Water, Waste & Environment
From Biowastes to Bioplastics
Speaker: Dr.Carlos Bengoechea Ruiz
Registration Fee: 65 US$ / Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~60 Min
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Description: Several factors propel the transition from a fossil based to a bio-based economy, such as the depletion of non-renewable resources or the increasing need to address environmental issues. The development of bio-products from agricultural residues has a great potential, although significant improvements are still required. Almost all raw materials used for the production of plastics could be obtained from natural resources from a chemical and biothechnological point of view. The production of bio-products is
not an easy task, as not all the processes are commercially feasible and/or efficient, and products obtained often possess insufficient purity or a high price. Billions of tons of biomass waste and food industry residues and by-products, also known as biowastes,
are generated worldwide, which could be considered as one of the most abundant, cheap, and renewable resources available. This webinar would focus on highlighting latest research on the area of bioplastic materials, especially those rich in protein, which
could be used for several applications.
Wastewater Treatment by Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR)
Speaker: Buddhima Siriweera
Registration Fee: 50 US$ / Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~60 Min
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Description: Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR), is a recently developed biofilm technology which provides simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in a single unit. Membrane acts as a carrier to immobilize the bacteria as well as the means of oxygen supply to the bacteria in the biofilm formed on the membrane surface. Due to the air diffusion mechanism used in MABR, it provides higher savings of the energy with compared to the activated sludge process. One of the major hindrances for upgrading MABR is the low total nitrogen removal efficiencies reported at low hydraulic retention times. According to a bench scale MABR study, it is possible to enhance total nitrogen removal from synthetically prepared wastewater via the immobilization of de-nitrifiers in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) gel bio-carriers. Efforts have been taken for the application of this modification for pilot scale MABR systems in real life applications.
Performance Evaluation of Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Reactor for Acetonitrile Wastewater Treatment
Speaker: Patthranit Kunlasubpreedee
Registration Fee: 50 US$ / Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~60 Min
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Description: The membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) is considered a promising alternative owing to its obvious advantages. Because of the bubbleless aeration mechanism in the MABR, volatile organic compounds contaminated in the wastewater are retained in the MABR without stripping to the atmosphere. The removal of both organic carbon and nitrogen compounds can be achieved in a single reactor. Because oxygen and the substrate in the MABR are supplied to the biofilm on opposite sides, the aerobic zone for the growth of nitrifiers and anoxic zone for the growth of denitrifiers can occur simultaneously. The MABR can be operated at higher biomass concentration with a more compact plant area in comparison with a conventional activated sludge process. This study provides a better understanding of how the MABR can be employed for a treatment plant where industrial wastewater is required to be treated for xenobiotic compounds with smaller reactor volume without releasing any air pollutants into the atmosphere.
Policy Interventions for the Establishment of a Stormwater-Integrated Dewatering System in Malé City, Maldives
Speaker: Fathmath Shafa-Ath Ibrahim Nasih
Registration Fee: 50 US$ / Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~60 Min
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Description: The high water table of Malé City requires dewatering of construction sites in order to allow for foundation works. Additionally, Malé City is vulnerable to excessive and extended flooding especially during monsoon season. The research aimed to provide long-term solutions to issues in stormwater and dewatering effluent management within Malé City. Results of a hydrologic model of Malé City including existing stormwater management system created using PCSWMM showed 27 points of flooding with magnitudes between 10-40 ML, out of which 16 fell within flood prone areas highlighted in a public survey of 40 samples. The results made clear that an individual system that combines both stormwater and dewatering effluent is applicable for Malé City, agreed on by 87.5% of survey participants. An economic analysis of water supply tariff of Malé City showed a significantly high average cost of 4.04 USD/m3, while Singapore and Hong Kong had average tariff rates 38% and 23% of this value respectively, highlighting need to incorporate cheaper, energy efficient and sustainable water and wastewater management practices. Based on the findings, the research provided holistic policy recommendations to improve the current situation within stormwater and dewatering effluent management works of Malé City as well as plumbing aspects of the overall water and wastewater sector.
