My research projects are primarily focused on sustainable nutrient and resource recovery process during wastewater treatment or water reuse.
1. Electrochemical phosphorus recovery
My recent review paper quantitatively analyzes the state-of-the-art electrochemical methods for P release and recovery from wastewater sludge.
1. Electrochemical phosphorus recovery
My recent review paper quantitatively analyzes the state-of-the-art electrochemical methods for P release and recovery from wastewater sludge.
My research efforts focus on understanding phosphate release and separation behavior in electrochemical systems, evaluating P recovery product quality for fertilizer purpose, and developing scalable electrochemical processes for efficient phosphate recovery.
2. Forward osmosis
Forward osmosis (FO) is a membrane process driven by natural osmotic gradient (salinity gradient). The pore size of FO membrane is comparable to reverse osmosis (0.1 ~ 1 nm). Please see a 2-min video introducing FO:
Forward osmosis (FO) is a membrane process driven by natural osmotic gradient (salinity gradient). The pore size of FO membrane is comparable to reverse osmosis (0.1 ~ 1 nm). Please see a 2-min video introducing FO:
My research interest on FO involves coupled FO treatment process (algae-FO, osmotic membrane bioreactor, osmotic microbial fuel cell, etc.) and FO membrane modification & fabrication.
Collaborators:
Simiao Wu (Shanghai University)
Stephen M. Martin (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
3. Photo-bioreactor
Fast-growing microalgae Chlorella vulgaris UTEX 395 and Scenedesmus sp. HTB1 were utilized to grow and treat wastewater under simulated daylight. The microalgae could uptake nutrients and organic matters from wastewater at high rates. In the meantime, the microalgal biomass can be a valuable source of pigment, biofuel, proteins, and fertilizers. The microalgae was integrated into different treatment process to add on for the system stability or function, like integrated photo-bio-electrochemical (IPB) system and algae-FO process.
Simiao Wu (Shanghai University)
Stephen M. Martin (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
3. Photo-bioreactor
Fast-growing microalgae Chlorella vulgaris UTEX 395 and Scenedesmus sp. HTB1 were utilized to grow and treat wastewater under simulated daylight. The microalgae could uptake nutrients and organic matters from wastewater at high rates. In the meantime, the microalgal biomass can be a valuable source of pigment, biofuel, proteins, and fertilizers. The microalgae was integrated into different treatment process to add on for the system stability or function, like integrated photo-bio-electrochemical (IPB) system and algae-FO process.
Collaborators:
Yantao Li (Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland)
Ryan Senger (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
Yantao Li (Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland)
Ryan Senger (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
4. Bioelectrochemical system
Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have been investigated as a platform technology with derivatives such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for electricity generation, microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) for chemical production, microbial desalination cells (MDCs) for seawater desalination, and microbial electrosynthesis cells (MES) for organics synthesis, but precise understanding of BESs performance is hindered by unclear definition of several key parameters. We made some suggestions based on brief surveys from present literature:
· Coulombic Recovery is recommended over Coulombic efficiency: using input organic load to estimate the conversion of organics to electricity will avoid the misleading results because of different organic removals.
· Coulombic Recovery is recommended over Coulombic efficiency: using input organic load to estimate the conversion of organics to electricity will avoid the misleading results because of different organic removals.
· In addition to Power density, energy recovery data, such as specific energy consumption, should be included in publications to better understand energy production, consumption, and eventually energy balance of BESs.
· A pilot scale BESs should meet multiple criteria such as hydraulic capacity, use of actual wastewater, non-laboratory condition, and long-term operation.