HYBRID EVENT: You can participate in person at Rome, Italy or Virtually from your home or work.

4th Edition of Euro-Global Conference on Biotechnology and Bioengineering

September 19-21 | Hybrid Event

September 19-21, 2024 | Rome, Italy
ECBB 2022

Bruce E Rittmann

Bruce E Rittmann, Speaker at Biotechnology Conferences
Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, United States
Title: The hydrogen - based membrane biofilm reactor for reducing many oxidized contaminants

Abstract:

Among the most challenging water pollutants are those whose common characteristic is that they are chemically oxidized.  The "classic" oxidized pollutants are nitrate and nitrite, and emerging oxidized pollutants include perchlorate, selenate, chromate, radionuclides, and precious metals.  For all of the oxidized contaminants, microbiological reduction leads to innocuous products.  A novel biological treatment process able to reduce all of the oxidized pollutants is the hydrogen-based Membrane Biofilm Reactor (MBfR).  Hydrogen gas (H2) is fed to the interior of hollow fiber membranes, diffuses through the membrane wall, and is then consumed by biofilm bacteria that use it as their electron-donor substrate while reducing one or more of the oxidized pollutants as their electron-acceptor substrate.  We have carried out extensive studies to evaluate the fundamentals and the application of the MBfR for reduction of nitrate, perchlorate, selenate, and metals.  This presentation addresses the conceptual basis for the MBfR, advantages of using H2, our vast experience reducing nitrate and perchlorate, our recent successes reducing selenate and palladium, and an update on the status of field testing and commercialization.

Biography:

Dr. Bruce E. Rittmann is Regents’ Professor of Environmental Engineering and Director of the Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology at Arizona State University.  His research focuses on the science and engineering needed to “manage microbial communities to provide services to society.”  Dr. Rittmann is a member of the National Academy of Engineering; a Fellow of AAAS, WEF, IWA, AEESP, and NAI; and a Distinguished Member of ASCE.  Dr. Rittmann is the co-winner of the 2018 Stockholm Water Prize.  Dr. Rittmann has published over 760 journal articles, books, and book chapters, and he has 19 patents. 

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