Centre for Solid Waste Bioprocessing

School of Chemical Engineering School of Civil Engineering

REPORTREPORT20132013

STATEMENT BY THE CHAIR, ADVISORY BOARD

As Chair of the Advisory Board for the Centre, I am very pleased to introduce the 1st Annual Report for the Centre. The Centre is an important initiative of the Schools of Civil and Chemical Engineering which will further add to UQ’s national leading rank in the field of Environmental Engineering, as attested by the only score of 5 in the 2012 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2012 ratings. I also welcome the invaluable partnership of Remondis who bring experience in the management and recycling of waste over an exhaustive range of climates, jurisdictions and economies across the world.

Integration is a proven ingredient for innovation. The theme of the Centre, on bioprocessing and recycling waste, brings together all engineering fields and the biological and molecular sciences. As evident in this report, the Advisory Board has specifically charged the Centre to foster this integrative attribute by developing projects with industries outside waste management, and the initiative in the resource sector is an example of this.

After an initial period of international recruitment of researchers, formulation of research themes and the design and establishment of the dedicated laboratory facilities in the exciting new Advanced Engineering Building, the Centre is well resourced with a significant level of output planned for the coming years. We welcome visitors, industries and prospective researchers and students to contact the Centre and I hope this annual report will initiate these links.

Professor José Torero - ChairProfessor José Torero - ChairBSc (Mech Eng) Pontificia Universidad Catolice (Peru) 1989; MSc Berkeley 1991; PhD Berkeley 1992

José joined The University of Queensland in 2012 as Professor of Civil Engineering and Head of School. Prior to joining UQ, José held the position of the Head of the Institute for Infrastructure and Environmental at the University of Edinburgh. He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Building Research Establishment.

He is the author of a book and more than 500 other technical documents for which he has received multiple awards. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Fire Safety Journal and was the Associate Editor of Combustion Science and Technology (2005-2010).

He is applying his expertise in combustion science on the underground combustion of dense non-aqueous phase contaminants and most recently, in being awarded a prestigious $500K grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a project on the sustained combustion of human waste at the household scale.

Professor Peter Halley - MemberProfessor Peter Halley - MemberBE (Chem) UQ 1987; PhD 1993

Peter is acting Head of the School of Chemical Engineering, a Group Leader in the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), the Director of the Centre for High Performance Polymers (CHPP), a chief investigator in Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM) centre and the Director of Research in the School of Chemical Engineering.

Peter works at the translational research interface between universities and industry. Peter leads the CHPP - a virtual cluster of over 80 academics, researchers and students across UQ.

He is a fellow of the institute of chemical engineers (IChemE) and a fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI). Peter is on the editorial board of the journals Plastics, Rubbers and Composites, Starch and Journal of Renewable Materials.

Dipl.-Ing. Gunther Neumann - MemberDipl.-Ing. Gunther Neumann - MemberDiplom-Ingenieur in Entsorgungsingenieurwesen, Technical University Aachen (RWTH Aachen) Germany

Gunther Neumann is the Head of the Technical Department of REMONDIS Australia Pty Ltd. He leads a team of dedicated engineers which supports the sorting facilities, composting plants, transfer stations and landfills owned and operated by REMONDIS all over Australia.

Prior to this position in Australia, he worked in the international department of REMONDIS in Berlin / Germany on the development of technical and market strategies as well as on biogas and carbon emission projects.

Gunther is based in Mascot/NSWand holds the academic degree of a “Diplom-Ingenieur (Dipl.-Ing.) in Entsorgungsingenieurwesen”from the Technical University Aachen (RWTH Aachen) in Germany. This degree is equivalent to a Master of Science in Waste and Water Engineering.

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DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

This is the first annual report issued by the Centre for Solid Waste Bioprocessing. The Centre is a School based Centre, co-owned by the Schools of Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering. The Centre started as a clean slate less than 2 years ago, with no pre-conceived projects. The Advisory Board sat for the first time in September 2013 and issued a remit that the Centre concentrate on A* quality research in waste management and for the Centre to branch out to industries and researchers outside the traditional waste management field.

