Damilola Daramola, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio University
"Modular Resource Recovery Facilities explored via Electrochemical Nutrient Reduction from Wastewater"
Abstract:
Inefficient conversion in animal bodies combined with excess application as crop fertilizer has ensured that macronutrients – N and P – accumulate as waste in the current linear food economy. The impact of this linear economy is further exacerbated by the significant embodied energy in the waste and the eutrophication of water systems: the Food-Energy-Water Nexus. A further implication of this FEW Nexus is the increased energy consumption in municipal wastewater treatment facilities due to higher nutrient content in recycle streams: a consequence of solid waste management. What if we could recapture these excess nutrients using an approach that both leverages renewable energy and is scalable to the specific facility? Further, what if these recaptured nutrients could be delivered in a manner that negates eutrophication via controlled nutrient release? These ideas are the subject of this seminar and will be discussed in the context of bench-scale electrochemistry, materials characterization and flowsheet modeling.
Bio:
Dr. Daramola is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the assistant director for research in the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment, both at Ohio University. Dr. Daramola’s laboratory – the REPRODUCE lab – works in areas related to wastewater remediation, thermoset composites and polymer upcycling using a combination of techniques including electrochemistry, process simulations and materials synthesis. Dr. Daramola earned his B.S. (2004) and Ph.D. (2011) in Chemical Engineering from Ohio University. Prior to returning to Ohio University, Dr. Daramola spent a brief stint in industry within Ashland Inc.’s Specialty Polymers and Adhesives group.
Since becoming an assistant professor at Ohio University in 2020, Dr. Daramola, has been awarded a $2.5M grant from the Advanced Manufacturing Office of the U.S. Department of Energy (2021, lead Principal Investigator) focused on electrochemical nutrient recovery from municipal wastewater facilities and the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Consortium (2022).