To my Family To my Fiancée Acknowledgement i Acknowledgement

Glade for their supervision of my research work which has led to this dissertation. Special thanks should be offered to Dr. Glade for fruitful discussions in topics related to my research and for her continuous supervision and care. I’m indebted also to Prof. Dr.-Ing. S. Will, University of Bremen, for giving expert advice about my dissertation. The support and allowance from Al-Balqa ’ Applied University, Jordan, to travel abroad and to do my PhD is gratefully acknowledged. It was a great honour for me to be awarded a scholarship from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in the state of Sachsen-Anhalt on the occasion of the 500-years Jubilee of establishing Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg. The work presented in this dissertation is based on a research project supported by the Middle East Desalination Research Center, Sultanate of Oman, which is greatly appreciated. For all my colleagues in the Institute of Process Engineering: thank you very much for the happy time which we spent with each other in Merseburg and Halle (Saale). Special thanks to Dr.-Ing. H. Wanko for his kindness and for his interesting discussions in science, language and culture. I’m indebted to my family, especially my father, and my friends in Jordan and Germany for their infinite support and for always being on my side during my study. Great thanks to the hidden hands and hidden hearts that were behind this achievement