Projects
Fermentative granules for bio-production: from mechanisms of biofilm formation to real wastewater application Ghent University
The growing problems of fossil fuel depletion, planet pollution and increasing human population urgently necessitates a more efficient usage of our natural resources. To that end, the concept of a circular bio-economy has been established, which aims at converting biological waste streams into bio-based products. This conversion can be carried out by microorganisms in a bioprocess in which the cells of these microorganisms can arrange in a ...
Microbial exodus as indicator for ecosystem stability Ghent University
Up to 80 % of all bacterial and archaeal cells across the world live in microbial aggregates. Engineered aggregates or biofilms, have become a crucial part of energy recovery and waste management technologies, such as anaerobic digestion facilities (conversion of waste to biogas). Upon encountering stress, biofilms actively expel distinct microorganisms. This mechanism could offer great potential for anticipating and preventing functional ...
Intensification of light-driven water resource recovery by using droplet millifluidics for the production of seed photogranules (Insight) KU Leuven
Over the last decade, stimulating bacteria to form spherical compact biofilms called granules instead of loose flocs has revolutionized wastewater treatment (WWT). Still, WWT technology with activated sludge granules faces some challenges such as high O2 demand and inevitable CO2 emissions. Recently, another type of granule, the photogranule, has been attracting attention due to its potential to achieve sustainable WWT and resource recovery. ...
Development of biofilm-based fermentation technologies for carbon capture and utilization Ghent University
Carbon dioxide is the main anthropogenic greenhouse gas, contributing substantially to pressing environmental issues such as global warming and ocean acidification. Half of the Flemish carbon dioxide emissions are emitted by large point sources, which form an attractive opportunity for carbon capture and utilization (CCU). CCU aims at converting carbon-containing gases to added value products, thereby preventing their emission to the ...
Getting the iso-needle out of the fermentation haystack Ghent University
CO2 can be biologically converted to chemical building blocks while reducing carbon emissions and dependency from raw material imports. The production of iso-butyric acid has been recently reported in mixed cultures using methanol as electron donor for CO2 fixation. This project will isolate and characterize the organisms responsible and its metabolism to harness it for industrial bio-production from CO2.
ThermoNTreat: Integrated thermophilic partial nitritation and anammox for nitrogen removal from hot wastewaters Ghent University
Thermophilic nitrogen removal via partial nitritation/anammox (PN/A) could be a major breakthrough for treating nitrogenous warm wastewaters devoid of organic carbon. However, the knowledge on the microbial ecology and process dynamics to integrate PN and A at thermophilic temperatures is lacking. This thesis focusses on developing single stage thermophilic PN/A at 50°C and manage the interactions between the different microbial guilds in ...
Sulfide-based nitrogen removal from municipal wastewater Ghent University
This doctoral research project focuses on sulfide-based nitrogen removal from anaerobically pretreated municipal wastewater. The first research line concerns the optimization of sulfide-based nitrogen removal over nitrate in granular sludge reactors. The second research line aims at the realization and optimization of a short-cut sulfide-based nitrogen removal process over nitrite. Reducing emissions of the greenhouse gases N2O and methane, ...
Advancing saline environmental technology for waste(water) treatment and resource recovery Ghent University
Water and environment salination—driven by climate change, population growth, urbanization and industrialization, and increases in groundwater salinity—is threatening the sustainable growth of cities worldwide. The conventional technologies to handle the saline wastewater is available, however the major problems existed as more space, costly chemical dosing and extra energy input required, as well as high-strength solid wastes and brine will ...
Optimisation of fermentation and electrolytic extraction for targeted chain elongation Ghent University
This research aims at process development for sustainable production of high-value chemicals. By study of
kinetic reaction parameters, biological fermentation reactions converting organics in (agro)-industrial waste
streams can be optimised. This optimisation will result in production of chemicals with 5 to 11 carbon molecules
(e.g. caproate, caprylate) for increased valorisation in comparison with lower carbon chemicals (e.g. ...