The intention of the term ‘Solid Waste Bio-processing’ is to convey an emphasis on organic waste recycling. Many have explored the concept of industrial ecology, but we are ideally placed to identify novel markets for waste organic materials given the depth of bio-engineering talent at UQ. The selling point for waste is that it is cheap. Opportunities to replace feed-stocks in other industries therefore require high volumes to be viable, both for the industry and for councils that seeks significant diversions of their waste stream. As a Queensland based Centre, we look for opportunities in the resource and agricultural sector and in collaboration with the Hydrometallurgy Group at UQ, we have identified as one of our start-up projects a project on biogenic H2S production. H2S is used in the metal refining industry, particularly Ni, Zn and Au in Australia. These refineries could potential utilise 20,000 to 150,000 tonnes of organic waste per plant per annum.

The major industry partner in the Centre changed from Thiess Services to Remondis Australia in September 2013. Both companies have been central to the development of the Centre, through funding support, direct technical input to research and through their membership of the Advisory Board. Their partnerships have spanned an ongoing collaborative research program with the Centre on landfill based digestion methods and on degradation processes in active landfill cells, with the ultimate goal of accounting for all of the gas potential of waste under real landfill conditions. These projects have attracted funding support from the Queensland Government’s Smart Futures Research Partnership Program.

The Centre is well resourced. Baseline funding provides the opportunity to formulate, launch and maintain research themes in waste management without being totally dependent on competitive grant rounds. The Centre has actively recruited and we are proud to present in this report the current team of post-doctoral research fellows and PhD and undergraduate research students.

The start-up of the Centre coincides with the completion of the new Advanced Engineering Building (AEB) at UQ, where the Centre’s Solid Waste Laboratory is located. The laboratory is specifically designed to explore digestion, fermentation and aerobic bio-conversion processes at a significant scale, with PC2 standard bio-security, high ventilation rates and walk in refrigeration and freezer rooms that open directly into the laboratory, specifically for the storage of large waste samples. The AEB is an open plan work environment and the Centre’s office space is located alongside the Solid Waste Laboratory.

In addition to the research programs outlined here, we look for consulting and contract research work. Initial forays often lead to the opportunities to leverage funds for the benefit of the industry and the Centre and this has been a major avenue for my own research for 20 years.

We are excited with our new facilities and are keen to host visitors. We put considerable thought into identifying our research priorities and we value very highly input and views on direction in order to expand the suite of programs within the Centre.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Professor Bill Clarke, Remondis Chair

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STAFF OF THE CSWB

Professor William (Bill) Clarke Professor William (Bill) Clarke BEng (Civil) UniSA 1981; MSc Notre Dame (USA) 1986; PhD UQ 1993Director and Remondis ChairDirector and Remondis Chair

Bill has 20 years of experience as researcher in bioengineering processes for solid organic waste. He has been one of the pioneers in intensive landfill based treatment processes, publishing extensively on leach-bed technology and the solubilisation of solid organic waste. His research group was one of the first to characterise the microbial colonisation and degradation processes for solid organic waste. More recently, his research has broadened to more intensive and higher value adding processes including H2 production and on-site utilisation of organic waste for energy production and biological nutrient removal. The formation of the Centre caps this broadening into 3 research programs: Landfill Research, Bio-covers and Utilisation of Waste in the Resource Industry. Bill has over 100 journal and conference publications and has been the chief investigator on 5 ARC projects. He is on the Editorial Board for Waste Management, the leading journal in this field, and is one of the ongoing 6 member organising committee for the IWWG Energy from Biomass and Waste Conference. He is also active in consulting, particularly in advising municipalities on alternative waste treatment technologies (e.g., Gold Coast, Bendigo, Fraser Coast). He teaches in the Schools of Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering programs, in Environmental Risk Assessment; Solid Waste Management; Environmental Systems Modelling; and Sustainable Use of Bio-resources.

Dr James StrongDr James StrongBSc (Hon) Port Elizabeth (Sth Africa) 2000; MSc (Micro) Pt Eliz 2002; PhD (Biotech) Rhodes (Sth Africa) 2008.Research FellowResearch Fellow

James arrives at UQ after 5 years experience in the waste biotechnology industry. He worked for Scion (NZ) for 3 years as a bioengineering scientist on a range of thermal and biological technologies for converting sludge and lingo-cellulosics to fuel and carbon sources for biological nutrient removal and then 2 years with Lanzatech (NZ), designing and operating pilot plants to optimise a bacterial fermentation process for ethanol production. James has over 20 international journal publications.

Dr Sihuang XieDr Sihuang XieBEng (Environmental) Tsinghua (China) 2007; PhD NUI Galway (Ireland) 2012Post-doctoral Research FellowPost-doctoral Research Fellow

Sihuang is an Environmental Engineer who recently completed his PhD on the anaerobic digestion of animal bedding material, specialising in bio-reactor design and monitoring. He produced 5 publications in the highly ranked journal Bioresource Technology from his thesis work and now leads the Bio-cover Program and works in the Landfill Research Program.

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STUDENTS OF THE CSWB

Mr Reza RafieeMr Reza RafieeBSc (Env Sci) Gorgan (Iran) 2005; MSc (Tehran) 2007PhD StudentPhD Student

Reza is an Environmental Scientists who has 3 ISI journal publications on waste management planning. He commenced his PhD on Aerobic degradation processes in active landfill cells in May 2012.

Ms Miriam PecesMs Miriam PecesBE (Chem Eng) Barcelona, 2012; MSc (Barcelona) 2013.PhD StudentPhD Student

Miriam arrives at UQ after completing her MSc degree working on solid anaerobic digestion in the laboratory of Professor Joan Mata-Alvarez. She has published in A* rated journals including Water Research.

Miss Miheka PatelMiss Miheka PatelBE Hons (Env Eng), UQ 2012Researcher Researcher

Miheka joins the Centre from her undergraduate degree where she obtained 1st class Honours. She works in Landfill Program, using flow data to characterise the hydraulic properties of solid waste which will inform the design of landfill based accelerated degradation processes, and in the Bio-cover Program.

Miss Wai (Pritii) TamMiss Wai (Pritii) TamBEME Student (Chem & Env Eng)U/g Research StudentU/g Research Student

Pritii is working for the Centre full-time for 7 months (July ‘13 - Feb ‘14), to meet her industry placement requirements under the integrated Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering (BEME) program. She is working on the Utilisation of organic waste in metal refineries.

Mr Alessandro KennedyMr Alessandro KennedyBE student (Civil and Env Eng) U/g Research StudentU/g Research Student

Alessandro completed his Summer Vacation Research Scholarship with Centre in 2012-13, assessing the Biochemical Methane Potential of feedstock used in the landfill cells. He has continued this work, doing his u/g research project on assessing the residual methane potential of digestate from the landfill cells.

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FACILITIES

The CSWB has a dedicated Solid Waste Laboratory in the new Advanced Engineering Building at UQ. The laboratory has been specifically designed for solid waste research with the following features:

• Walk-in freezer, to accommodate large representative waste samples

• Walk-in refrigerator, to similarly accommodate large samples

• Constant temperature room

• PC2 standard laboratory with rigorous risk management practices, including H2S, flammable gas sensors and alarms.

• Reticulated gases to the laboratory including H2, argon, N2 and CH4 for analyses and experimentation

• High ventilation rate

• Fume cupboards, laminar flow hoods and a 4m x 1.2m fume hood for large scale aerobic experiments

• 4 x 200L temperature controlled reactors for batch and continuous solid waste digestions

• GC-FID, GC-TCD

The Advanced Engineering Building at The University of Queensland’s St Lucia Campus.

