Research PG
- About
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- Office Address
- School/Department
- Combined Studies
Biography
I am working on the biodegradation of xenobiotics under the supervision of Dr Waheed Afzal and Professor Davide Dionisi. I am investigating an innovative process for aerobic digestion for pharmaceuticals and municipal wastewater treatments to enable a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly industrial process.
I recently joined the Aberdeen City Council as a Climate Change Officer under commissioning - strategic place planning, and my work focuses on collaborating closely with others to develop and embed robust sustainability and climate change principles and practices across the Council and city. I took several years as a senior technical officer at NHS before starting my PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Aberdeen.
External Memberships
- The Institution of Chemical Engineering (IChemE), UK
- Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA)
- Canadian Society for Chemical Engineers (CSChE)
- Research
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Research Overview
My research focuses on delivering waste reduction, optimised waste management and disposal, and pollution control so that water is able to be discharged safely to the environment or reused. This research area addresses global energy inequalities and waste problems, contributing to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs 6,9,11,12,13,14 and 15, "sustainable cities and communities" and "climate action". Focus research areas include:
- Biological wastewater treatment process optimisation aimed to minimise reactor volume and energy consumption and maximise energy recovery through aerobic/anaerobic processes.
- Aerobic biodegradation of xenobiotics to enable environmentally friendly industrial processes with mixed microbial culture
Research Areas
Engineering
Research Specialisms
- Chemical Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Current Research
I am working on "Microbially mediated biological treatment of primary effluent from H2OPE fertiliser production" funded by IBioIC and in collaboration with the company SEM World. The project is about running semi-continuous biological reactors treating the effluent of the treatment process developed by SEM and measuring the main performance parameters, i.e. COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand), ammonia, nitrate, total nitrogen and phosphorus, while working under the supervision of Professor Davide Dionisi and Dr Waheed Afzal. In addition, I am working on the biodegradation of xenobiotics and investigating an innovative process for aerobic digestion for pharmaceuticals and municipal wastewater treatments to enable a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly industrial process. This project investigates how wastewater treatment's mass and energy balance works with wastewater modelling assistance. It aims to identify the mass loading of valuable substances flow to the treatment, understand how organic xenobiotics are treated in the treatment chain, and monitor the treatment-related energy consumption/production. The outcomes of the investigation will address waste recovery opportunities.
Past Research
BSc Project: Developing an analyse to measure arsenic in drinking water to remove arsenic from drinking water using activated charcoal.
MSc Project: Arsenic (As) mobility through paddy field soil profiles.
Knowledge Exchange
As a climate change officer at Aberdeen City Council and Research Assistant at University of Aberdeen, my work focuses on collaborating closely with others to develop and embed robust sustainability and climate change principles and practices across the Council, city, University and other stakeholders.
