Source: UNIV OF HAWAII submitted to NRP
NOVEL HYBRID BIOPROCESSES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION AND BIOFUEL PRODUCTION
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0233175
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Feb 1, 2013
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2016
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIV OF HAWAII
3190 MAILE WAY
HONOLULU,HI 96822
Performing Department
Molecular Biosciences & Bioengineering
Non Technical Summary
The project aims to develop cost-effective and environmentally friendly bioprocess for cleaning up contaminated water, recycling treated water, and recycling wastes into biofuels. Since water pollution, water resource and energy consumption are the critical issues in agriculture and other industries of Hawaii and other states, novel technologies for water treatment and biofuel production from agricultural wastes should be developed. The project will be able to lead to low cost and efficient processes for water pollution control, water resource reservation and biofuel production from wastes which will be very beneficial to the agricultural industries in Hawaii and other states. Besides, the novel bioprocesses, after successfully developed, will be transferred to the local farms, the municipal wastewater plants and the local private sectors which will make great efforts to decrease water pollution, increase wastewater recycling and reduce fossil fuel consumption with extensive use of biofuel from local agricultural wastes.
Animal Health Component
40%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
60%
Applied
40%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1110210202040%
1330210202020%
4030210202040%
Knowledge Area
403 - Waste Disposal, Recycling, and Reuse; 133 - Pollution Prevention and Mitigation; 111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water;

Subject Of Investigation
0210 - Water resources;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;
Goals / Objectives
One of the major objectives is to develop innovative hybrid processes for cost-effective and highly efficient wastewater treatment/recycling and biofuel production. The other objective of my proposed research is to educate and deliver the technical knowledge and benefits of the proposed research to the local farms, the municipal wastewater treatment plants, the local industries and the local private sectors in wastewater and waste treatment. The specific objectives to achieve the goal for developing innovative hybrid processes will include: i) Selection of the appropriate adsorbents (activated carbon, biochar, carbon nanotubes) for adsorption of pollutants, ii) Novel synthesis of nano metal catalyst-deposited adsorbents for enhancing adsorption, biodegradation and catalytic degradation, iii) Understanding of mechanisms and kinetics associated with adsorption of the pollutants using the fabricated adsorbents, iv) Biodegradation of the pollutants from the surface of the adsorbents by using specific microorganisms and help of metal catalysts, and v) Optimization of the process using a mathematical model and laboratory experiments. In order to support cost-effective wastewater treatment and biofuel production to the local community, the project will be also developed in close collaboration with the local farms, the municipal local treatment plants, the city water supply units, the local private environmental firms and the State of Hawaii. Significant efforts will be made for understanding limitations of the current wastewater treatment and biofuel production in Honolulu and Hawaii. The cost-effective practical solutions using the proposed hybrid bioprocesses will be made via the lab-scale fundamental research and the pilot-scale demonstration at the local sites. The hybrid bioprocessing will be delivered and transferred to the local farms and the municipal wastewater treatment plants for their long term operation and economical evaluation. The major outputs from the proposed research will be highly efficient and economical processes for environmental remediation and biofuel production which will be deliverable and beneficial to the local farms, the municipal wastewater treatment plants, the city water supply unit, the private environmental firms, and the State of Hawaii. Successful implementation of the project will result in developing novel methods and techniques for the process and evaluating practical feasibility of the process to be applied to the wastewater treatment and biofuel production at the local sites of Honolulu and Hawaii. The novel methods and techniques will lead to enhancing adsorption, mass transfer and biodegradation of the pollutants in water and air. The practical feasibility of the proposed process will be evaluated from the operation of the pilot-scale bioreactor at the local sites of wastewater treatment and biofuel production in collaboration with the local farms and the wastewater treatment plants.
Project Methods
Methods and Procedures for the project: 1) Selection of appropriate adsorbents and model pollutants: The micropollutants such as bisphenol A and synthetic estrogen as well as the impurities in biofuels (i.e., H2S and CO2) will be chosen to be the model pollutants due to their physical properties, abundance and significant impacts. The adsorbents used for this study will be granular activated carbon, biochar and carbon nanotubes. The appropriate carbon-based adsorbents will be selected based on their physical characteristic and surface chemistry for efficient adsorption, deposition of metal catalysts and operating feasibility. 2) Novel synthesis of nano metal catalyst-deposited adsorbents for enhancing adsorption, biodegradation and catalytic degradation of the pollutants: The nano metal catalyst-deposited adsorbents will be newly synthesized by using modification of the adsorbent functionality and novel metal impregnation methods onto the surface of the adsorbents. The nano metal catalysts (i.e., iron, nickel, copper) will have excellent catalytic capacity for chemical and photolytic oxidation to detoxify some bio-calcitrant pollutants. The rational design for deposition of the nano-scale transition metals onto the adsorbents is of prime importance in the process as the PI experienced from the previous projects. The functionality of the adsorbents will be modified by acid, oxidation and thermal treatments for enhancing metal impregnation. Novel metal impregnation methods via surface and solution chemistry will be developed for uniform deposition of the metal and growth of nano-scale metal at the surface of the adsorbents. 3) Understanding of mechanisms and kinetics associated with adsorption of the pollutants using the nano metal-deposited adsorbents: Since the nano metal-deposited carbon adsorbents would have different mechanisms for adsorption of the target pollutants, adsorption isotherm and kinetics at various conditions will be investigated for understanding the detailed mechanisms and characteristics. It will help to design adsorption units for treating the pollutants in water and biofuels. 4) Biodegradation of the pollutants from the surface of the adsorbents by using specific microorganisms and help of metal catalysts: The pollutants adsorbed onto the carbon adsorbents should be degraded for providing re-adsorptive capacity of the adsorbents. The pollutants at the surface of the adsorbents will be degraded by using the pollutant-degrading microorganisms. The nano metal catalysts in the adsorbents would help the bacteria to efficiently degrade some bio-calcitrant pollutants while detoxifying the pollutants. 5) Optimization of the process using a mathematical model and laboratory experiments: The hybrid process will be optimized through a series of laboratory experiments and a mathematical model. The conceptual model will be developed based on the mechanisms associated with the process. The model supported by the detailed experimental results will help to optimize and design the process at various operating conditions.

