Main Researcher

Hugo Valdés Riquelme

Professor in the Department of Computing and Industries at Universidad Católica del Maule, Chile. He holds a PhD in Engineering Sciencies, mention process engineering, and was awarded the best graduate distinction by the Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile.

His research focuses on Desalination, membrane processes, and integrating new environmental impacts in process engineering framework.

He has published over 31 peer-reviewed articles in international journals, two book, two book chapters, six patents and four conference papers. He currently serves as Special Issue Editor in the Processes (MDPI).

Research Interests

  • Sustainable Engineering Processes
  • Membrane Separation
  • Desalination Processes

Scientific Publications

2025

«Implementation of an experimental vertical flow treatment wetland for combined sewer overflow in the south of Chile», Journal of Water Process Engineering. Ismael Vera-Puerto, Gianfranco Moris, Hugo Valdés, Marco Quiroz, Francisco Encina, Pascal Molle, Miguel Martín-Monerris, Carmen Hernández-Crespo, Carlos A Arias. 2025.

«Conceptual model for facultative symbiosis between sustainable construction and nature-based solutions in the training of engineers in Chile», International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. Hugo Valdes, Christian Correa, Cristian Suarez, Luis Alberto Laurens Arredondo, Mariela Faviola Hurtado Espinosa, Ismael L Vera-Puerto, Myrna Zagal, Carlos A Arias. 2025.

«Phenomenological Comparison of Vacuum Membrane Distillation for VOC Removal and Desalination», Processes. Aldo Saavedra, Kevin Fuentes, Hugo Valdés, Rosa Isela Ortiz-Basurto. 2025.

«Effect of ultrasound on dissolution of polymeric blends and phase inversion in flat sheet and hollow fiber membranes for ultrafiltration applications», Membranes. Gilberto Katmandu Méndez-Valdivia, María De Lourdes Ballinas-Casarrubias, Guillermo González-Sánchez, Hugo Valdés, Efigenia Montalvo-González, Martina Alejandra Chacón-López, Emmanuel Martínez-Montaño,Beatriz Torrestiana-Sánchez,Herenia Adilene Miramontes-Escobar, Rosa Isela Ortiz-Basurto. 2025.

2024

«First report of components responsible for odor sensation from a vertical flow constructed wetland treating combined sewer overflow», Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology. Ismael Vera-Puerto, Shrabana Sarkar, Gianfranco Moris, Hugo Valdés, Marcos Quiroz, Juan López, Francisco Encina, Pascal Molle, Carlos Arias. 2024.

«Comparative analysis of gas emissions from ecokiln and artisanal brick kiln during the artisanal firing of bricks», Sustainability. Juan Figueroa, Hugo Valdés, Juan Vilches, Walter Schmidt, Felipe Valencia, Viviana Torres, Luis Diaz-Robles, Pedro Muñoz, Viviana Letelier, Valentina Morales. 2024.

«Comparative analysis of Donnan steric partitioning pore model and dielectric exclusion applied to the fractionation of aqueous saline solutions through nanofiltration», ChemEngineering. Aldo Saavedra, Hugo Valdés, Juan Velásquez, Sebastián Hernández. 2024.

«Educating professionals to develop nature-based solutions (NBS) as infrastructure for water pollution control: a course proposal», Sustainability. Ismael Vera-Puerto, Hugo Valdés, Luis Laurens-Arredondo, Xaviera López-Cortés, Marcos Quiroz, Carmen Hernández-Crespo, Marisol Belmonte, José Luis Campos, Miguel Martín-Moneris, Rosa Miglio, Pascal Molle, Carlos Arias. 2024.

«Conceptual model for facultative symbiosis between sustainable construction and nature-based solutions in the training of engineers in Chile», International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. Hugo Valdés, Christian Correa, Cristian Suarez, Luis Alberto Laurens Arredondo, Mariela Faviola Hurtado Espinosa, Ismael L. Vera-Puerto, Myrna Zagal, Carlos A. Arias. 2024.

2023

«Variation of the feeding/resting period in modified vertical treatment wetlands (depth, zeolite as medium) employed for treating rural domestic wastewater in tourist areas», Water Science and Technology. Ismael Vera-Puerto, Hugo Valdés, Christian Correa, Jorge Olave, Valeria Pérez, Carlos Arias. 2023.

2022

«Key processes for the energy use of biomass in rural sectors of Latin America», Sustainability. Emerita Delgado-Plaza, Artemio Carrillo, Hugo Valdés, Norberto Odobez, Juan Peralta-Jaramillo, Daniela Jaramillo, José Reinoso-Tigre, Victor Nuñez, Juan Garcia, Carmina Reyes-Plascencia, Nestor Tancredi, Franco Gallardo, Ivan Merino, Gabriel León, José Torres, Carlos Garcia, Ian Sosa-Tinoco.2022.

«Reclamation of treated wastewater for irrigation in Chile: perspectives of the current state and challenges», Water. Ismael Vera-Puerto, Hugo Valdés, Marcos Bueno, Christian Correa, Jorge Olave, Marcos Carrasco-Benavides, Flavia Schiappacasse, Carlos A. Arias.2022.

2021

«Reverse osmosis concentrate: physicochemical characteristics, environmental impact, and technologies», Membranes. Hugo Valdés, Aldo Saavedra, Marcos Flores, Ismael Vera-Puerto, Hector Aviña, Marisol Belmonte. 2021.

