Corinne CABASSUD

corinne cabassud

Corinne CABASSUD

Emerita professor in Chemical and Environmental Engineering at INSA Toulouse

SOPHyE team

Actual position and research subject

Corinne CABASSUD, PhD, is Emerita Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the National Institute for Applied Science (INSA) in Toulouse – France. She is researcher at Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI) in the SOPHYE group.

 

After her PhD, she was Research Team Leader in the Membrane Laboratory of Lyonnaise des Eaux Company headed by Dr Philippe Aptel in Toulouse for 7 years. She participated in the successful research and development of new ultrafiltration modules and processes for drinking water production. In 1993, she joined INSA as an assistant professor in Chemical Engineering and became full professor in January 2000 and Emerita Professor in 2024.

She has created and headed until 2014 the SOPHYE research group on separations and oxidation processes for the environment. She then leaded the group MOST at TBI, with the objective to develop membrane-based systems powered by solar energy for desalination for remote places. She was involved in the development of the University of Science and Technology Hanoi (Vietnam) and participated in both research, training program engineering and teaching in water treatment there during 10 years.

 

Her main research topics focused on sustainable membrane processes and hybrid processes for water production, wastewater treatment and reuse, desalination and valorisation of brines. It included pressure-driven membrane processes, membrane bioreactors and membrane distillation (MD). She studied on both fundamental phenomena (coupled heat and mass transfer, fouling, virus retention, pore wetting in membrane contactors) and removal efficiency of various kind of contaminants (bacteria, viruses, micropollutants, (nano)particles), module design, integration of membranes in treatment lines, process optimization and minimization of energy needs. I developed some tools for in-situ-characterisation of limiting phenomena.

Her current work focuses on solar assisted desalination for producing drinking water in remote places, concentration of brines and valorization of salts and critical metals from brines with an interest on wetting characterization and prevention, integration of MD and solar heating in specific modules and design of sustainable systems for remote places.

She is currently involved in the EXBRINER MSCA Doctoral network EU-project.

Education and Diploma

Teaching

My teaching activities covered mainly separation processes (filtration, membrane processes, extraction, centrifugation), reaction engineering, water treatment and desalination for students from different programs delivered by INSA Toulouse: in the 3rd to 5th years engineering program of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, a transversal master program in Urban engineering, a 3rd year transversal program on environmental issues and life cycle analysis offered to all INSA students. I also appreciated teaching unit operations and water treatment within a lifelong training program (DFST)

I also delivered specialized lessons on water engineering in english to students at Sup’Energy Montpellier, France and at USTH (Hanoi- Vietnam) within a master program from 2010-2020.

I contributed in the engineering of the master program Water/ Environment / Oceanography at USTH Hanoï and was responsible of the master orientation relative to water treatment.

Others

  • Supervised or co-supervised: 32 PhD students (+ 1 on-going supervision: Indira’s Chimanlal PhD )
  • Participation to PhD defense committees : 106 (including 44 abroad)
  • Contribution to research projects:
    • In the on-going EXBRINER project on the valorization of critical metals from brines (Horizon- MSCA Doctoral network, 2022-2026)
    • 4 previous european projects :  
      • EUREKA EU 5 EUREKA on ultrafiltration for drinking water production
      • Strep MEDINA on desalination (2006-2010), WP coordinator
      • the ERA-NET MED project EXTRASEA on sea water desalination (2018-2022), WP coordinator
      •  Strep EUROMBRA on membrane bioreactors (2005-2009), WP coordinator
  • 3 Trans-Pyrenean projects (CTP projects)
  • Some bilateral international projects for mobility : SAFEWater with South Africa, PERMEANT with the USA, STAR with Korea
    • 5 projects funded by the french National Research Agency ANR, some as a coordinator:
      • FiltraCoppe, on the in-situ characterization of fouling (coordinator)
      • POME, on the dynamics of virus retention
      • REEBIM on coupled processes for the removal of emerging micropollutants
      • WETMEM, on membrane distillation (coordinator)
      • Eco-Inov project INTEGRIMEM, on the integrity of membranes
      • The LabCom project MOST on autonomous desalination systems (coordinator)

 

  • Participation to scientific committees: I am currently member of the scientific committee of the public company “Eau de Paris”.

