Professional Engineer (Environmental Engineering) (Florida,License No. 70917)

Ph.D., Civil Engineering (Environmental Discipline), 2006
University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL

M.S., Civil Engineering (Environmental Discipline), 2001
Tongji University, Shanghai, China

B.S., Civil Engineering (Water and Wastewater Engineering) (Major), 1998
Computer Science (Minor), 1998
Tongji University, Shanghai, China

Environmental Remediation
Water and Wastewater Treatment
Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs)
Environmental Nanotechnology
Landfill Leachate Management

Current Members in My Group:
Dr. Cuibai Chen (Visiting Professor from Chinese University of Geosciences, co-supervised with Dr. Huan Feng)
Dr. Kawalpreet Kaur (Postdoc, co-supervised with Dr. Dibs Sarkar)
Nanzhu Li (PhD student)
Diptesh Banerjee (PhD student)
Ciapha Morris (MS student)
Christopher Gravesen (MA student)

A NEW REMEDIATION METHOD TO REMOVE ESTROGENS FROM WATER: SULFATE RADICAL-INDUCED ADVANCED OXIDATION PROCESSES (SR-AOPS) - MSU CSAM Sokol Faculty/Student Research Grant

PI: Dr. Yang Deng Undergraduate Student:Ashley Marie DeGrandis This research is sponsored by The Margaret & Herman Sokol Faculty/Student Research Grant of College of Science and Mathematics (CSAM), Montclair State University. The long term goal of this research is to develop an innovative, viable, simple, and low-cost remediation method for tackling aqueous emerging pollutants that have great adverse impacts on human health and the environment. The overarching objective of this proposal is to evaluate three sulfate radical-induced advance oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) for removal of a typical persistent estrogen in water through cooperation between the PI and a MSU undergraduate student. The three SR-AOPs tested utilize heat, metal, and elevated pH to activate persulfate (S2O82-) to produce reactive sulfate radicals (SO4�-), respectively. Our central hypothesis is that sulfate radicals produced from different persulfte activation pathways are able to effectively degrade estrogens, thus providing a full treatment for estrogen remediation. Some important findings: 1) Among the three persulfate activation methods, heat was the most effective, followed by elevated pH and Fe(II) activation. 2) At certain conditions (45 degree, pH 6-8), E3 could be rapidly degraded by persulfate (half life = a few min). However, the half life of E3 may be days in the presence of persulfate but without any activation method. 3) Generally, a high persulfate dose increased the E3 degradation rate; 4) Although elevated pH could enhance E3 degradation, the activation method through pH increase may not be much feasible, because acid must be used to neturalize the excess base, and adds safety issue during the treatment. The final version of this project report is going to be released soon!

REMEDIATION OF MIXED CONTAMINATED PLUMES USING FERRATE (VI) - funded by DuPont

With Drs. Dibs Sarkar and Sudipta Rakshit Our ultimate goal is to develop an innovative, environmentally friendly and technically viable ferrate(VI)-driven remediation alterative to address multiple persistent contaminants of concern (COCs) in groundwater plumes. As the first step to realizing that goal, a 2.5-year, two-phase research plan has been proposed. In Phase I (Yr 1: Proof-of-Concept), lab-scale shaker table tests will be conducted to demonstrate the technical feasibility of ferrate(VI) induced removal of selected individual and mixed pollutants via oxidation and subsequent adsorption, to compare its performance with current oxidation remediation technologies, and to estimate its natural oxidant demand during remediation. Based on the results obtained from the Phase-I study we will work on technology development in Phase II (Yrs 2 & 2.5). Scaled up pilot tests will be performed to design, optimize and demonstrate an in-situ ferrate(VI)-based remediation method for mixed organic and inorganic contaminants in groundwater, plus the hydraulic characteristics. Information obtained from these tests will be used to establish kinetics and equilibrium models for optimization of performance parameters.

Scrap Tire and Water Treatment Residuals as Novel “Green” Sorbents for Removal of Common Metals from Polluted Urban Storm Water Runoff - funded by New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute

Low cost “green” sorbent materials can be used in urban storm water (USW) best management practices (BMP) to remove common metal pollutants such as Cu, Pb, and Zn. Ground tire rubber (TR) has been reported to immobilize metals such as Cu and Pb. Another low cost, “green” sorbent, which has proven capacity of removing Cu, Pb, and Zn from water, is Al-based drinking water treatment residuals (Al-WTR). However, there is no reported study on the usage of either TR or Al-WTR for removal of metals from polluted USW runoff. Since TR has the potential to leach Zn, the use of Al-WTR in conjunction with TR is likely to generate a more efficient metal sorbent. The primary objective of the proposed research is to understand the retention/release characteristics of typical USW metals such as Cu, Pb, and Zn on TR and Al-WTR as a function of environmental conditions relevant to USW, such as solid solution ratio, ionic strength, pH, and temperature. Studies on leachability of benzothiazole, an organic pollutant and a typical constituent of tire materials will also be conducted, and the effectiveness of Al-WTR in retaining benzothiazole will be assessed. If the results obtained from this preliminary study are encouraging, a more comprehensive, greenhouse and field-scale study on the usage of these low-cost sorbents for development of a “green” BMP for USW runoff will be proposed in a subsequent NIWR competition.