Rowan professors win wastewater research grant
Rowan professors win wastewater research grant
October 23, 2002
By GENE VERNACCHIO, Courier-Post Staff
GLASSBORO--A grant will help two Rowan University engineering professors hunt for better ways to measure how much our wastewater and its contents stink.
The $24,986 grant comes from California-based United States Filter Corp. It will allow the professors to examine odor-detection technology used to examine the smell of waste water and human waste, or biosolids.
Professors Kauser Jahan of Washington Township and Robi Polikar of Sicklerville will lead a Rowan research team. The other researchers are Huguette Mualem of Deptford, a junior chemical engineering major; Paul Witthohn of West Babylon, N.Y., a senior civil and environmental engineering major; and Michael Faith of Sicklerville, a senior electrical and computer engineering major.
The proposal from Jahan and Polikar won the grant because of its practical impact on the biosolids field and its ability to advance an existing technology, said Mohammad Abu-Orf, director of USFilter's North American Technology Center.
"We selected the proposal because it addresses odor issues in biosolids, which is the No. 1 obstacle in public acceptance to the beneficial reuse of biosolids in land applications," Abu-Orf said.
The yearlong research study will begin in November.
Increasing public complaints and opposition to odors originating from wastewater treatment and sludge management has stimulated an interest in odor measurement techniques.
The Rowan team will investigate the development of a so- called "electronic nose," or gas-sensing system, capable of detecting odors common in biosolids.
"While we will be looking at the feasibility of this technology for wastewater odor control," Polikar said, " other applications cover a wide range - anywhere from airport security to detection of chemical weapons of mass destruction."
GLASSBORO--A grant will help two Rowan University engineering professors hunt for better ways to measure how much our wastewater and its contents stink.
The $24,986 grant comes from California-based United States Filter Corp. It will allow the professors to examine odor-detection technology used to examine the smell of waste water and human waste, or biosolids.
Professors Kauser Jahan of Washington Township and Robi Polikar of Sicklerville will lead a Rowan research team. The other researchers are Huguette Mualem of Deptford, a junior chemical engineering major; Paul Witthohn of West Babylon, N.Y., a senior civil and environmental engineering major; and Michael Faith of Sicklerville, a senior electrical and computer engineering major.
The proposal from Jahan and Polikar won the grant because of its practical impact on the biosolids field and its ability to advance an existing technology, said Mohammad Abu-Orf, director of USFilter's North American Technology Center.
"We selected the proposal because it addresses odor issues in biosolids, which is the No. 1 obstacle in public acceptance to the beneficial reuse of biosolids in land applications," Abu-Orf said.
The yearlong research study will begin in November.
Increasing public complaints and opposition to odors originating from wastewater treatment and sludge management has stimulated an interest in odor measurement techniques.
The Rowan team will investigate the development of a so- called "electronic nose," or gas-sensing system, capable of detecting odors common in biosolids.
"While we will be looking at the feasibility of this technology for wastewater odor control," Polikar said, " other applications cover a wide range - anywhere from airport security to detection of chemical weapons of mass destruction."
