Matteo Tagliavini

Matteo holds a Bachelor in Environmental Engineering and a Master in Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Bologna (Italy). In the last years, he has been working in Germany at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. His previous research focused on novel water treatment processes from the material to the process perspective. In this context, he has gained significant experience in membranes and the combination of membranes with other technologies for water applications.

Matteo joined the Energy Process Division at KTH in December 2020 to work on the project “Blue Energy” (PI: Matthäus Bäbbler), founded by the Swedish Energy Agency. In this project, an alternative pre-treatment approach is considered to untap the potential of salinity gradient energy production.

The potential of salinity gradient energy is known but many challenges needs to be overcome. Among these, there is the deterioration of membrane performance due to fouling . In his project, Matteo is assessing the potential of using ozone to mitigate the fouling on the membrane. The project combines experimental testing and meso- to system-scale modeling of power generation by means of pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) membranes.