HISTORY OF CENTRE

23 June 2011 Agreement for Centre signed between UQ and Thiess Services

23 August 2011 Professor Bill Clarke appointed as Director

16 Sept 2011 1st Advisory Board Meeting

1 March 2012 2nd Advisory Board Meeting

24 September 2012 Remondis Australia Pty Ltd replaces Thiess Services Pty Ltd as the industry partner in the Centre

8 October 2012 Commencement date for Post-doctoral Research Fellow Dr Sihuang Xie

31 October 2012 3rd Advisory Board Meeting 22 Sept 2013 Publication of 2012-13 Annual Report

18 November 2013Commencement date for Research Fellow Dr James Strong

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RESEARCH PROGRAMS

Landfill ProgramLandfill ProgramLeader: Professor Bill Clarke

The Landfill Research Program focuses on strategies and technologies that improve the environmental performance of landfills, with an emphasis on improved production and capture of landfill gas to enhance renewable energy generation and greenhouse mitigation. The program current has two projects, ‘High rate digestion of waste in landfill cells’ and ‘Aerobic degradation processes in active landfill cells.’

High rate digestion of waste in landfill cellsHigh rate digestion of waste in landfill cells

To contribute towards the goal of developing a more accurate landfill gas model that better informs strategies for harvesting methane from landfills, the Centre in collaboration with Remondis performed packed bed digestions of two 1000t loads of MSW using a novel flood and drain strategy. No sludge or other inoculum was required at start-up because acidified leachate was flushed from the start-up bed and returned once the drained bed was stabilised. Digestion in the 2nd trial was completed in 100 days, an unprecedented rate of degradation for a landfill cell, by alternately flooding and draining the leachate inventory with the 1st fully digested bed. These landfill cells represent the largest batch digestion of MSW performed in Australia, providing a definitive estimate of the ultimate methane yield of Brisbane waste and an indication of the potential rate of degradation that can be achieved in a landfill setting. Interestingly, the yield achieved in the cells was 86 m3 CH4 per tonne of MSW, which takes into account ferrous metal and other large inorganic items that were screened from the MSW feedstock prior to loading the cell. This is similar to the yield predicted by the NGERS (National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System) Method 1 model for MSW, equal to 92.4 m3 CH4 per tonne.

In order to illustrate the success of the the flood and drain approach, the digestion rate can be compared with commercial invessel digesters. The Dranco process, the most prominent in-vessel digestion technology in Europe, produces approximately 140 m3 CH4 per dry tonne of source separated organic waste (kitchen, garden, paper) in a residence time of 15 days at 55oC. The yield from the cell was 114 m3 CH4 per dry tonne, but 174 m3 CH4 per dry tonne of organic material. This higher yield is not unexpected given the longer residence time of the landfill cells.

Methane production from 1st and 2nd flood and drain cells (.....) and trickle flow cell (_ _ _)

Schematic of small landfill cells that were repeatedly flooded and drained

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Aerobic degradation processes in active landfill cellsAerobic degradation processes in active landfill cellsCollaborator: Professor Paul Lant, School of Chemical Engineering

Methane yields of the order achieved in the flooded and drained landfill cells and predicted by the NGERS model are typically not observed by landfill operators. The sum of captured methane production and measured emissions from landfills is invariably less than the generation rate predicted by NGERS. This project proposes that much of this discrepancy is due to the loss of methane potential through methane oxidation and composting processes close to the surface of active landfill cells. The NGERS model has provision to account for methane oxidation and composting, but the interpretation of the relevant factors in the model is currently regulated to exclude composting and limit methane oxidation to 10% of the methane potential of the waste.

Under conventional landfill operation, waste is placed in 2.5m layers (lifts). The lift is covered with approximately 200mm of compacted soil, called daily cover. This remains the only cover on the waste until the next layer of waste is deposited, which may take 1 to 2 years, depending on the area of the landfill cell. This is in contrast to the small landfill cells where the waste was sealed with a polyethylene lid immediately after the cells were filled which typically took one week.

There is potential for gas exchange through the daily cover, as illustrated, in contrast to the impermeable lids used in the landfill cells. Some level of aerobic degradation activity, particularly methane oxidation and composting is therefore expected in fresh landfill layers. Biogas can also migrate through the soil cover to the atmosphere. The aerobic processes deplete the biogas potential of the waste. Emissions also represent a loss of potential revenues from power generation and incur greenhouse emission penalties.

