UCC Climate Lab 2017 Seminar Series

REINVENTING – HOW TO GET MORE OUT OF THE TOILET

Professor Andrew Wheatley, Professor and Head of Water and Environmental Engineering, Loughborough University, UK

Thursday, 20th July, 3 PM
Room 1.28, Environmental Research Institute, Lee Road, Cork

After a brief opening discussion of the possibilities for by-product recovery from waste, the presentation will focus on the energy balances of wastewater treatment. It will draw on some detailed results from a recent Gates Foundation Project on the “Hydrothermal Carbonisation of Domestic Wastes”. This research investigated the compromises needed in reaction conditions to optimise char formation (carbon sequestration) compared to energy recovery and the role of anaerobic digestion. It revisited the controversy concerning reductions in bio-treatability as a result of thermal pre-treatment.
Prof Andrew Wheatley was awarded his PhD in 1976 for research on Fixed Film Bioreactors for Wastewater Treatment. In 1992 Andrew joined the Department of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University as a Reader where he was awarded his chair in Water Engineering in 1995. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Water and Environmental Management. Andrew was awarded the Presidents Medal for outstanding services to the Water Industry in 2005. In 2015 he was elected to the Fellowship of the Society of Sanitary Engineers. Andrew’s research focuses on fixed film bioreactors, activated sludge and anaerobic digestion.

This is a free event open to the public organised by UCC Climate Lab at the Environmental Research Institute, and the Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy.