevent clogging and improve filtration performance. She will test several types of demulsifiers to determine which are most effective and allow the greatest amount of water to pass through the membrane.
"Any time that we can find ways to reuse water safely and remove negative environmental impacts, it is worth studying. Dr. Chen's research could benefit agriculture, the oil industry and communities in a meaningful way," said Melanie Sattler, chair of the Civil Engineering Department.
— Jeremy Agor, College of Engineering
About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)
The University of Texas at Arlington is a growing public research university in the heart of Dallas-Fort Worth. With a student body of over 42,700, UTA is the second-largest institution in the University of Texas System, offering more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Recognized as a Carnegie R-1 university, UTA stands among the nation's top 5% of institutions for research activity. UTA and its 300,000 alumni generate an annual economic impact of $28.8 billion for the state. The University has received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity designation from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and has earned recognition for its focus on student access and success, considered key drivers to economic growth and social progress for North Texas and beyond.
