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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
PhD Project Template
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Use one form per project
Please complete & submit to international@nuigalway.ie as soon as possible, and by 27/11/2012
In your email, begin the subject line with [SWB] (be sure to use square brackets) to ensure that
your email is filed correctly. Emails will be automatically filed
PI name & contact details:
Drs. Eoghan Clifford
Civil Engineering,
College of Engineering & Informatics
NUI Galway, Galway,
Ireland
Tel: 00353 91 492219
Fax: 00 353 91 494507
e-mail. eoghan.clifford@nuigalway.ie;
gavin.collins@nuigaway.ie; rory.monaghan@nuigalway.ie
School:
Has project been agreed with head (or
nominee) of proposed registration school?
Civil Engineering, College of Engineering & Informatics
School of Microbiology
Research Centre / group affiliation:
Ryan Institute, Civil Engineering, Civil Engineering, Energy
Systems Engineering, Microbiology
http://www.ryaninstitute.ie/
http://www.nuigalway.ie/civileng/
Research group / centre website:
Ryan Institute, Civil Engineering, Energy Systems
Engineering, Microbiology
http://www.ryaninstitute.ie/
http://www.nuigalway.ie/microbiology/merg.html
http://www.nuigalway.ie/civileng/
http://www.ryaninstitute.ie/research/energy/
www.nuigalway.ie/microbiology/ecoengineering.html
PI website / link to CV:
Eoghan Clifford
http://www.nuigalway.ie/civileng/Staff/eoghanclifford.html
Gavin Collins
http://www.nuigalway.ie/microbiology/dr_gavin_collins.html
http://www.nuigalway.ie/civileng/Facilities/tuam/index.html
http://www.ryaninstitute.ie/research/built-environmentsmart-cities/
Brief summary of PI research / research group / centre activity (2 or 3 lines max):
If you are already involved in relevant scholarly activities relating to Brazil, please mention them here.
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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
The research group led by the PI comprises 6 PhD students, 1 MEngSc student, 3 post-doctoral
researchers and 2 research assistants. The PI carries out research in the areas of Environmental
Engineering, Energy, Transport Engineering (in particular sustainable transport) and Urban Planning
and Mobility. He currently has funding from industry and national funding agencies.
Title & brief description of PhD project (suitable for publication on web):
Wastewater sludge; a new resource of the future. Development of novel technologies enabling
About 3% of global energy usage occurs in the water sector. Wastewater treatment is a particularly
energy intensive operation. Furthermore with increasingly stringent wastewater treatment
standards being applied and concern of greenhouse gas emissions increasing amounts of
wastewater sludge are being produced. Far from being a waste or a problem this research aims to
focus attention on sludge as a resource. In particular the use of sludge as a source of energy.
Traditionally wastewater sludge is landspread on agricultural land, dumped at sea or in landfills or
reused as a compost material. Recently anaerobic digestion of sludge has received increased
attention internationally however, this can come with inherent problems including process stability
and the highly concentrated nutrient levels in the supernatant. Extracting energy from sludge can
involve thermal treatment however a major barrier to this is the cost of sludge dewatering.
Based on recently developed technologies at NUI Galway this research aims to develop new and
breakthrough methods for dewatering of wastewater sludge’s. Sustainable methods should be
energy efficient, low maintenance and not result in highly concentrated nutrient supernatants.
Sludge can be dewatered using physical, chemical or biological methods. This research will focus on
the development of breakthrough technologies that remove water from sludge rendering it suitable
as an energy source (e.g. via gasification). Particular focus will be put on physical filtration using
organic based materials and biological methods for enhanced sludge dewatering. The work will be a
unique combination of fundamental and applied research with potential for commercial outputs.
Unique selling points of PhD project in NUI Galway:
This research offers the student a number of unique opportunities including:
• This research is a unique combination of fundamental and applied research combining microbiology
and civil engineering
• The research team have very strong links with industry and international partners
• The research group has unique access to full scale on-site testing facilities such as full scale
wastewater treatment facilities developed by and by NUI Galway.
• The research group has previously developed, patented and commercialised technologies in this
sector
• The research is particularly timely given international emphasis on low carbon economies, green
technologies and the need to ensure the future sustainability of the wastewater sector given
demographic, environmental and economic challenges.
• The researcher, will develop experimental skills but also skills in engineering design and process
engineering
• Through the Ryan Institute, the PIs industry contacts and collaboration opportunities within the EU
the research at NUI Galway can expose the students to research developments in this sector that is a
key target growth area internationally
Name & contact details for project queries, if different from PI named above:
Dr. Eoghan Clifford – eoghan.clifford@nuigalway.ie
Dr. Gavin Collins – gavin.collins@nuigalway.ie
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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
Please indicate the graduates of which disciplines that should apply:
Microbiology
Environmental Engineering
Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area:
Please indicate the specific programme priority area under which the proposed PhD project fits- choose only
one (tick box):
Engineering and other technological areas
Pure and Natural Sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry)/Physical Sciences (Mathematics,
X
Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geosciences)
Health and Biomedical Sciences / Clinical, Pré-clinical and Health Sciences
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Computing
Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Sustainable Agricultural Production
Oil, Gas and Coal
Renewable Energy
Minerals, Minerals Technology
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology and New Materials
Technologies for Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Disasters
Bioprospecting and Biodiversity
Marine Sciences
Creative Industry
New technologies in constructive engineering
Please indicate which of the following applies to this project (referring to Science Without Borders
arrangements):
Suitable only as a Full PhD (Y/N): _ ____
Available to candidates seeking a Sandwich PhD arrangement (Y/N): _____
Suitable for either/Don’t know: Yes