Marc A. Deshusses
  Department of Chemical and Environmental Engeneering
University of Claifornia, Riverside

Abstract

Biological systems have a fantastic potential for the biotransformation of a wide range of substances including treatment of numerous man made pollutants. This provides opportunities for the development of novel and environmentally friendly bioprocesses for pollution control. In this seminar, recent research in the area of bioreactors for air and groundwater pollution control conducted in Deshusses' group will presented and discussed. This will includes the simple synthesis of reactive nanomaterials for environmental application, the use of molecular methods and establishment of relationships between pollutant removal and DNA or RNA fingerprints, high performance biotrickling filters treating H2S at a gas contact time as low as 1.5 seconds, and the treatment of perchlorate contaminated groundwater by bacteria deriving energy from iron particles on which they are attached. The discussion will include lab and field data and a brief assessment of the sustainability of some of these novel developments.

Biography

Dr. Deshusses' broad research interests are related to the design, analysis and application of systems for bioremediation of wastes in air, water and soils. One area of on-going research is air pollution control in gas-phase bioreactors. Results from this work have resulted among others in a better fundamental understanding of how VOCs and odors are biodegraded in biofilters and biotrickling filters. The research has also shown how to convert odor control chemical scrubbers to high-efficiency biotrickling filters at wastewater treatment plants. Other areas of research include bioremediation of groundwater contaminated with the gasoline additives (MTBE and TBA) or with perchlorate, the development of gas phase nanosensors, and reactive nanomaterials for environmental applications. Other research interests include biofilms, application of molecular tools for monitoring complex cultures, combined chemical and biological treatment of wastes, membrane bioreactors, and modeling of environmental bioprocesses.

URL
http://www.engr.ucr.edu/~mdeshuss/


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Time and Location

Thursday, March 13th, 2008, 12:45 pm
OHE 122

Everyone is Invited.