An experimental study on the rate and extent of degradation under landfill conditions is focussing on the initial daily cover stage. The research program consists of laboratory and field studies that will develop and apply a mass balance methodology to measure the rate and extent of anaerobic digestion, methane oxidation and composting within a layer of freshly placed landfilled waste over a 2 year period. Mass balances will be performed on CH4, CO2, O2,

13C-CH4 (naturally occurring heavy isotope of carbon present as CH4) and 13C-CO2. The proportion of degradation activity attributable to anaerobic digestion, methane oxidation or composting can be calculated because each reaction produces or consumes these components differently.

Possible concurrence of anaerobic digestion, composting and methane oxidation in the top waste layer in an active landfill cell.

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Bio-cover Program Bio-cover Program Leader: Dr Sihuang Xie

Bio-covers can be used as an alternative or supplement to conventional daily and final landfill covers. Conventional covers are designed to act as barriers to biogas and moisture migration. In contrast, a bio-cover consists of a layer of porous material, typically compost, that acts as substratum and source of nutrients to support methane oxidizing (methanotrophic) organisms that consume methane as biogas migrates through the cover. A bio-cover can more readily deform as a landfill settles and continue to function in cases where more rigid covers might fail. This program examines methods where bio-covers might not only mitigate emissions, but also generate fuels and possibility electricity from the methane that passes through the cover. The current projects in the Bio-cover program are ‘A bio-cover as a bioreactor’ and ‘A landfill cover that generates electricity.’

A bio-cover as a bioreactorA bio-cover as a bioreactor

Bio-covers are widely explored using empirical approaches where methane oxidation is observed for various substrata operated under a range of moisture, nutrient and temperature conditions. However, there have been no known studies where bio-covers have been examined from a bioengineering perspective. The effectiveness of a bio-cover to capture and metabolize methane depends on the density and the activity of the methanotrophs that colonize the substratum. By tracking the biomass, it can be determined if the colonizing population is continuing to develop and therefore whether the performance of the substratum as a bio-cover is continuing to evolve. Additionally, methanotrophic organisms can remain dormant, enabling colonized material to be transported and dropped onto sites where methane is being emitted.

A range of materials, including gravel, mature compost and graphite granules, have been investigated in this project as potential bio-cover substrata. A wide range of performances are observed for these contrasting substrata. However, this project has shown that the methane oxidation activity is the same on a per unit microbial biomass basis. Colonisation density of methanotrophs, which can be tested at the laboratory scale, is therefore a clear indicator of the effectiveness of a substratum. In addition to continuing to explore substrata that can support high coloniation densities, this project is exploring the potential to utilize packed beds of colonized material to convert methane to a useful product rather than just oxidizing the methane. Recent studies have shown that methanotrophs will partially oxide methane to methanol in the presence of CO2 partial pressures similar to that in landfill gas. Such a process would be a lucrative utilisation of a diffuse methane source that would otherwise be oxidized without any energy recovery.

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A landfill bio-cover that generates electricity A landfill bio-cover that generates electricity Collaborators: Dr Stefano Freguia and Dr Ilje Pikaar, Advanced Water Mgmt Centre.

In this project, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) bio-cover is proposed as means of achieving full biogas capture, from the time that waste is placed. The MFC cover system would consist of relatively thin and deformable granular carbon layers that could be placed and removed as required. The electrical energy harvested from the MFC cover would be collected, providing the benefit of power generation as well as more complete GHG mitigation.

• The concept of using such a system as landfill cover is compelling. The configuration of a landfill cover is analogous to an MFC. A landfill cover separates biogas, typically 50:50 CH4 and CO2, from the open air. Could the landfill cover be replaced with an anode layer colonised by electrogenic methanotrophs, connected to an overlying cathode layer?

