Dr. Ing. Adele Brunetti has been awarded the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) Excellence Award in Membrane Engineering for her PhD thesis, "Integrated membrane plant for pure hydrogen production for PEMFC (polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell)."

The aim of the thesis was to apply membrane engineering techniques to new integrated membrane plant solutions for the production of carbon monoxide free hydrogen. Brunetti is based at Italy's Institute on Membrane Technology.

Brunetti was nominated for the award by Professor Dr J Caro (Leibniz University of Hannover) and Professor Fabrizio Cavani (University of Bologna).

Prof. Caro said: "I was deeply impressed by the high scientific level and by the successful bridging between fundamental science and potential industrial application."

Prof. Cavani said: "The approach proposed represents an outstanding contribution to research and to the practice in membrane engineering, applicable in the process industries."

The award will be presented Aug. 7 at the European Congress of Chemical Engineering/CHISA in Prague, Czech Republic.