Progress 02/01/13 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences for this project included: 1) The PI has advised eight graduate and seventeen undergraduate students through this project (hired as a research assistant or volunteered). Some students were from Native Hawaiian Science & Engineering Mentorship Program,Brazil Academic Training and the visiting students from Taiwan. 2) The PI incorporated major results from this project into BE 431 (Environmental Biotechnology), BE/CEE 634 (Biological Treatment), MBBE 691 (Advanced biodegradation and bioremediation) and BE 481 (Senior Engineering Design) to teach the undergraduate and graduate students in the Dept. Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering at University of Hawaii. 3) The PI published the journal articles in the top peer reviewed journals. The PI also made various presentation and talks at the conferences and the universities. 4) The PI consulted the local companies and non-profit groups in Hawaii (i.e., Oceanic Institute, Hawaii Resource Inc., Kuehnle AgroSystems, etc.) related to wastewater treatment and biofuel production. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In this project the PI advised eight graduate students and seventeen undergraduate students. Some students were recruited from Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship Program. The students in the PI's lab published and presented several research papers in the top peer-reviewed journals and national/international conferences. The major results from this project wereincorporated to the lecture contents when the PI taught BE 431 (Environmental Biotechnology), BE/CEE 634 (Biological treatment), MBBE 691 (Advanced biodegradation and bioremediation) and BE 481 (Senior Engineering Design) in the Dept. Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering at University of Hawaii. Besides, the PI developed and submitted multiple grant proposals to NSF, USDA, and EPA. Recently the PI received the grant from EPA ("Control of pathogens and pharmaceutical compounds by biochar-supported photocatalysts under solar light irradiation). The PI also provided the technical consulting and advice to the local companies and farmers in Hawaii. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Based on the major results from this project, several journal articles were published in the top peer-reviewed journals.Total twenty three conference papers were presented to the AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) National Meeting in 2013 - 2015, 9th World Congress of Chemical Engineering (2013), University of Hawaii Student Research Symposium (2013-2016)and several invited seminars in U.S. and Korea. The PI made several technical discussions andexchanged scientific ideas with the local companies and farmers (Hawaii Renewable Resource Inc., Oceanic Institute etc.) regarding biogas production from food wastes and biofuel production from algae. The PI also helped the local company tosubmit the proposal to USDA funding program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In this project the PI has developed three major areas: 1) Treatment and reuse of wastewater and waste by using green technologies and biological processes, 2) Biological air pollution control including CO2 capture and H2S removal to prevent climate change, control air pollution and protect atmospheric environment, and 3) Microalgal process for biofuel production, wastewater treatment and carbon capture. To achieve these research goals, the PI integrated environmental biotechnology, bioreactor engineering, green technologies (i.e., solar light irradiation, low cost biochar, and photocatalysts) and nanotechnology (i.e., carbon nanotube, nano-scale photocatalyst). 1) Effective treatment of emerging contaminants in wastewater for agricultural reuse of wastewater: The PI has developed effective treatment of emerging contaminants by green technologies (solar light-assisted photocatalysts, low cost biochar-mediated adsorption and biologically inert nanoparticles) and biodegradation. The photocatalysts (i.e., TiO2, Fe2O3, CdS, CuS) immobilized onto the Hawaiian biochar were synthesized by the simple sol-gel method. The biochar-supported photocatalysts showed high adsorption and degradation of antibiotics and endocrine disrupting compounds (i.e., sulfamethoxazole, bisphenol A) under solar and visible light irradiation. In addition, the carbon (activated carbon, carbon nanotube)-supported nano-scale magnetic iron oxide catalysts were synthesized and demonstrated rapid adsorption and oxidation of bisphenol A and synthetic dye with addition of low concentration of H2O2. Biotoxicity, estrogenic activity and biodegradability of the oxidation products of emerging contaminants were analyzed. Recently we isolated novel bacteria and fungi to degrade antibiotics and their oxidation products which will be integrated with solar light-assisted photocatalysis. The solar light-assisted photocatalysts was developed to control microbial pathogens and various emerging contaminants in treated wastewater which would reused for agricultural irrigation. 2)Novel algal bioreactor for simultaneous wastewater treatment, CO2 capture and biofuel production: The PI studied development of novel microalgal bioreactors to solve the problems associated with nitrogen/phosphorus removal from wastewater and CO2 capture as well as biofuel production. The algal biomass generated from the algal bioreactors would be converted to various biofuels and bioproduct such as biodiesel, biogas, bio-oil, animal feed and biochar. Current results showed that the microalgae isolated from the UH aquaponic system exhibited effective uptake of nitrogen and phosphate in the synthetic wastewater when it was mixotrophically cultivated using organic substrate and CO2. Besides, a lab-scalealgal biofilm bioreactor was developed to support high productivity of algal biomass (leading to algal biofuel), high capacity of wastewater treatment and cost-effective harvest of algal biomass. The results revealed that the algla biofilm bioreactor consumed significant amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in wastewater and generated high density of algal biomass for biodiesel production. Very interesting findings were that the heterogenous growth of algae using glucose and sucrose showed much higher growth and consumption of nutrients in wastewater. However, there are still several challenges using the algal biofilm bioreactor such as insufficient photon delivery into the bioilm, instability over long term operaation and shift of algal community leading to fluctuating performance of the algal biofilm bioreactor. 