Speaker: Assistant Director, Waste Management and Pollution Control Department, Ministry of Environment, Government of the Republic of Maldives
Sweetener-Xylitol Production from Biomass
Speaker: Dr. Meena Krishania Choudhary
Registration Fee: 65 US$ / Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~60 Min
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Description: Rice straw is one of the most common biomass sources, more than 580 million tons available worldwide every year. Presently, there is very limited use of rice straw (RS). First, most of the rice straw available after harvest is either left on the ground or burnt. The present talk is on the production of Xylitol, which is a sweetener and has wide applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries, from rice straw. The parameters were optimized for involved process, the pretreatment of rice straw via dilute acid-catalyzed steam pretreatment method. The impact of feedstock size, presoaking time at room temperature, acid concentration, and steam treatment’s duration on the efficacy of RS pretreatment were studied till scale-up. Fermentation of the pretreated RS hydrolysate (pre-hydrolysate) and semi-defined medium (control) for xylitol production in a 14 L fermentor also investigated. This study produces a sweetener-xylitol from rice straw, which have the potential for scalable to an industrial level, and simultaneously minimize the pollution problem caused by rice straw.
Speaker: Dr. Meena Krishania is currently a Faculty of Center and Applied Bioprocessing Center, Mohali, Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India. In 2007, she obtained her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Biotechnology Engineering from Rajasthan University. In 2009, she received her M.Tech in Chemical Engineering at MNIT, Jaipur. In 2013, she completed her PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. After completing her PhD, Dr. Meena accepted a faculty position at the University of Amity, Haryana, where she taught students of B.Tech and M.tech. In 2014, she began working in CIAB, Mohali, where she has been since then. Dr. Meena has broadened her vision and continues her work on the valorization of biomass. Her work contributes to an appreciation of industrial constraints by continuously developing technology and offering better solutions. She filed 6 patents, wherein one is granted and one technology transferred to the industry. She has more than 20 publications in reputable national and international journals, one book, and 3 chapters. She also delivered many presentations at national and international conferences in India, Thailand, Malaysia, London etc.
Green Oxidation Processes for Wastewater, Biomass and Industrial Applications
Speaker: Dr. Kun-Lin Yang
Registration Fee: FREE for First 100 Participants
Registration Fee : 50 US$/Person
Registration Fee : 50 US$/Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~60 Min
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Description: Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a powerful oxidizer and is considered “green” because it only releases water and oxygen after decomposition. Therefore, hydrogen peroxide becomes increasingly important in wastewater treatments and manufacturing processes. However, reaction rate with H2O2 under ambient conditions is too slow. To accelerate the reaction, ferrous ions can be used as a catalyst to break down H2O2 into hydroxyl free radicals (ˑOH) under a narrow pH range (2.8-3.2). Unlike H2O2, hydroxyl radical react with organic molecules quickly and nonspecifically under ambient conditions. The so-called Fenton’s reaction is widely used for wastewater treatments, but it has many issues such as excessive sludge formation.
Recently, we developed a number of enzyme mimetic catalysts which can be used to replace ferrous ions for advanced oxidation processes. The catalysts are metal-oligopeptide complexes, similar to the structure of biological enzymes, but they can be tailored-made and produced in a large scale. The metal center of the catalysts can be oxidized by H2O2 or hypochlorite readily to form high-valence metal species, which then oxidize aromatic or unsaturated compounds with high specificity and molecular efficiency. Under neutral or alkaline pH, they also catalyze the polymerization of aromatic compounds such as phenol. These reactions are highly specific as they do not involve free radical reactions as classic Fenton reactions. They can work at an extremely low concentration even at 0.01 parts-per-million (ppm) level over a wide pH range. Interestingly, the catalysts also show an inverse dosage dependent behavior, i.e. the reaction rate increases with decreasing H2O2 concentration.
At present, the novel catalysts have found many industrial applications in wastewater treatment, bleaching edible oil and pretreatment of biomass, due to their unique reaction mechanisms and green nature. Several trials and pilot-scale studies of the above applications will be discussed in the presentation. Due to growing awareness of environmental protection and sustainability, we foresee the numbers of potential applications for the enzyme mimetic catalysts will increase steadily in the near future.
Speaker: Dr Kun-Lin Yang is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Before joining NUS, he was a post-doctoral researcher in the Chemical and Biomolecular Department at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He received his PhD degree from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2002. His present research interests include green catalysts, microfluidics, sensors and wastewater treatments.
PYRO ASIA 2020 (Day 1) - International Symposium on Analytical & Applied Pyrolysis
Speaker:
Registration Fee: 50 US$ / Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~360 Min
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Description: 1. Plenary Lecture: Analytical Pyrolysis for Environmental Microplastic Analysis: Challenges and Solutions (Prof Hajime OHTANI, Professor of Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan); 2. Keynote Lecture: The effective use of tandem micro reactor on the catalytic conversion of wastes to energy (Prof Young-Min Kim, Department of Environmental Engineering, Daegu University, Korea); 3. Invited Lecture: Rapid evaluation of acido‐basic properties of solid catalysts using automated pulse reactor (Dr Arun Kumar, Senior Manager, Analytical Separation Science and Technology, SABIC Technology Centre, Bangalore); 4. Short Oral Presentation: Application of Py GC/MS to ancient lacquer ware (Dr Noriyasu Niimura, JEOL Ltd, Japan); 5. Short Oral Presentation: Development of Micro-ultraviolet irradiation approach with Pyrolysis–GC/MS for rapid evaluation of photo and thermal degradation of polymers (Dr Sudha Tantry, SABIC Technology Centre, Bangalore, India); 6. Key Lecture: Development of biomass pyrolysis polygeneration and the high value utilization (Prof Haiping Yang, Huazhong University, China); 7. Invited Lecture: Microwave Pyrolysis of Waste Palm Shell to Value-Added Products (Prof Farid Nazir Ani, University Technology Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia); 8. Invited Lecture: Co-pyrolysis of waste biomass and plastics into renewable fuel (Prof K Mohanty, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, India); 9. Invited Lecture: Recent Advancement of Pyrolysis Gas Chromatograph System for Analysis of Microplastics (Dr Atsushi Watanabe, Frontier Laboratories, Koriyama, Japan); 10. Methodology for using chloride molten salts in a tandem micro reactor during pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass (Adriana Estrada); 11. Evaluation of Pyrolysis Behavior, Pyrolysis Kinetics and Product Analysis of Thermal Protection System (TPS) Materials (Bhurada Shravani); 12. Pyrolysis of Salicornia bigelovii: product characterization and apparent kinetic analysis (Jinan Aljaziri); 13. Product Presentation by JEOL (GCMS) (Mr Jun Tamura); 14. Panel Discussion: Analytical Pyrolysis: Challenges and Future Directions ( Prof Shogo Kumagai- Moderator, Prof. Hajime OHTANI, Dr Atsushi Watanabe, Prof. Young-Min Lim, Dr Miao Wang)
PYRO ASIA 2020 (Day 2) - International Symposium on Analytical & Applied Pyrolysis
Speaker:
Registration Fee: 50 US$ / Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~360 Min
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Description: Please see detailed technical program at www.pyroasia.org.
PYRO ASIA 2020 (Day 3) - International Symposium on Analytical & Applied Pyrolysis
Speaker:
Registration Fee: 50 US$ / Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~360 Min
To Register: Registration Form
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Description: Please see detailed technical program at www.pyroasia.org.
Polymers for Gas Separation Membranes: Where are We Now?