This aims of this project are to:

• Enrich a culture of electrogenic methanotrophic organisms, using an MFC design where half of the reducing equivalents are directed through an anode while meeting the metabolic O2 requirement of methanotrophs.

• Colonise these organisms on granular carbon, a proven electrode material, arranged as a layer to electrogenically metabolise CH4 fluxes expected in a landfill.

The fate of e- in a methanotrophic organism, modified to consider electrogenic activity.

Fate of methane in a landfill cap

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Program for the Utilisation of Organic Waste in the Resource IndustryProgram for the Utilisation of Organic Waste in the Resource IndustryLeader: Dr James Strong

Australia and especially Queensland have a large mining and mineral processing industry. Organic waste is increasingly being considered in the mining industry, in the form of compost and mulch for mine site rehabilitation; as an ameliorate for acid mine drainage, acting as a filter bed that reduces sulphuric acid to sulphide and thereby neutralise the solution and precipitates dissolved heavy metals; and as a reactant to produce sulphide as part of the refining process for Cu, Ni, Zn and Co.

The first project in this program focusses on the utilisation of solid organic waste as a reagent for sulphide production in metal refineries. The amount of organic waste to meet these potential demands would be 100’s of tonnes per day for a single refinery, which would divert a significant proportion of waste from local landfills.

Utilisation of organic waste in metal refineries Utilisation of organic waste in metal refineries

Collaborator: Dr James Vaughan, School of Chemical EngineeringCommercialised biological processes for producing sulphide (e.g., BioteQ Environmental Technologies, Canada) have been adopted by various metal refineries around the world. Sulphide is used as a precipitation reagent in the refining of Cu, Zn, Ni and Co. These processes use organic feeds such as acetic acid or ethanol to produce sulphide from elemental sulphur. Biogenic S= is attractive because it is generated on site relatively cheaply without the need for high pressure and temperature vessels. On-site production also minimizes inventories and avoids the transportation hazardous sulphide reactants (typically NaHS, Na2S or H2S).

This project proposes the use of wastes instead of the refined organic feedstocks and elemental sulphur currently used in the commercial processes. Solid organic wastes and magnesium sulphate are proposed as plentiful and cheap replacements. Between 50 and 500 tonnes of solid organic water per day would be required at each of the Australian refineries which have H2S plants (e.g., Ni - Yabulu, Ni - Murrin Murrin (WA), Ni - Kwinana (WA), Cu - Telfer (WA)). The key question is whether the efficiency of a process that utilises these wastes is sufficiently competitive with current commercial technologies, where the specific production rate is approximately 5 - 10 kg sulphide/m3/d. A proportionally higher rate of organic fermentation would be required with sulphate rather than elemental sulphur as a feedstock, but such rates are achievable with the appropriate temperature and pH conditions. A key effect is how sulphide, which is inhibitory to the biological process, is removed and harvested from the bioreactor and a program of batch and continuous reactor trials are being performed in the new Solid Waste Laboratory to examine various strategies, using MgSO4 and solid organic waste as feedstocks.

Solid waste as a carbon source for H2S generation in mineral processing

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EDUCATION

Post-graduate ProgramPost-graduate Program

An important education role of the Centre is to recruit and develop engineers and scientists in the field of solid waste management and bio-processing. The Centre has recruited three post-graduate students (Rafiee, Peces and Tam) as of June ‘13, but seeks to double this number by June ‘14.

Undergraduate ProgramUndergraduate Program

The Centre is also active in undergraduate programs, through the supervision of research projects and the teaching of waste management related courses. The undergraduate research projects that have been conducted within the Centre are:

• Ms Julijana Bors - Can landfill gas be used as a substrate for a microbial fuel cell? (2012)

• Ms Erin Hughes - Waste Management Approaches for Isolated Island Communities in Torres Strait (2012)

• Ms Tshinta O’Dwyer - Comparison of activity of methanotrophs colonised onto compost and graphite granules (2013)

• Mr Leon Ross - Hydraulic modelling of flooding a packed bed of Municipal Solid Waste (2013)