3) Biological air pollution control including CO2 capture and H2S removal to prevent climate change, control air pollution and protect atmospheric environment: In collaboration with Dr. Winston Su, the PI developed a novel foam bioreactor to use a recombinant E. coli expressing carbonic anhydrase for effective capture of CO2 released from power plants and biogas facilities. The bioreactor had high rates of mass transfer and CO2 capture capacity at short gas retention time and flexible operating conditions. The control and optimization of the foam bioreactor were made to keep long-term stability of enzyme in the foam bioreactor. Another goal of the research was to develop a novel bioreactor to eliminate H2S in agricultural biogas which allows biogas to be converted to power and electricity with no operation problems. As a solution of H2S removal, a functionalized biochar biotrickling filter consisted of sulfur oxidizing bacteria immobilized on chemically functionalized biochar. The functionalized biochar showed excellent attachment of bacterial biofilm and adsorption of H2S. The experimental results showed that the biochar functionalized with caustics, KI and Na2CO3 supported rapid and high adsorption of H2S. Recently the autotrophic sulfur oxidizing bacteria was isolated from the soil in the UH campus for degradation of H2S in biogas. The isolated bacteria showed its excellent degradation of H2S (3.6-41 g H2S/gdwt-d) with relatively faster growth (specific growth rate of 0.3 d-1; doubling time of 2.3 d) than Acidithiobacillus ferroxidans, the well-known sulfur oxidizing bacteria.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Kim, J.R., Kan, E*. 2016. Heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole in water using a biochar-supported TiO2 photocatalyst. Journal of Environmental Management, 180: 94101.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Watson, S.K., Han, Z., Su, W.W., Deshusses, M.A., Kan, E*. 2016. Carbon dioxide capture using Escherichia coli expressing carbonic anhydrase in a foam bioreactor. Environmental Technology 37: 3186-3192.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2016 Citation: Cho, I.K., Park, B.J., Chung, K.H., Li, Q.X., Kan, E*. 2016. Oxidation products, acute toxicity and estrogenic activity for heterogeneous Fenton oxidation of bisphenol A. submitted to International Journal of analytical chemistry.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Booker, B., Yanos, R., Hoh, D.H., Watson, S.K., and Kan, E*. 2015. Algal wastewater treatment, CO2 capture, and biofuel production. 27th CTAHR Student Research Symposium, April 10-11, 2015 (Undergraduate student).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hoh, D.H., Kim, J.R., and Kan, E*. 2015. Photocatalytic oxidation and biodegradation of antibiotics for agricultural reuse of treated wastewater. 27th CTAHR Student Research Symposium, April 10-11, 2015 (MS student).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Watson, S.K., Han, Z.L., Su, W.W., and Kan, E*. 2014. Carbon Capture Using Carbonic Anhydrase-Displaying Escherichia coli in biologically active foams. 2014 AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, November 16-21, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kim,J.R. and Kan E*. 2014. Integrated Solar Photocatalytic Oxidation and Biodegradation for Degradation of Antibiotics and Endocrine Disrupting Compounds in Wastewater and Water. 2014 AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, November 16-21, 2014.


Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences for this project included: 1) the graduate students to conduct this project (Jihyun Kim, Stuart Watson, Donghee Hoh) in the PI's lab, 2) the undergraduate volunteers (Bertram Booker, Rommel Yanos under Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship Program) who participated in this project under the PI's mentoring, 3) the undergraduate and graduate students who took BE 431 (Environmental Biotechnology) and BE/CEE 634 (Biological Treatment) in which the PI incorporated the major concepts and results from the project to these courses, 4) the science community in the field of environmental engineering and bioprocesses when the PI published and presented the results from the project to the journals and the national conferences, 5) the local companies and non-profit groups in Hawaii (i.e., Oceanic Institute, Hawaii Resource Inc., Kuehnle AgroSystems, Inc. etc). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The PI advised several graduate students (Jihyun Kim, Stuart Watson, Donghee Hoh), and mentored the undergraduate students (Bertram Beeker, Rommel Yanos from Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship Program). The PI published and presented several research papers in the top peer-reviewed journals and national conferences. Besides, the PI developed and submitted the grant proposals to NSF, USDA, and EPA. The major results from the Hatch project were incorporated to the lecture contents when the PI taught BE 431 (Environmental Biotechnology) and BE 634 (Biological Treatment). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The major results from the project were presented to the 2015 AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Nov 8-13, 2015. The PI presented three papers about the photocatalytic and bacterial degradation of emerging contaminants in wastewater as well as biological carbon capture. The PI made several technical discussion and exchanged scientific ideas with the local companies and engineers(Hawaii Renewable Resource Inc., Oceanic Institute etc.) regarding biogas production from food wastes and biofuel production from algae. The PI also helped the local company to submit the proposal to USDA funding program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Over the next period, the PI will plan to develop a novel algal bioreactor for wastewater treatment, CO2 capture and biofuel production. The PI will use the locally growing algae and pure algae for this project. The novel bioreactor will be either suspended bioreactor or biofilm bioreactor and operated under autotrophic and/or mixotrophic conditions to enhance cell growth, wastewater treatment and CO2 capture. The algal biomass will be harvested and converted to various biofuels such as biodiesel, biogas, bioethanol or biochar. After the novel bioreactor will be developed, it will be applied to actual wastewater from the municipal wastewater treatment plants and animal farms. The PI will also continue to develop the photocatalytic reactor under solar light irridation to degrade emerging contaminants and pathogens in water. The photocatalysts will be developed to be activated under UV and visible light so that they will be used for various contaminants in wastewater.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The goal of the project is to develop innovative hybrid processes for cost-effective and highly efficient wastewater treatment/recycling, CO2 capture and biofuel production. 