CLiP and CWI-supported Projects
Antimicrobial resistance in wastewater treatment plants across Oregon
Tala Navab-Daneshmand, Environmental Engineering
Antimicrobial resistance is an emerging human health concern. Wastewater treatment plants are one of the main sources of these contaminants. In this study, we aim to determine the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in wastewater via testing samples from 17 treatment facilities. Findings can help understand the impact of treatment processes and seasonal/geographical variations on antimicrobial resistance prevalence in wastewater.
Offshore Aquifers
Todd Jarvis, Institute for Water & Watersheds
Groundwater resources and aquifer utilization are poorly understood along coastal regions worldwide. Building upon the state's travel trademark OREGON. WE LOVE DREAMERS, the Institute for Natural Resources and Institute for Water & Watersheds (INR-IWW) at Oregon State University are proposing a Center for Ocean-Aquifers Studies (COASt) as a model of an active margin, ocean-aquifer exploration, development, and utilization. INR-IWW need help reevaluating historic data from seven "dry" oil and gas exploration wells drilled off the Oregon Coast in the mid 1960s before the area was closed to additional drilling by the Nixon Administration. The research will also address whether offshore geologic CO2 storage in subsea aquifers provides a potential attractive and efficient long-term strategy for the western United States.
Nanoplastic fate and effects in aquatic systems
Stacey Harper, Environmental Engineering
The REU student will work with a team of graduate and undergraduate students to determine the features of nanoplastics (type, additives, shape, co-contaminants) that dictate the fate of nanoplastics in freshwater, estuarine and marine systems. The student will also assist with the toxicological assessment of nanoplastics on various aquatic organisms including algae, bacteria, crustaceans (plankton), and fish. The student will gain skills in animal culture, flow cytometry, nanoplastic characterization, and microscopy and will get to use state-of-the-art equipment to evaluate nanoplastic behavior.
(Photo)electrocatalytic nitrate reduction for drinking water purification
Kelsey A Stoerzinger, Chemical Engineering
Anthropogenic nitrate, a common nutrient, can also cause eutrophication of water bodies and contamination of drinking water sources. Current treatment techniques are cumbersome, expensive, energy intensive, and generate solid hazardous waste which must then be managed for perpetuity. An alternative treatment that produces no solid waste, is capable of utilizing renewable-energy resources, and has tunable product selectivity is (photo)electrocatalytic nitrate reduction. This project seeks to understand how the size of electrodeposited catalytic nanoparticles (Cu and Pd), supported on photo-active support materials (CeO2 and TiO2), affects activity and selectivity of the nitrate-reduction reaction when exposed to visible light.
Optimizing membrane drinking water treatment process
Xue Jin, Environmental Engineering
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in surface water are increasing in frequency and severity and can include toxic cyanobacteria strains. HABs present an increasing threat to public health since surface water is the major source of drinking water. Conventional water treatment processes have proven unreliable for the removal of the toxins released during HABs. Thus, more and more drinking water plants employ coagulation, low pressure membrane processes (microfiltration, MF and ultrafiltration, UF) and disinfection as treatment process. The objective of this project is to delineate the key operating parameters and fundamental relationships governing the efficacy of coagulation pretreatment for simultaneously controlling membrane fouling, toxins transport and disinfection byproduct (DBP) formation in low pressure membrane processes.
Turning Wastewater Treatment Materials into High-Energy-Density Battery Anodes
Zhenxing Feng, Chemical Engineering
This project expands on our current work using porous carbon materials for both wastewater cleaning and lithium-ion battery electrodes. We focus on the economic use of porous carbon materials first for wastewater treatment and then as lithium-ion battery anodes. The porous carbon with special functionalized groups (identified in our previous studies) will be obtained mainly from fish scales or crab shells, which are quite abundant in Oregon. They will be utilized to absorb toxic metal cations (e.g., Cr, Mo) and then these cation-containing carbon will be separated and subsequently used as the lithium-ion battery anode, which can exhibit much higher energy density than commercial battery.
Elimination of Microbial Pathogens in Drinking water via High Efficiency Microscale-Base Photo-Reactor
Goran Jovanovic, Chemical Engineering and Tala Navab-Daneshmand, Environmental Engineering
Lack of appropriate sanitation is the leading cause of mortality in the world; approximately 3.4 million people die every year from waterborne pathogens. Inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation has contributed to an annual average of two million deaths of children under five from diarrheal disease. In Dr. Navab-Daneshmand and Dr. Jovanovic laboratories at Oregon State University, a microscale-based reactor device was designed, manufactured, and tested for the elimination of microbial pathogens. The microscale-based reactor contains novel technological features, which enable a dual mechanism for the elimination of microbial pathogens. The microreactor utilizes direct UV radiation towards pathogen inactivation and indirect generation of hydroxyl radicals (in the TiO2 thin film coating) for oxidative degradation. Through its design approach, the microreactor maintains a constant flux of photons into the influent and is modular, energy-efficient, and portable. In this proposed project, we seek to evaluate the efficacy of microfluidic reactor inactivation of fecal indicators from the three primary waterborne pathogens: Escherichia coli (bacteria), Cryptosporidium parvum (protozoa), and Bacteriophage MS2 (viruses).
Characterization of Organic Matter at two Sampling Points in Forest Grove Wastewater Treatment (WWTP) Facility
Mohammad Azizian, Environmental Engineering
The student will work on a project where a variety of types of organic matter flow into and are treated by the WWTP. However, some organic matter remains in the WWTP effluent. These organic compounds include pharmaceuticals, personal products, surfactants, and pesticides degradates. The WWTP then is discharged into a constructed wetlands. Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometric (GC/MS) and Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometric (TOF/MS) instruments will be used for analysis of the emerging contaminants. The student will be involved in setting up the filtration of wastewater samples, solid phase excretion (SPE), as well as helping on the preparation of standard solutions for the calibration of the instruments. The student will help determine of these emerging contaminants are treated during passage through the constructed wetlands.
Encapsulation of Bacteria for the Passive Bioremediation of Groundwater Contaminated with the Emerging Contaminant 1,4-Dioxane
Lewis Semprini, Environmental Engineering
The student will work on a project where pure cultures of bacteria will be encapsulated in hydrogels to promote the bioremediation of 1,4-dioxane and mixtures of chlorinated solvents that are common groundwater contaminants. The bioremediation is promoted by a process called cometabolism, where the bacteria grow on a substrate to produce specific enzymes that initiate the oxidation of the contaminants of interest. During the summer internship, the student will work with graduate students that investigating the encapsulation method and will test the performance of the hydrogels in batch microcosms in aquifer sediments and contaminated groundwater obtained from Space Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral, FL.
Nutrient Removal from Marginal Waters using Red Macroalgae
Gregory L. Rorrer, Chemical Engineering
Excess nutrients, particularly nitrate and phosphate from agricultural runoff, landfill leachate, and anaerobic digester waste water, present serious challenges to water quality. The project will explore the use of clonal tissue cultures derived from red seaweeds (macroalgae) to soak up these nutrients from marginal waters. The student will be involved in setting up nutrient uptake experiments for nitrate and phosphate, analysis of nutrient uptake kinetics, and their effects on biomass growth.