• Mr Alessandro Kennedy - Residual methane potential of digestate from a landfill based cell (2013)

• The Centre teaches into the following courses:

• Industrial and Solid Waste Management (50% delivery, School of Chem Eng)

• Environmental Risk Assessment (50% delivery, School of Chem Eng)

• Modelling of Environmental Systems (50% delivery, School of Civil Eng)

• Sustainable Built Environment (15% delivery, School of Civil Eng)

• Sustainable Use of Bio-resources (100% delivery, School of Chem Eng)

Continuing Professional Development ProgramContinuing Professional Development Program

An additional goal of the Centre is to deliver professional development courses in solid waste management. A 3 day program has been developed in collaboration with Dr Stuart Dever (Water Research Centre, UNSW), to be offered through UQ’s well-established International Winter Environmental School (IWES), the largest provider in Australia of professional development courses in Environmental Engineering.

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OPERATIONS

Plan Plan

The Centre Plan for 2013 / 2014

Key Result AreasEducation Excellence Relevance Longevity Profile

JUN

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Research training:

• 2 PhD students

• 1 Masters student

• Completions: 5 u/g projects Undergraduate teaching:

• Solid waste Mgmt

• Env. Risk Assess

• Modelling Env Sys.

• Sus. Built Env.

Grants:

• Won:

• Qld Smart Futures (500K, 2012 - 15)

• Submitted:

• ARC Discovery (Bio-covers)

Publications:

• 2 journal papers

• 4 int. conf. (IWWG Sardinia & Venice)

Consulting activity:

• Proposals:

• �To Boral on disposal of concrete wash-out (40K).

Alignment of research with Industry Partners

• Variation to Smart Futures RPP

Diversification

• Link with Hydrometallurgy Group, UQ.

• Commencement of project on H2S from waste

Academic leadership

• On-going Director roles:

• �Associate Editor of leading journal, Waste Man.

• �Symposium Chair, IWWG Energy from Waste Conf, 2010,2012

JUN

E 2

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- JU

LY 2

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Research training:

• 4 PhD students

• 1 Masters student

• Cumul. completions:

• �1 Masters

• �10 u/g projects.

Cont. Prof Develop:

• Deliver 3 day course on Landfill Mgmt

Undergraduate teaching:

• Solid waste Mgmt

• Env Risk Assess.

• Modelling Env Sys.

• Sus. Built Env

Postgraduate teaching:

• Sus. Use Bioresour.

Grants:

• To win:

• 1 x ARC

• To submit:• ARC Linkage

(Aerobic processes in Landfill)

• New ARC Discovery

Publications:

• At least 7 journal papers:

• Digestion in L’fill cells

• �Hydraulic properties of waste in landfill

• �Method to measure rate of aerobic processes in l’fill

• �CH4 ox. in bio-covers

• �H2S production from waste

• �Measuring and modelling bio-H2 production

• �On-site solid waste & w/water t’ment

Consulting activity:

• Proposals:

• �Submit 2 proposals

• Completions:

• �Fees > 30K

Alignment of research with Industry Partners

• The use of Centre funding on an ARC Linkage application with Remondis.

Diversification

• Promote H2S research:

• �Publication

• �Submit abstract for AusIMM conference

• P/g research project (Masters) on new resource topic. e.g.:

• �Bio-gold processing

• �AMD amelioration

Additional Centre partners • To initiate discussions

with other industries:

• �City councils

• �Mining and mineral processing companies

• �Consulting companies

Academic leadership

• On-going Director roles

• Commit to hosting a national or international conference.

Industry Profile

• Present at WMAA meeting/conference.