1. Photocatalytic degradation of antibiotic compounds in wastewater: The present study reports an effective heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in water using a biochar-supported TiO2 (biochar/TiO2). The biochar was used as a low cost and effective support for TiO2 to prevent recombination of electrons and electron holes during photocatalysis, allow efficient attachment of TiO2, increase adsorption capacity and help easy separation of the photocatalyst after use. The biochar/TiO2 showed much higher adsorption of SMX than the commercial TiO2 powder due to the hydrophobic interaction between the biochar and SMX. Particularly this study focused on the effects of water quality and operating conditions on the photocatalytic oxidation of SMX. The addition of low concentration of bicarbonate made drastic enhancement in SMX removal and mineralization while the final effluent showed high biotoxicity. On the contrary, the presence of nitrate exhibited slight enhancement in SMX removal efficiency. The photocatalyst loading and UV irradiation time also played their important roles in enhancement of SMX removal and mineralization. 2. CO2 capture Escherichia coli expressing carbonic anhydrase: 2.1. Effects of novel auto-inducible medium on growth, activity and CO2 capture capacity: A glucose-based auto inducible medium (glucose-AIM) has been developed to enhance both growth and expression of lac operon-linked carbonic anhydrase (CA) expression in a recombinant strain of Escherichia coli. When the E. coli expressing CA was grown on various media, the glucose-based auto inducible medium (glucose AIM) resulted in a CA activity of 1022 mU OD600nm-1 mL-1 at 24 h and a specific growth rate of 0.082 h-1. The CA activity was four to fourteen times higher than those by LB-IPTG. The E. coli expressing CA grown on the glucose-AIM showed highest activity at pH 8.5 while it kept high stability up to 40 oC and an inlet CO2 concentration of 6%. 2.2. Carbon Dioxide Capture Using Escherichia coli expressing Carbonic Anhydrase in a Foam Bioreactor: The present study reports on CO2 capture and conversion to bicarbonate using Escherichia coli expressing carbonic anhydrase (CA) on its cell surface in a novel foam bioreactor. The very large gas-liquid interfacial area in the foam bioreactor promoted rapid CO2 absorption, which was subsequently converted to bicarbonate ions by the carbonic anhydrase. CO2 removal was investigated at various conditions such as gas velocity, cell and CO2 inlet concentration. Regimes for kinetic and mass transfer limitations were defined. Very high removal rates of CO2 were observed: 9,570 g CO2 m-3bioreactor h-1 and a CO2 removal efficiency of 93% at 4% inlet CO2 when the gas retention time was 24 s, and cell concentration was 4 gdw L-1. These performances are superior to earlier reports of experimental bioreactors using carbonic anhydrase for CO2 capture. Overall, this bioreactor system has significant potential as an alternative CO2 capture technology. 3. A Novel Foam Photobioreactor for Algal Wastewater Treatment, CO2 Capture and Biofuel Production: This study investigated a novel algal foam photobioreactor to support sustainable wastewater treatment, CO2 Capture and biofuel production. The novel algal foam bioreactor relied on the actively growing microalgae in tiny aqueous foam bubbles ( ~ 2 mm size, 150 µm liquid film thickness) which provided high mass and light transfer in the bioreactor. The microalgae in the foam photobioreactor were isolated from the aquaponic system at University of Hawaii operated with high nitrogen and phosphorus concentration. The synthetic and real sewage wastewater were treated by the algal bioreactor when the microalgae were cultivated in three growth modes (autotrophic, mixotrophic and heterotrophic cultivation) over the long term period. Three growth modes had the same nutrients (total nitrogen and phosphorus) and supplements from the synthetic and real wastewater except CO2 for the autotrophic, CO2/BOD for the mixotrophic, and BOD for the heterotrophic culture. The results showed that the mixotrophic culture of algae showed highest cell growth and chlorophyll content among three growth modes. The mixotrophic culture of algae also exhibited its removal of carbon (organic contaminant), nitrogen and phosphorus in the wastewater which were much higher than the autotrophic and heterotrophic culture of algae. Analysis of algal composition (lipid, carbohydrate, protein) showed high potential for production of bio-oil and biochar while it would be also used for biodiesel production. In addition to algal wastewater treatment, the algal foam photobioreactor led to high CO2 removal at short gas contact time of CO2 as a potential CO2 capture. In overall, these results supported that the novel algal foam photobioreactor integrated with wastewater treatment, CO2 capture and biofuel production algal treatment of wastewater would be developed as a cost-effective sustainable bioprocess.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hoh, D.H., Watson, S.K., Kan, E.* 2016. Algal biofilm reactors for integrated wastewater treatment and biofuel production: a review. Chemical Engineering Journal, 287: 466  473
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Kim, H.J., Park, S., Kim, S.H., Kim, J.H., Yu, H., Kim, H.J., Yang, Y., Kan, E., Kim, Y.H., Lee, S.H. 2015. Biocompatible cellulose nanocrystals as supports to immobilize lipase. Journal of Molecular Catalysis B: Enzymatic, 122: 170-178
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Watson, S.K. and Kan, E.* 2015. Effects of Novel Auto-Inducible Medium on Growth, Activity and CO2 Capture Capacity of Escherichia coli Expressing Carbonic Anhydrase. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 117: 139143
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Park, T., Kim, Y.S., Kan, E., and Lee, S.H. 2015. Influence of ionic liquids as solvents for the chemical synthesis of poly(3-octylthiophene) with FeCl3. RSC Advance, 5: 25590-25593
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Kan, E.*, Koh, C.I., Lee, K.H., and Kang, J.W. 2015. Decomposition of aqueous chlorinated contaminants by UV irradiation with H2O2. Frontier in Environmental Science and Engineering, 9: 429-435
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Watson, S.K., Beeker, B., Yanos, R., and Kan, E. 2015. A novel foam photobioreactor for algal wastewater treatment, CO2 capture and biofuel production. 2015 AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, November 8-13, 2015
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Kan, E. 2015. Effective photocatalytic oxidation of antibiotics in water: Effects of carbon support and inorganic anions. 2015 AIChE Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, November 8-13, 2015
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Watson, S.K. and Kan, E. 2015. Detailed analysis of a foam bioreactor using Escherichia coli expressing carbonic anhydrase for optimization of CO2 capture. 2015 AIChE Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, November 8-13, 2015
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Master Thesis title: UTILIZATION OF CARBONIC ANHYDRASE-DISPLAYING ESCHERICHIA COLI IN THE FOAM BIOREACTOR FOR CARBON CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION Student: Stuart Watson (Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa) Program: MS thesis in MBBE was approved by the University of Hawaii at Manoa (April 8, 2015)