Previously :

  • President of the scientific committee of the “Institut de la Filtration et des Techniques Séparatives” (France) (2018-2024)
  • Member of the scientific committee of the university ULB in Bruxelles, Belgium (2021-2025)
  • Member of research program selections:
    • member of an ERC grant panel since 2025.
    • President of the SEN-3 scientific Committee of the Belgium National Research Agency (FNRS) (2021-2024)

 

  • Involvement in national or international institutions or agencies
    • Head of the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department. of INSA Toulouse (2003 to 2009).
    • Member of the “Commission des Titres de l’Ingénieur (CTI)” which is in charge of the accreditation of French engineering programs (2006-2014)
    • Scientific adviser at the French High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (HCéres) (2015 to 2018)
    • Member of the expert specialized committee on water from the French national agency ANSES (National Agency for Security, Environment and Health) (2011 to 2020)

 

  • Organisation of international conferences:
    • Vice-President of the scientific committee of ICOM 2002
    • Chair of the conferences:
      • EDS Conference “Membranes in Drinking Water Production and Waste Water Treatment » in Toulouse, France in 2008
      • “Engineering with membranes: towards a sustainable future” in Oléron, France 2013
      • IWA-Membrane Technology Conference in Toulouse, France in 2019.
    • Member of scientific committees of about 3 international conferences per year. Recently of the World Filtration congress (in Bordeaux, France, 2025) and of the IWA-Membrane Technology conference, Daegu, Korea, 2025).

 

List of selected publications

I published about 400 papers and communications (including 95 publications in peer review international journals, 13 book chapters, 45 keynote/invited lectures in international conferences), co-author of 3 patents. Here is a list of selected publications in international journals. All publications in international journals can be found in HAL https://hal.science/search/index?q=corinne+cabassud

 

Indira Chimanlal, Cécile Formosa-Dague, Maria Iliopoulou, Despina Fragouli, Corinne Cabassud, (2025) Evaluating a new ultra-thin dense-skin hollow Fiber membrane for vacuum membrane distillation, Separation and Purification Technology, Volume 382, Part 4, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2025.136026

 

Gina Alfonso, Stéphanie Laborie, Corinne Cabassud (2024) Modeling of Integrated Hollow-Fiber Solar-Powered VMD Modules for Desalination for a Better Understanding and Management of Heat Flows. Membranes. 2024; 14(2):50., https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes14020050

 

Gina Alfonso, Stéphanie Laborie, Corinne. Cabassud (2024) ,Modeling-based investigation on the contribution of radial heating into integrated VMD hollow-fiber modules at different scales for autonomous desalination, Desalination,Volume 569, 2024,117032, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2023.117032.

 

Duong Thanh Dao, Hung Cong Duong, Stéphanie Laborie, Corinne Cabassud (2023), Integrated reverse osmosis/vacuum membrane distillation for enhanced arsenic removal and water recovery of brackish water desalination, Desalination and Water Treatment, Volume 287, 2023,Pages 19-28, https://doi.org/10.5004/dwt.2023.29353.

 

Tarik Eljaddi, Corinne Cabassud (2022), Wetting of photoplasmonic PVDF/silver membranes in photothermal membrane distillation: Identification of wetting mechanisms and comparison of wetting dynamics, Desalination, Volume 540, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2022.116019.

 

Tianyi Zhang, Stéphanie Laborie, Corinne Cabassud (2022), Optical method for in operando study of membrane distillation wetting: Development for desalination and potential for exploring wetting dynamics, Desalination, Volume 539, 2022,115944, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2022.115944.

 

Qiuming Ma, Aras Ahmadi, Corinne Cabassud (2022), Comparative study of small-scale flat-plate direct contact membrane distillation and vacuum membrane distillation modules with integrated direct solar heating, Desalination, Volume 529, 2022, 115633, ISSN 0011-9164, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2022.115633.

 

Qiuming Ma, Aras Ahmadi, Corinne Cabassud (2020), Optimization and design of a novel small-scale integrated vacuum membrane distillation – solar flat-plate collector module with heat recovery strategy through heat pumps, Desalination, Volume 478, 2020, 114285, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2019.114285.

 

Paul Jacob, Baptiste Dejean, Stephanie Laborie, Corinne Cabassud (2020), An optical in-situ tool for visualizing and understanding wetting dynamics in membrane distillation, Journal of Membrane Science, Volume 595, 2020, 117587, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2019.117587.

 

Paul Jacob, Tianyi Zhang, Stephanie Laborie, Corinne Cabassud (2019), Influence of operating conditions on wetting and wettability in membrane distillation using Detection of Dissolved Tracer Intrusion (DDTI), Desalination, Volume 468, 2019, 114086, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2019.114086.