Speaker: Dr. Maria Giovanna Buonomenna
Registration Fee: 65 US$/Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~60 Min
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Description: The key parameters for gas separations employing membranes are the permeability of a specific component of the gas mixture and the selectivity. Membrane gas separation employing polymeric membranes has been commercially used since the 1970s generating a significant amount of academic and industrial research activity. It was recognized that an empirical upper limit (the well-known “upper bound”) for the combined selectivity and permeability exists [1]: the selectivity generally decreases with increasing permeability of the more permeable gas component. Molecular sieve membranes with well-defined uniform pore structure would be considered to be the true upper bound limit for polymeric membranes. Recently this upper bound has been updated for relevant gas separations by microporous rigid polymeric membranes . In this Webinar, an analysis of recent findings for industrially relevant gas pairs, such as CO2/CH4, CO2/N2 is given.
Speaker: M. G. Buonomenna (Salerno, 1975), graduated in Chemistry in 1998 (110/110), obtained the license and status of Professional Chemist in 1999 (100/100). She was awarded a Research Fellowship in Membrane Materials and Operations in 1999 from the Institute on Membrane and Technology (ITM) (former IRMERC)-National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and a PhD in Chemical Engineering and Materials in 2005 from the University of Calabria. In February 2014 and for the second time in October 2018 she obtained the qualification of Associate Professor in Chemical Fundamentals of Technologies from the Italian Ministry for Instruction, University and Research (MIUR). Her research activities relate to membrane science and technology for sustainable processes. She is author of more than 60 scientific papers in peer-reviewed international journals, 1 book, more than 90 contributions published in conferences proceedings, 10 chapters of scientific books, editor of 1 book on advanced membrane materials, guest-editor of 9 Special Issues in peer-reviewed international journals, and member of the Editorial Boards for a number of international peer reviewed journals. She has been an Invited Speaker in numerous international conferences. She serves as reviewer for several international scientific journals and as Expert Evaluator for International Funding Agencies.
Carbon Footprint Reduction for the Process Industry
Speaker: Prof. Dominic Foo
Registration Fee: 65 US$ / Person
Language: English
Time Length: ~90 Min
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Description: Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as CO2 and CH4 from industrial activities have long been known to be major contributors to global warming. This trend has led to significant interest in the increased use of low carbon footprints technologies, as well as in retrofitting existing facilities to reduce GHG emissions. In this talk, generic graphical tool known as carbon footprint diagram is introduced to assist industrial practitioners for decision making in reducing carbon footprint for their manufacturing processes. The carbon footprint diagram allows management-based (e.g., material selection) and technology-based solutions (e.g. process retrofits for energy conservation, heat recovery, etc.) to be examined, while simultaneously considering technical and economic constraints.
Speaker: Professor Ir. Dr. Dominic Foo is a Professor of Process Design and Integration at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, and is the Founding Director for the Centre of Excellence for Green Technologies. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), a Chartered Engineer (CEng) with the Engineering Council UK, a Professional Engineer (PEng) with the Board of Engineer Malaysia (BEM), as well as the President for the Asia Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering (APCChE). He is a world renowned scholar in process integration focusing on resource conservation and CO2 reduction. Professor Foo is an active author, with eight books, more than 160 journal papers and made more than 220 conference presentations, with more than 30 keynote/plenary speeches. Professor Foo is the Editor-in-Chief for Process Integration and Optimization for Sustainability (Springer Nature), Subject Editor for Process Safety & Environmental Protection (Elsevier), and editorial board members for several other renowned journals. He is the winners of the Innovator of the Year Award 2009 of IChemE, Young Engineer Award 2010 of IEM, Outstanding Young Malaysian Award 2012 of Junior Chamber International (JCI), Outstanding Asian Researcher and Engineer 2013 (Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan), Vice-Chancellor’s Achievement Award 2014 (University of Nottingham) and Top Research Scientist Malaysia 2016 (ASM). He conducted close to 100 professional workshops to academics and industrial practitioners worldwide.