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Master Thesis title: INTEGRATED ADSORPTION, OXIDATION AND BIODEGRADATION FOR TREATING EMERGING CONTAMINANTS IN WASTEWATER AND WATER Student: Jihyun R. Kim (Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa) Program: MS thesis in MBBE was approved by the University of Hawaii at Manoa (Nov. 5, 2014)


Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: The target audiences for this project included: 1) the graduate students to conduct this project (Jihyun Kim, Vincent Cleveland, Stuart Watson) in the PI's lab, 2) the undergraduate volunteers (Zoey Matulan, Michelle Chiu, Bertram Booker, Rommel Yanos, Branden Santiano under Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship Program) who participated in this project under the PI's mentoring, 3) the undergraduate and graduate students who took BE 431 (Environmental Biotechnology) and BE/CEE 634 (Biological Treatment) in which the PI incorporated the major concepts and results from the project to these courses, 4) the science community in the field of environmental engineering and bioprocesses when the PI published and presented the results from the project to the journals and the national conferences, 5) the local companies and non-profit groups in Hawaii (i.e., Ocenic Institute,Kuehnle AgroSystems, Inc. etc). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Along with the Hatch project, the PI advised several graduate students (Vincent Cleveland, Jihyun Kim, Stuart Watson), and mentored the undergraduate students (Zoey Matulan, Michelle Chiu, Bertram Beeker, Rommel Yanos, Branden Santiano; all from Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship Program). The PI published and presented several research papers in the top peer-reviewed journals and national conferences (four papers published, two papers submitted, five papers presented). Besides, the PI developed and submitted eight grant proposals to NSF, USDA, EPA, National Pork Board and Hawaiian Community Foundation. Also, the PI submitted one proposal to the State of Hawaii for clean-up of contaminated site in Oahu Island. The major results from the Hatch project were incorporated to the lecture contents when the PI taught BE 431 (Environmental Biotechnology) and BE 634 (Biological Treatment). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The major results from the project were presented to the 2014 AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) annual meeting in Atlanta, Nov 16-21, 2014. The PI presented five papers about the photocatalytic and bacterial degradation of emerging contaminants in wastewater and water as well as biological carbon capture using the genetically modified bacteria. The PI made several technical discussion and exchanged scientific ideas with the ¢AINA Institute in Hawaii (Dr. Bob Shleser) about how to enhance environmental sustainability and biofuel production in Hawaii. Another company, Hawaii Renewable Resources Inc., also made good discussion for the recovery of energy from animal wastes in North Shore Area while requesting several analysis of biofuel products. Since April 2013, the PI has been working with one gentleman running his machinery shop (Mr. Orin Jackson) to make simple and economical biofuel production from agricultural wastes which is being developed to be submitted to USDA rural development project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Over the next period, the PI will plan to continue to optimize photocatalytic oxidation process to remove toxic endocrine disrupting and pharmaceutical compounds in wastewater and water. The key operating conditions for the photocatalytic oxidation will be optimized through the laboratory investigation and mathematical model. If available, the process will be also tested to remove any potential pathogens in wastewater, particularly reclaimed water, because it will rely on the same mechanism as treatment of the contaminants. The PI will investigate further insights into mass transfer and biokinetic studies in a foam bioreactor to fully understand and optimize the carbon capture by the E. coli in a foam bioreactor. The mass transfer and biokinetic equations at various operating conditions will be investigated which will be used for the mathematical modeling of the foam bioreactor. The model will be used to understand the key mechanisms, predict the performance at various conditions, and design the bioreactor when it will be scaled up. The long term operation of the foam bioreactor will be optimized by adjusting feed rate of CO2 and nutrients, bicarbonate removal and cell growth rate.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The goal of the project is to develop innovative hybrid processes for cost-effective and highly efficient wastewater treatment/recycling and biofuel production. In 2013, my lab established the nano-scale photocatalysts (CdS- and CdS/TiO2 deposited onto carbon nanotube), the heterogeneous oxidation (iron catalyst deposited onto activated carbon), and feasibility of biological CO2 removal from biogas and flue gas. In this reporting period more efforts have been made: 1) to develop cost-effective and practical photocatalytic degradation of endocrine disrupting (bisphenol A, BPA) and pharmaceutical compounds (sulfamethoxazole, SMX) in water, 2) to optimize adsorption and oxidation of BPA using the iron catalyst-deposited functionalized activated carbon, 3) to develop novel biodegradation of BPA and SMX using the isolated bacteria, and 4) to investigate and optimize biological CO2 removal using the genetically modified E. coli. First, the biochar-supported TiO2 under the solar light (outdoor) and UV lamp (in the lab) irradiation provided rapid and strong photocatalytic oxidation of endocrine disrupting (10-20 ppm bisphenol A) and pharmaceutical compounds (10-20 ppm sulfamethoxazole) within 30-60 min. Surprisingly it completely degraded BPA and SMX at the selected conditions (0.5 g photocatalyst, neutral pH, ambient temperature, 3-4 h irradiation) while providing high mineralization efficiency (47-85% COD removal) with effective degradation of the intermediates of SMX and BPA. The remaining oxidation products were mainly biodegradable organic acids (i.e., fumaric, succinic, acetic, lactic acids etc) which would be easily removed by conventional activated sludge processes. Second, in Fall 2013 to Spring 2014 the PI’s lab isolated the bacteria to degrade BPA and SMX which are not easily biodegradable by conventional biological treatments. The bioreactor filled with a biochar (support)-supported biofilm showed about 55-70% BPA and SMX at the operation conditions such as 10-20 ppm BPA and SMX, SRT of 3 d, and ambient temperature and pH. While the biodegradation of BPA and SMX in the biofilm bioreactor were quite effective, the PI’s lab also noticed that the oxidation products from the photocatalytic and Fenton oxidations of BPA and SMX were easily degraded by bacterial biodegradation after 30-60 min operation. Third, as a supplementary project, the PI investigated the CO2 capture by carbonic anhydrase (CA)-displaying Escherichia coli in a foam bioreactor. Because of the very large gas-liquid interfacial area in the foam bioreactor, gaseous CO2 was quickly absorbed and converted by the CA to bicarbonate ions and protons. The CO2 removal efficiency and elimination capacity at various gas velocities, cell concentrations and inlet concentrations of CO2 was investigated. The results were very exciting in that very high removal rates and elimination capacities of CO2 were observed (up to 93% and 9570 g CO2 per m3bioreactor h-1, respectively at 24 s gas retention time, 4 gdw L-1 and 4% inlet CO2). These performances are superior to earlier reports of experimental bioreactors using CA for carbon capture. However, the activity of CA on the E. coli was reduced by 50% at 10 mM bicarbonate, while nearly complete loss of activity was observed at 75 mM bicarbonate. This inhibition was fully reversible when bicarbonate was flushed out of the system. The PI’s group also investigated the economical and effective medium for E. coli displaying carbonic anhydrase (CA). When the effects of current medium (LB-IPTG) and two alternative media (LB- and glucose-based auto inducible media; LB-AIM and glucose-AIM) on cell growth and enzyme expression were comparatively studied, the glucose AIM was selected to be used for the foam bioreactor because it supported good cell growth and high CA activity, excellent foaming, and stable operation. In addition, a combined adsorption and Fenton oxidation using an acid-treated Fe-amended granular activated carbon (Fe-GAC) was developed for effective removal of bisphenol A in water. Particularly this study showed temperature as an effective mean to enhance adsorption, desorption, diffusion and Fenton oxidation associated with the adsorption and Fenton oxidation of BPA on the Fe-GAC. The adsorption rates of BPA onto the Fe-GAC were enhanced with increasing temperature mainly due to increase in diffusion of BPA. The estimated thermodynamic parameters associated with adsorption of BPA indicated that the adsorption of BPA onto the Fe-GAC was a spontaneous, exothermic and physical adsorption process. The oxidation rates of BPA and H2O2 during the Fenton oxidation of the BPA-spent Fe-GAC were drastically enhanced by the factor of 2.5 and 5 when the reaction temperature increased from 293 – 331 K, respectively. The comparative analysis of temperature-dependent enhancement in diffusion, desorption and oxidation rates of BPA in Fe-GAC indicated that the BPA oxidation in the Fe-GAC is mainly controlled by diffusive transport of BPA from the Fe-GAC. While conducting the above research activities under the Hatch project, the specific objectives in the project were also achieved. The specific objectives to achieve the goal for developing innovative hybrid processes included: i) Selection of the appropriate adsorbents (activated carbon, biochar, carbon nanotubes) for adsorption of pollutants, ii) Novel synthesis of nano metal catalyst-deposited adsorbents for enhancing adsorption, biodegradation and catalytic degradation, iii) Understanding of mechanisms and kinetics associated with adsorption of the pollutants using the fabricated adsorbents, iv) Biodegradation of the pollutants from the surface of the adsorbents by using specific microorganisms and help of metal catalysts, and v) Optimization of the process using a mathematical model and laboratory experiments. First, the biochar (locally and commercially available), activated carbon, and carbon nanotube were functionalized to enhance their adsorption capacity for target contaminants as well as supporting photocatalysts, heterogeneous catalysts, and biofilm. The nano-scale photocatalyst (TiO2- and TiO2/CdS onto biochar, activated carbon and carbon nanotube), heterogeneous catalyst (Fe onto activated carbon, carbon nanotube) and biocatalyst (bacteria and enzyme onto biochar) were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated. The detailed mechanistic studies for the photocatalytic and heterogeneous oxidation processes were conducted to figure the major mechanisms such as adsorption, desorption, diffusion and oxidation. The bacteria isolated by the PI’s group showed excellent biodegradation of endocrine disrupting (BPA) and pharmaceutical compounds (SMX) while it also effectively degraded the intermediates and products of these contaminants generated by the photocatalytic oxidation. The carbonic anhydrase-displaying E. coil was also used to convert CO2 from biogas and flue gas to bicarbonate (finally calcium carbonate as a value added product) and hydrogen gas in a foam bioreactor. In order to optimize the photocatalytic/heterogeneous oxidation and carbon anhydrase-driven CO2 capture process, the intensive laboratory investigation and mathematical modeling are being made.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Cleveland, V., Bingham, J.P., and Kan,E.* 2014. Heterogeneous Fenton Degradation of Bisphenol A by Carbon Nanotube-supported Fe3O4. Separation and Purification Technology, 133:388-395.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kim, J.H. and Kan, E.* 2014. Heterogeneous photo-Fenton oxidation of methylene blue using CdS-carbon nanotube/TiO2 under visible light. 2015. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 21:644652. (Online publication: March 2014 2014)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kan, E.*, Koh, C.I., Lee, K.H., and Kang, J.W. 2014. Decomposition of aqueous chlorinated contaminants by UV irradiation with H2O2. Frontier in Environmental Science and Engineering, Online publication: March 2014 (DOI 10.1007/s11783-014-0677-6).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kim, J.H., Kan, E.* 2015. Effects of temperature on adsorption and oxidative degradation of bisphenol A in a surface modified iron-amended granular activated carbon. Chemical Engineering Journal, 262: 12601267 (online publication: October 2014)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2014 Citation: Watson, S.K., Han, Z., Su, W.W., Deshusses, M.A., and Kan, E.* 2014. Carbon Capture Using Carbonic Anhydrase-Displaying Escherichia coli in a foam bioreactor. submitted.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kim, J.H. and Kan, E.*. 2014. Integrated Solar Photocatalytic Oxidation and Biodegradation for Degradation of Antibiotics and Endocrine Disrupting Compounds in Water. submitted
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Master Thesis title: INTEGRATED ADSORPTION, OXIDATION AND BIODEGRADATION FOR TREATING EMERGING CONTAMINANTS IN WASTEWATER AND WATER Student: Jihyun R. Kim (Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa) Program: MS thesis in MBBE was approved by the University of Hawaii at Manoa (Nov. 5, 2014)
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Master Thesis title: NOVEL HETEROGENEOUS FENTON OXIDATION USING MAGENTIC IRON OXIDE-DECORATED CARBON NANOTUBE TO REMOVE ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING COMPOUNDS IN WASTEWATER AND WATER Student: Vincent Cleveland (Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa) Program: MS thesis in MBBE was approved by the University of Hawaii at Manoa (Nov. 5, 2014)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Watson, S.K. and Kan, E. 2014. Mathematical Modeling of Carbon Capture by Carbonic Anhydrase-Displaying Escherichia coli in A Foam Bioreactor. 2014 AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, November 16-21, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Watson, S.K., Han, Z.L., Su, W.W., and Kan, E. 2014. Carbon Capture Using Carbonic Anhydrase-Displaying Escherichia coli in Biologically Active Foams. 2014 AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, November 16-21, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kim, J.R. and Kan, E. 2014. Integrated Solar Photocatalytic Oxidation and Biodegradation for Degradation of Antibiotics and Endocrine Disrupting Compounds in Wastewater and Water. 2014 AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, November 16-21, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kim, J.R. and Kan, E. 2014. Adsorption and Oxidative Degradation of Bisphenol A on Surface Modified Iron-Amended Activated Carbon: Effects of temperature on adsorption and Fenton oxidation. 2014 AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, November 16-21, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kim, J.R. and Kan, E. 2014. Visible Light Mediated Heterogeneous Photo-Fenton Oxidation of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds in Wastewater and Water Using CdS/Carbon nanotube-Iron Oxide Composite Photocatalyst. 2014 AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, November 16-21, 2014.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: The PI mentored the undergraduate students under Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship Program. The group conducted the specific project in the PI's Hatch project and got the 1st award in the conference: Bertram Booker and Rommel Yanos won the 1st place oral presentation at2014 IKE Symposium, Hawaii, Aug. 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Watson, S.K., Malaluan, Z., Santiano, B., Su, W.W, and Kan, E.* 2014. Carbon capture using carbonic anhydrase-displaying Escherichia coli in biologically active foams. 26th CTAHR Student Reseach Symposium, April 11-12. (MS student)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kim, J.R., Chu, M., Kim, A., Bingham, J.P., and Kan, E.* 2014. Coupling solar photocatalytic oxidation process and biological treatment for endocrine disrupting compounds in wastewater and water . 26th CTAHR Student Reseach Symposium, April 11-12. (MS student)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Cleveland, V.C. and Kan, E.* 2013. Simultaneous Adsorption and Heterogeneous Oxidation of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds in Wastewater Using Nano Metal Catalyst-Deposited Carbon Nanotubes. 2013 AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, November 3-8, 2013.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kim, J.R., Santiano, B., Kim, H.S., and Kan, E. 2013. Heterogeneous Fenton Oxidation of Synthetic Dye in Water With Surface-Modified Iron-Amended Activated Carbon. 2013 AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, November 3-8, 2013.


Progress 02/01/13 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: The target audiences included the local company (KAS algal biotech company in Honolulu), the local engineer (Mr. Orin Jackson) and the scientici community (scientists and engineers in the field of environmental and bioloigical engineers). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Along with the Hatch project, I set up my lab, mentored several graduate and undergraduate students, published the journal papers and submitted the grant proposals to the federal agencies. In this period, I submitted six granted proposals to USDA, NSF, Dept. Transportation and USGS. Among them, two grant proposals are awarded now. I published two journal papers, submitted four papers and am preparing three more papers. I advised three graduate students while three undergraduate students under Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship Program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? In this period, the local marine biotechnology company (KAS) contacted me to request removal of heavy metals in seawater using marine algaes. The scope and detailed plans are being discussed now. Also, one gentleman running his machinery shop (Mr. Orin Jackson) suggested me to make proposal with him to USDA Rural Economy Development. He wanted to develop novel engines to convert all kind of biomass and agricultural wastes to fuels. We are in discussion to make the proposal to USDA. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Over the next reporing period, I will plan to continue to study treatment of toxic wastewater using photocatalytic oxidation, heterogenous oxidation and biodegradation. The preparation, characterization and evaluation of the photocatalysts and heterogeneous catalysts will be performed while the catalyst-enhanced biodegradation will be investigated at various operating conditions. Also, I will conduct captue and conversion of CO2 using the foam bioreactor and the enzyme at various operating conditions for its optimization. The carbon capture in a foam bioreactor will be performed at various inlet conditions, gas flow rate, liquid flow rate, cell concentration and enzyme activity. The mass transfer in the bioreactor will be also determined at the gas and liquid flow rates. Biological H2S removal in the biochar-based bioreactor would be implemented depending on availablity of graduate student and additional instruments.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Degradation of aqueous endocrine disrupting chemicals and synthetic chemicals by solar light-assisted photocatalysts and iron nano-catalysts My lab established the synthesis and characterization of the nano-scale photocatalysts (CdS- and CdS/TiO2deposited onto carbon nanotube; 6-10 nm CdS and TiO2granules). The photocatalysts also exhibited fast and complete adsorption capacity of these contaminants in 5-10 min. The photocatalyst-driven oxidation at the optimum conditions showed rapid and complete degradation of both of bisphenol A and methylene blue in water within 30 min under solar and visible irradiation. A series of control and comparative experiments demonstrated the feasible major mechanisms of the photocatalytic process including photon excitation, radical formation by photon excitation, electron hole-induced oxidation and photon-induced Fenton oxidation. Also, the magnetic iron oxide catalysts (Fe3O4and Fe2O3)-deposited carbon nanotube and activated carbon were established by one of sol-gel techniques (in-situ chemical oxidation coprecipitation method). The magnetic iron oxide with the carbon nanotube or activated carbon had the nano-dimension (30-50 nm), little aggregation, large surface area and excellent separation under mild magnetic field leading high adsorption and degradation with easy recovery of the catalysts. The magnetic iron oxide catalysts (Fe3O4and Fe2O3)-deposited carbon nanotube and activated carbon exhibited fast and drastic oxidation of bisphenol A and methylene blue in combination with low H2O2concentration. It indicated cost-effectiveness of the process to treat the contaminants in wastewater and water. It was also very interesting that the bacterial consortium obtained from the Honolulu municipal wastewater treatment plants immediately degraded the intermediates and byproducts produced from oxidation of bisphenol A. It led to high potential to develop an economical treatment process for combining the iron nano catalyst-driven oxidation with conventional biological treatment (activated sludge process) in the wastewater treatment plants. 2. Capture and Valorization of CO2 The carbonic anhydrase enzyme (CA), which quickly catalyzes the conversion of CO2 into bicarbonate ion and a proton, has been studied for use in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies. This process would solve the limitations of current carbon capture technologies because it readily converts CO2 into environmentally friendly products at mild conditions. Furthermore, upon CO2 removal, the aqueous bicarbonate can be precipitated and separated as calcium carbonate (bio-mineral) as a value-added product. The major goals of this project are to employ genetically modified E. coli to continuously produce and display CA on their cell membranes and to use these bacteria in the Foam Bioreactor to capture and sequester CO2. The bacteria incubated in auto inducible media (AIM) have shown successful growth and enzyme expression as well as high activity and foaming capacity in the Foam Bioreactor. Because of the huge gas-to-liquid surface area in the Foam Bioreactor, the CO2 in gas phase was quickly transferred to many CA-displaying bacteria, allowing the CA to convert CO2 to bicarbonate ions and protons. Under ex situ pH control and an inlet stream of 0.5-2% CO2 at 1 L/min, the increased cell concentrations enhanced the removal efficiency and elimination capacity of CO2. A decrease in gas flow rate from 1.0 to 0.4 L/min at an inlet stream of 0.5-2% CO2 also enhanced the removal efficiency of CO2. In the presence of tertiary amine solution, the CA-displaying cells showed almost 90% conversion of CO2 at 1.5% CO2, 1 liter air/min over long term period which revealed long term stability of the enzyme in the bioreactor. 3.Biological desulfurization for upgrading biogas Biogas contains significant proportion cCO2(35-50%) and H2S (~20,000 ppmv) which should be properly removed for upgrading biogas used for electricity generation via combustion and fuel cell systems. The ultimate goal of the research is to develop a novel bioreactor to eliminate H2S in agricultural biogas which allows biogas to be converted to power and electricity with no operation problems. Current experimental results showed that the biochar functionalized with caustics, KI and Na2CO3supported rapid and high adsorption of H2S. When the chemically modified biochar were tested at 3,000-3,800 ppmvH2S for 4-24 h, the chemically functionalized biochar showed the maximum capacity of 250-300 mg H2S/g biochar which was higher than the adsorption capacity of the virgin biochar (180 mg H2S/g biochar) and the coal-based granular activated carbon (150 mg /g GAC). Recently the autotrophic sulfur oxidizing bacteria was isolated from the soil in the UH campus for degradation of H2S in biogas. The isolated bacteria showed its excellent degradation of H2S (3.6-41 g H2S/gdwt-d) with relatively faster growth (specific growth rate of 0.3 d-1; doubling time of 2.3 d) thanAcidithiobacillus ferroxidans, the well-known sulfur oxidizing bacteria. 4. LAB SET-UP Since I join UH in August 2012, I spent extensive time (~several weeks) to clean up my lab which was inherited from Dr. PY Yang. The remaining hazardous wastes and old chemicals were disposed properly according to the instructions in “Lab Safety and Hazardous Chemical Disposal” after taking these training. I obtained the permit for Biosafety level 2 from Biosafety Committee. Several equipment, devices and benches were rearranged for improving the environment for our research works in the lab including the home-made bioreactors and the online data acquisition system to measure gaseous CO2concentration, H2S concentration, pH, dissolved oxygen concentration and temperature. The photo-reactors were equipped with the online measurement of temperature and UV/visible light intensity.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kan, E. 2013. Effects of pretreatment of anaerobic sludges and culture conditions on hydrogen productivity in dark anaerobic fermentation. Renewable Energy, 49: 227231.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kim, J.H., Santiano, B., Kim, H.S., and Kan, E. 2013. Heterogeneous Oxidation of Methylene Blue with Surface-Modified Iron-Amended Activated Carbon. American Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 4:115-122.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kim, J.H. and Kan, E. 2013. Visible light mediated heterogeneous photo-Fenton oxidation of methylene blue using CdS-carbon nanotube/TiO2.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kan, E., Koh, C., Lee, K., and Kang, J. 2013. Decomposition of aqueous chlorinated contaminants by UV irradiation with H2O2.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2013 Citation: Cleveland, V.C., Bingham, J.P., and Kan, E. Heterogeneous Fenton Degradation of bisphenol A by Carbon Nanotube-supported Fe3O4.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Cleveland, V.C., Bingham, J.P., and Kan, E. 2013. Novel Synthesis of Nano Iron Oxide-deposited Carbon Nanotube For Enhancing Heterogeneous Fenton Oxidation of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Water. 2013 9th World congress of Chemical Engineering, Seoul, Korea, August 19-23, 2013.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Cleveland, V.C., Bingham, J.P., and Kan, E. 2013. Adsorption and Heterogeneous Oxidation of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds in Wastewater Using Nano Metal Catalyst-Deposited Carbon Nanotubes. 25th CTAHR Student Reseach Symposium, April 12-13. Abstract #113
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kim, J.R. and Kan, E. 2013. Novel Synthesis of the Nano Metal Catalyst-deposited Activated Carbon for Degradation of Synthetic Dye-containing Wastewater. 25th CTAHR Student Reseach Symposium, April 12-13. Abstract #21.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kawai, Y., Youn, H., and Kan, E. 2013, Isolation and Characterization of Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria for Desulfurization of Energy-Rich Gases. 25th CTAHR Student Reseach Symposium, April 12-13. Abstract #89.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Santiano, B., Kim, H., and Kan, E. Biosorption of synthetic contaminants in waste water by functionalized seaweed-derived biosorbents. 25th CTAHR Student Reseach Symposium, April 12-13. Abstract #79.