«Evaluation of bed depth reduction, media change, and partial saturation as combined strategies to modify in vertical treatment wetlands», International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Ismael Vera-Puerto, Hugo Valdés, Christian Correa, Valeria Perez, Roberto Gomez, Erica Alarcon, Carlos Arias. 2021.

«Comparative Analysis of Conventional and Emerging Technologies for Seawater Desalination: Northern Chile as A Case Study», Membranes. Aldo Saavedra, Hugo Valdés, Andrea Mahn, Orlando Acosta. 2021.

«M‐learning adapted to the ARCS model of motivation and applied to a kinematics course», Computer Applications in Engineering Education. Luis Laurens, Hugo Valdés, 2021.

«Reverse osmosis concentrate: physicochemical characteristics, environmental impact, and technologies», Membranes. Hugo Valdés, Aldo Saavedra, Marcos Flores, Ismael Vera-Puerto, Hector Aviña, Marsiol Belmonte. 2021.

2020

«Artisan brick kilns: State-of-the-art and future trends», Sustainability. Hugo Valdes, Juan Vilches, Gabriel Felmer, Mariela Hurtado, Juan Figueroa. 2020.

«Proposal of competencies for engineering education to develop water infrastructure based on “Nature-Based Solutions” in the urban context», Journal of Cleaner Production. Ismael Vera-Puerto, Hugo Valdés, Christian Correa, Roberto Agredano, Gladys Vidal, Marisol Belmonte, Jorge Olave, Carlos Arias. 2020.

«Potential application of Chilean natural zeolite as a support medium in treatment wetlands for removing ammonium and phosphate from wastewater», Water. Ismael Vera-Puerto, Matias Saravia, Jorge Olave, Carlos Arias, Erica Alarcon, Hugo Valdés. 2020.

2019

«Sensitivity of radiative and thermal properties of building material in the urban atmosphere», Sustainability. Marcos Vinicius Bueno de Morais, Viviana Vanesa Urbina Guerrero, Edmilson Dias de Freitas, Edson R Marciotto, Hugo Valdes, Christian Correa, Roberto Agredano, Ismael Vera-Puerto. 2019.

«Environmental Assessment of energy scenarios for a low-carbon electrical network in Chile», Sustainability. Ivan Merino, Israel Herrera, Hugo Valdés. 2019.

«Avocado oil: Characteristics, properties, and applications», Molecules. Marcos Flores, Carolina Saravia, Claudia E Vergara, Felipe Avila, Hugo Valdés, Jaime Ortiz-Viedma. 2019.

«Cogeneration process technical viability for an apartment building: Case study in Mexico», Processes. Hugo Valdés, Gabriel Leon. 2019.

2018

«Proposed model of sustainable construction skills for engineers in Chile», Sustainability. Hugo Valdés, Christian Correa, Felipe Mellado. 2018.

«Energy diagnosis of university buildings: Renewable energy institute from UNAM», Buildings. Oscar González-Galvez, Miguel Morales, Carla Seefoó, David Morillón, Hugo Valdés. 2018.

Projects

2024

«Advancing Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) Techniques: Integration of Air-Gap Membrane Distillation (AGMD) with Customized Module, and NaCl Crystallization via Graphene Oxide Membrane Module (GOM)», Fondecyt Regular, ANID. Hugo Valdés (investigador principal). 2024 – 2028.

2023

«Huclam: nature-based solution to mitigate the negative impact of mixed water discharge», ANID. Hugo Valdes (co-director). 2023 – 2024.

«Aplicación de soluciones basadas en la naturaleza para mejorar la depuración de las aguas residuales domésticas y potenciar su reutilización en comunidades rurales de la Región del Maule, Chile», Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. Hugo Valdes (colaborador). 2023 – 2025.

«Fortalecimiento de capacidades tecnológicas locales por la vinculación internacional en soluciones basadas en la naturaleza para tratamiento y reutilización de aguas contaminadas: mitigación de la sequía y protección de los recursos hídricos», FOVI/ANID. Hugo Valdés (investigador asociado). 2023.

2022

«Treatment wetlands to mitigate the water scarcity emergency in Chile: nature-based solutions as innovation tool for wastewater treatment, reclamation, and reuse», ANID. Hugo Valdés (colaborador externo). 2022 – 2023.

2021

«Propuesta de un modelo para la formación de Ingenieros Civiles en Construcción Sustentable y Soluciones Basadas en la Naturaleza», UCM. Hugo Valdés (investigador asociado). 2021 – 2022.

2020

“Red iberoamericana de eficiencia térmica industrial”, CyTED. Hugo Valdés (investigador), Leonardo Vásquez (investigador). 2020 – 2024.

«Comparative Phenomenological Modeling of Water Desalination Processes: Material, Energy Balances, and Transport Mechanisms Applied to Thermal and Membrane Technologies», DYCIT. Hugo Valdés (colaborador externo). 2020 – 2022.

“Improvement in the operation of reverse osmosis plants for use in agricultural irrigation through the strengthening of training, extension, and technological transfer to beneficiaries of irrigation projects», INIA-CNR. Hugo Valdés (investigador externo). 2020 – 2022.

2018

«Sustainable Innovation in Bricks, Maule Region”, FIC. Hugo Valdés (co-investigador). 2018 – 2022.