Modelling, optimization and control of biochemical processes, with emphasis in Environmental Technology (Wastewater engineering and solid waste management).  The emphasis is both on the fundamental understanding and modeling of the key microbial processes that take place in environmental systems, and on the development of improved technologies for the treatment and management of liquid and solid wastes.

Specifically:

Tertiary Wastewater Treatment.
The importance of nitrogen and phosphorus removal from municipal wastewaters has attracted increased attention in the recent years, as their consequence on receiving waters has been realized. Our emphasis is on elucidation of the mechanisms through which microbial populations bring about the desired removal of these pollutants (nitrification, denitrification, enhanced biological phosphorus removal), development of appropriate kinetic models, and optimization of wastewater treatment processes (Bardenpho,A2/O,SBRs,etc), that are used for municipal tertiary wastewater treatment.  Recently particular emphasis has been placed on the optimisation and control of nitrogen removing sequencing batch reactors.

Oxidation and Biodegradation of Xenobiotics.
Many industrial wastewater constituents may not be biodegraded by standard processes such as the activated sludge process.  We focus our attention on the conversion of specific chemicals such as azo-dyes, an important raw material for the textile industry.  Since many of these compounds are not readily degradable we examine the possibility of using a suitable combination of advanced chemical oxidation processes (e.g. ozonation, photooxidation etc.) and appropriate biological processes (aerobic and/or anaerobic).

Anaerobic Digestion of High Organic Content Industrial Wastewaters.
Anaerobic digestion is virtually the only feasible process for treating wastewaters with high organic load (e.g. dairy, piggery and olive-mill wastewaters). Treatment of these wastewaters is made even harder by their seasonal nature and the fact that they are generated by small units distributed in a larger region. We have been developing flexible anaerobic digestion processes that are able to codigest the various wastewaters generated from these units. In this framework, we have developed a novel bioreactor/digester the so called periodic anaerobic baffled reactor which combines the advantages of previous reactor designs, providing special flexibility.

Solid Waste Treatment and Management.
Our emphasis has been on the use of anaerobic digestion for biogas production from solid wastes (organic fraction of municipal solid wastes and purposefully grown biomass from energy farming, such as sweet sorghum).  Also, we are working on using techniques such as life-cycle analysis and G.I.S. coupled with optimisation methods for developing schemes for the optimal integrated management of municipal solid wastes.

Development of Trickling Filters for Biological Potable Water Treatment.
Trickling filters may be used for the biological removal of ammonia (nitrification), iron and manganese from potable water, constituents that make it unsuitable for such use. Research has focused on the modelling and design of trickling filters.

Fate and Impact of Pharmaceuticals in Natural Systems and in Sewage Treatment Plants.
Pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics that end up in wastewater treatment plants may influence significantly the process microbiology, and in many cases they could pass through the process either unconverted, or metabolised to other compounds that could be persistent and/or toxic in the environment.  We work towards elucidating the impact and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment.

Other Research Activities
Other activities have been: (a) development of a sequence batch reactor for the treatment of ship wastewater, (b) development of an overall process for the treatment of olive debittering wastewater, (c) detoxification of olive-mill wastewaters through the use of white-rot fungi, (d) development of a process for treating motor-oil regeneration wastewater.

Last Revised: 04/04/2003 19:22