 

Qiuming Ma, Aras Ahmadi, Corinne Cabassud (2018), Direct integration of a vacuum membrane distillation module within a solar collector for small-scale units adapted to seawater desalination in remote places: Design, modeling & evaluation of a flat-plate equipment, Journal of Membrane Science, Volume 564, 2018, Pages 617-633, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2018.07.067

 

Paul Jacob, Stephanie Laborie, Corinne Cabassud (2018), Visualizing and evaluating wetting in membrane distillation: New methodology and indicators based on Detection of Dissolved Tracer Intrusion (DDTI), Desalination,Volume 443, 2018, Pages 307-322, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2018.06.006.

 

Mathias Monnot, Germán Darío Martínez Carvajal, Stéphanie Laborie, Corinne Cabassud, Rémi Lebrun (2018), Integrated approach in eco-design strategy for small RO desalination plants powered by photovoltaic energy, Desalination, Volume 435, 2018, Pages 246-258, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2017.05.015.

 

Mathias Monnot, Hòa Thi Khánh Nguyên, Stéphanie Laborie, Corinne Cabassud (2017)

Seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant at community-scale: Role of an innovative pretreatment on process performances and intensification, Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, Volume 113, 2017, Pages 42-55, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2016.09.020.

 

Chengcheng Li, Corinne Cabassud, Bernard Reboul, Christelle Guigui (2015),  Effects of pharmaceutical micropollutants on the membrane fouling of a submerged MBR treating municipal wastewater: Case of continuous pollution by carbamazepine, Water Research, Volume 69, 2015,Pages 183-194, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2014.11.027.

 

Aurélien Triger, Jean-Stéphane Pic, Corinne Cabassud (2012) Determination of struvite crystallization mechanisms in urine using turbidity measurement, Water Research, Volume 46, Issue 18, 2012, Pages 6084-6094, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2012.08.030.

 

Jean-Pierre Mericq, Stéphanie Laborie, Corinne Cabassud (2010) Evaluation of systems coupling vacuum membrane distillation and solar energy for seawater desalination, Chemical Engineering Journal, Volume 166, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 596-606, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2010.11.030.

 

Jean-Pierre Mericq, Stéphanie Laborie, Corinne Cabassud (2010) Vacuum membrane distillation of seawater reverse osmosis brines,Water Research, Volume 44, Issue 18, 2010, Pages 5260-5273,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2010.06.052.

 

Julie Mendret, Christelle Guigui, Philippe Schmitz, Corinne Cabassud (2009) In situ dynamic characterisation of fouling under different pressure conditions during dead-end filtration: Compressibility properties of particle cakes, Journal of Membrane Science, Volume 333, Issues 1–2, 2009, Pages 20-29, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2009.01.035.

 

Nicolas Lesage, Mathieu Sperandio, Corinne Cabassud (2008), Study of a hybrid process: Adsorption on activated carbon/membrane bioreactor for the treatment of an industrial wastewater, Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, Volume 47, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 303-307,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2007.01.021.

 

Anthony Massé, Mathieu Spérandio Corinne Cabassud (2006), Comparison of sludge characteristics and performance of a submerged membrane bioreactor and an activated sludge process at high solids retention time, Water Research, Volume 40, Issue 12, 2006, Pages 2405-2415,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2006.04.015.

 

Corinne Cabassud, David Wirth (2003) Membrane distillation for water desalination: How to chose an appropriate membrane?, Desalination, Volume 157, Issues 1–3, 2003, Pages 307-314, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0011-9164(03)00410-7.

 

David Wirth, Corinne Cabassud (2002) Water desalination using membrane distillation: comparison between inside/out and outside/in permeation, Desalination, Volume 147, Issues 1–3, 2002, Pages 139-145, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0011-9164(02)00601-X.

 

Corinne Cabassud, Stéphanie Laborie, Laurence Durand-Bourlier, Jean.Michel Lainé (2001), Air sparging in ultrafiltration hollow fibers: relationship between flux enhancement, cake characteristics and hydrodynamic parameters, Journal of Membrane Science, Volume 181, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 57-69, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0376-7388(00)00538-X.

 

Nathalie Delgrange-Vincent, Corinne Cabassud, Michel. Cabassud, Laurence Durand-Bourlier, Jean-Michel. Lainé (2000), Neural networks for long term prediction of fouling and backwash efficiency in ultrafiltration for drinking water production, Desalination, Volume 131, Issues 1–3, 2000, Pages 353-362, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0011-9164(00)90034-1.

 

 

TBI, Toulouse Biotechnology Institute
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