Design and Performance of Sustainable Recycled Barriers to Prevent Soil Pollution
Speaker: Dr Mercedes Regadío
Registration Fee: FREE
Language: English
Time Length: ~60 Min
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Description: The need to minimize the amount and foster the safe treatment of waste, and thereby reduce the risk of contamination; emphasises the importance of promoting technologies which are environmentally sound with products suitable for re-use/recycling. We will talk about a laboratory experimental study to determine the performance of clay mixed with construction and biomass plant residues as materials for the enhanced attenuation of contaminants in landfill leachate. Column experiments where landfill leachate is passed through different residues:clay mixtures are run in a state-of-the-art centrifuge facility which simulates realistic times, pressures, atmosphere and temperatures of landfill field conditions. After permeation with landfill leachate, the effects of exposure of these liners to a rainfall infiltration is studied. The concept is applicable for barrier design at other pollutant disposal facilities and provides an effective and more environmentally sustainable basis to control pollution risks.
Speaker: Dr Mercedes Regadío (PhD on Earth Science and the Environment, 2012) has mostly worked in 3 research groups from different countries, being the internal responsible of 10 research projects (>7M €). In the Dept. of Geology and Geochemistry (University Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, 2007-2013), she worked on the structure and properties of earth materials related to waste liners. In the Dept. of Chemistry (KU Leuven, Belgium, 2014-2017), she worked on the reactions acting on earth and waste materials and their (challenging) chemical analyses. In the Dept. of Civil and Structural Engineering (The University of Sheffield, UK, 2018-2020), she works on engineering principles to build high attenuation recycled anti-pollution barriers for waste deposits. This allowed her to acquire knowledge in different, but correlated scientific disciplines: geology, chemistry and environmental engineering. Parallel to her research, she lectured on related topics more than 400 h to bachelor's and master's students in Spain, Germany and UK. In addition, she has cosupervised (1) and is cosupervising (2) PhD students, technicians (4), postgraduate research stays (3) and mentored a postdoctoral fellow (Univ. of Manchester) and an early-stage researcher (Univ. Autónoma Madrid – TU Delft). She has 40 conference communications (80% international) and 54 published documents, which include 21 JCR articles. She has collaborated and published with 36 international researchers from more than 20 universities, research centres and companies. She is an Associate editor with honorarium of Heliyon Earth Science (Elsevier Ltd) and a topic editor of Minerals (MDPI). Finally, she is highly committed to supporting science as mentor of early-stage researchers (see above), jury member of scientific events (e.g., ChemCYS 2016, PhD defence 2020), organizer of international conferences (e.g., VIII International Symposium SRUK/CERU, Oxford 2020-2021), as regular reviewer of JCR journals and as science disseminator (12 engagement activities in the last 2 years).
Global Challenges in the Energy and Environment Sector: Prospects of Solar Thermal Energy
Speaker: Dr. Md. Hasanuzzaman
Registration Fee: FREE
Language: English
Time Length: ~60 Min
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Description: Energy is one of the basic needs for industrial process, economic growth, automation and modernization. Global energy supply predominantly comes from fossil fuel that are the major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions that leads to climate change. Global urgency to hold back emissions rate drives for renewable energy sources. Solar energy is one of the potential resources and environmental friendly nature. A large portion of industrial process heat is low temperature that can easily be supplied by solar energy. Well-engineered integration of solar thermal heating with conventional heating systems is capable to ensure sustainable energy supply in industries.
Speaker: Dr. Hasanuzaman is working as Associate Professor at UMPEDAC, University of Malaya (QS world raking 59 for 2021). He was listed among the World's Top 2% Scientists for the year of 2019. He is an editor and author of the book Energy for Sustainable Development published by Elsevier. His research interests thermal engineering, renewable energy, energy policy, transport and electric vehicles. He has also authored and co-authored more than 100 research papers and 50 conference proceedings. He received University of Malaya Excellence Award 2012 for his outstanding achievement in PhD; Bangladesh Scholarship Council and the Nippon Foundation, Japan, 2003-2004.
Environmental Microplastics 2021
Speaker:
Registration Fee: FREE
Language: English
Time Length: ~900 Min
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Description: