Environmental Technology - Wageningen University & Research

Doctoral Candidate position 4: Development of universal electrified biotrickling filters for the treatment of liquid and gaseous waste streams on the example of sulfur species This DC will carry out research at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and pursue the degree from the Universität Leipzig (Germany) under the supervision of Falk Harnisch, with secondary supervision by Annemiek Ter Heijne from Wageningen University & Research (Netherlands). The goal of this DC will be to develop a lab-scale, cost-effective electrified biotrickling filter (ETB) for nitrogen and sulfur compound removal from liquid and gas streams, using anodic oxidation (e.g., S²⁻ to S⁰) and cathodic reduction (e.g., SO₄²⁻ to S⁰). The research will examine electrochemical and microbial stratification within the ETB, focusing on functional and microbial diversity at the granule level, with analysis through eClamp and sequencing. A key part of this effort will be the collaboration with the company Sciospec Scientific Instruments GmbH (Germany) to design a custom potentiostat that will enhance ETB performance and extend its applications.     #phdpositions #msca #researchopportunity #doctoralnetworks Intrigued by this topic? Contacts: falk.harnisch@ufz.de; annemiek.terheijne@wur.nl

Find attached the first edition of the ETE newsletter in LinkedIn format! In this edition, recently graduated Selin Özkul explains about her research on #electrodialysis for water #desalination. Together with Jouke Dykstra, Norbert Kuipers Roel Bisselink Harry Bruning and Huub Rijnaarts, she performed both laboratory and modelling work to come up with strategies to recover or retain specific ions.

New research to remove #PFAS! Together with Royal HaskoningDHV and Van Remmen UV Technology, we started a collaboration to investigate and develop an innovative technique for the complete defluorination of PFAS. By combining steps of advanced reduction and oxidation, this novel technique can be applied to concentrated streams, converting them into harmless, PFAS-free streams. The challenges are big, including the identification of the main degradation products in the process, but we are confident that with all the combined expertise, we have the right team to reach a breakthrough.

PhD vacancy open! We are looking for a curiosity driven and highly motivated person to start a PhD on the topic of selenium biocrystallization and recovery. See description in the link below. Closing date application: 27 October 2024 https://lnkd.in/eWUaAUrP

The laboratories of Environmental Technology hosts the shared facilities of UNLOCK Microbial Potential. UNLOCK welcomes you to join their yearly symposium about harnessing the power of #microbial #communities on November 18th. This symposium features inspiring speakers and offers lab tours with live demonstrations, giving you a clear sense of what our facilities can provide. Register via this link: https://lnkd.in/eQwAVM2b David Strik is one of the Platform Managers; he is excited to guide you through the possibilities. Unlock offers the flexibility to conduct both small-scale experiments (such as microbial community analysis and metabolic modelling) and larger, long-term projects (like a one-year bioreactor run with real-time monitoring and data analysis). Within the symposium you'll find plenty of experts eager to collaborate and support your research. Plus, the research at UNLOCK is subsidized, so users only pay a minimal fee. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to approach David Strik or set up a ‘speed-date’ meeting—he’d be happy to assist!  

Congratulations with your first PhD-publication Zhaolu Feng! Zhaolu took aerobic granular sludge from a full-scale wastewater treatment plant and studied the sorption of micropollutants to granules of different sizes. She showed that the granules with a larger size (>4 mm) had a higher sorption affinity for #micropollutants

ETE is looking for a new colleague! Thomas Wagner, Karlova Rumyana and Nora B. Sutton are searching for a PhD-candidate to elucidate the metabolization of micropollutants by (constructed wetland) plants.

Are you interested in the removal of #micropollutants using #nanofiltration 💧 ? Then go and check our latest publication in the Journal of Membrane Science 📄 . In this publication, we provide a novel analytical equation to predict micropollutant rejection, and we study the effect of salt concentration on micropollutant rejection; curious? Open the link below, it's #openaccess ✨ Many thanks to the co-authors for their contribution and support, Ilya Ryzhkov, Evan Spruijt, Bert van der Wal, Maarten Biesheuvel, and Jouke Dykstra. Wetsus, European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology Environmental Technology - Wageningen University & Research

Before these become old news, a recent update from our side on granulation. At IWA in Istanbul I presented the idea that proteins in wastewater at high salinity enhance sludge granulation and I hope to submit a full paper soon. However, while you await for those results we decided to also test this concept under freshwater conditions. At Environmental Technology - Wageningen University & Research our PhD student Chang Gao showed that indeed this idea of soluble proteins boosting granulation holds true also under non-saline conditions. Furthermore, together with Diana Sousa, Anna Doloman and Emilie ALAUX, PhD we showed how microbial communities develop during granulation on various organic substrates. We went all the way from flocs of digested sewage sludge to granules. Interested in what happened there? Check our paper below... and to be continued. https://lnkd.in/eVJAsyqP #granules #AD #collaboration #microbiomes

A new toy in our lab was recently installed! With this oven, it is possible to produce biochars tailored for specific applications, such as the removal of micropollutants, under controlled conditions. Sorption is an important micropollutant removal mechanism, and several ETE researchers are working on better understanding micropollutant sorption in the (engineered) natural environment and during drinking water production Jill Soedarso Anne van Dalen Gabriel Sigmund Marko Pranić