Promotion

• Publication of annual report

• Launch webpage

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BUDGET

Budget estimates over the lifetime of the Centre (June 2011 – June 2016)Budget estimates over the lifetime of the Centre (June 2011 – June 2016)

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Income 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Smart FutureDept SITIA (exclusive of UQ 131200 98000 98000 36800Remondis cash 15000 15000 15000

Remondis Centre Funding 150000 200000 200000 200000 200000 50000

Matching funding 150000 200000 200000 200000 200000 50000

ARC Doscovery (Micro Fuel Cell) 150465 150465 150465ARC Linkage (biogenic H2S) 120465 120465ARC Linkage (Landfill emissions) 310465 170465 170465

Grand TotalsCommitted Centre incomme 300000 546200 513000 513000 436800 100000 22409000Future Centre Income: ARC grants 460930 441395 441395 1343720

Expenditure 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016Personnel (with 28% overhead)Clarke 67026 194221 194221 194221 194221 97110Zheng - 15000Tannock 5000Sihaung Xie 22307 90465 90465 68159James Strong 109888 109888 109888New post-doc (Micro Fuel Cell) 90465 90465 90465New post-doc (biogenic H2S) 90465 90465New post-doc (Landfill emissions) 90465 90465 90465

PhD Students Reza Rafiee (UQ Int. Scholarship - Aerobic processes 12000 15000 12000Miriam Peces (Aerobic processes or Bio-covers) 15000 30000 30000 15000New PhD student (Micro Fuel Cell) 30000 30000 30000New PhD student (Biogenic H2S) 30000 30000 30000New PhD student (Micro Fuel Cell - microbiol) 30000 30000 30000New PhD student (Landfill emissions) 30000 30000 30000

EquipmentBiocell monitoring equip, datalogger (Sm 40000 30000 20000Micro Fuel Cell - Reactors, potentiostats 30000 20000Biogenic H2S - reactors (pH, redox controlled) 30000 20000

140000

ConsumablesCommitted lab & analytical costs 20000 20000 20000 20000 20000Workshop costs 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000Future lab & analytical costs 30000 30000 30000Micro Fuel Cell - phylogenetic analyses 20000 20000 20000Biogenic H2S - phylogenetic analyses 20000 20000Landfill emissions - lab tests 40000 40000 40000

TravelInternational conferences (IWWG, . . . ) 4000 15000 15000 15000 15000Travel to and from biocells 2000 2000 2000 2000 2000Collaborative work with ARC Partner investigators 30000 30000 30000

Grand TotalsCommitted Centre expennditure 67026 312527 388686 506574 461268 268998 22005079Future Centre expenditure 150000 130000 90000 370000Future Centre expenditure: ARC grants 470930 441395 441395 1353720

Landfill emissions - open

PUBLICATIONS

Clarke, W.P. and Xie, S., Rapid digestion of shredded MSW by sequentially flooding and draining small landfill cells, Proceedings 13th Int. Waste Mgmt & Landfill Symposium, CISA, S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, 30 Sept- 4 Oct 2013.

Xie, S. and Clarke, W.P., Methane oxidation activities on graphite granules: effect of biomass concentration, Proceedings 13th Int. Waste Mgmt & Landfill Symposium, CISA, S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, 30 Sept- 4 Oct 2013.

Rounsefell, B.D., O’Sullivan, C.A., Chinivasagam, N., Batstone, D. and Clarke W.P., Fate of pathogen indicators in a domestic blend of food waste and wastewater through a two-stage anaerobic digestion system, Wat. Sci. Tech., 67, 2, 366-373, 2013.

Phi, S., Clarke, W. and Li, L. Laboratory and numerical investigations of hillslope soil saturation development and runoff generation over rainfall events, J. Hydrology, 493, 1-15, 2013.

Clarke, W.P., Biological Waste to Energy - State of the art, Keynote presentation - 4th Int. Sym. on Energy from Biomass and Waste, IWWG, Venice, Italy, 12-15 Nov, 2012.

Clarke, W.P., Zheng, H and Klostermann, F., Degradation of the organic fraction of MSW in less than 6 months in biocells, Proceedings 4th Int. Sym. on Energy from Biomass and Waste, IWWG, Venice, Italy, 12-15 Nov, 2012.

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Centre for Solid Waste Bioprocessing

The Advanced Engineering BuildingThe University of Queensland

St Lucia 4072

Professor Bill Clarkeb.clarke@uq.edu.au+61 7 3365 6464