Video abstract: Improving water bioremediation
August 06, 2012
Biodesign Institute graduate student Guozheng Li has come up with a clever engineering solution to improve the versatility of a water bioremediation technology that is being developed in the lab of Bruce Rittmann, director of the Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology.
The technology, called a Photocatalytic Circulating-Bed Biofilm Reactor, or PCBBR for short, has been modified to improve the biodegradation of reactive dyes, which are found throughout the clothing industry and are an increasing environmental concern. The technology uses a combined approach, with UV light treatment to breakdown the products, and titanium dioxide coated carriers that helps with the biodegradation and mineralization process of the products, rendering them harmless to the environment. The technology not only completely squelches the color from reactive dyes but also demonstrates a new way to treat these environmental hazards.
Li explains the technology in a new video feature abstract format in the publication Biotechnology & Bioengineering.
