Research

There is a vigorous research program in Environmental Engineering (EnvE) here at Penn State.  Total funding for research projects totalled $16.8 million in 2005-06. The project titles, principle investigators, and other information on these research grants are listed below.

PROJECT LISTING

Innovative Arsenic removal onto activated carbon that is preloaded with organic-iron complexes, phase II (PIs: Cannon & Dempsey). AWWARF, August 1, 2005 to July 1, 2008. $200,000.

Arsenic removal from water with iron-tailored activated carbon: fundamental redox characterization. (PIs: Dempsey & Cannon). NSF, September 1, 2005 to August 1, 2007. $100,000.

Arsenic treatment solutions for very small systems. (PIs: Cannon & Dempsey). AWWARF, May 2, 2005 to May 2, 2007. $100,000.

Arsenic removal techniques via activated carbon that is tailored with organic carboxyl-iron. (PIs: Cannon & Dempsey). AWWARF, May 16, 2005 to May 16, 2007. $100,000.

Moving to sustainability: Improving and valuing materials flow of the metal casting industry. NSF MUSES. (PI: Cannon, with 5 Co-Pis). October 2005 to December 2008. $1.3 million cash, $1.5 million total, $1.1 million cash to PSU.

Sloan Foundation Scholarships for Underrepresented Ph.D. Candidates who attend the Pennsylvania State University. Sloan Foundation. (Co-PI: Cannon). April 1999 to Indefinite. $800,000 cash.

GAC for odorant control in filter bed adsorbers. NORIT Americas, Inc., (PI: Cannon). January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2005. $500,000 cash.

Demonstration-scale testing: Organic monomer tailoring of granular activated carbon to remove perchlorate and nitrate at Redlands, CA. City of Redlands and Lockheed-Martin. (PI: Cannon). August 2003 to July 2006. $130,000 cash to PSU.

Adapting anthracite coal and stockpiled anthracite fines to Green Sand Iron Foundries. DOE Consortium for Premium Carbon Products from Coal. (PI: Cannon). May 2005 to May 2006. $140,000 total, $70,000 cash to PSU.

Perchlorate removal with tailored activated carbon. DOD/EPA/DOE ESTCP. (PI: Cannon). October 2005 to October 2007. $1.5 million total; $180,000 to PSU.

Adapting tailored activated carbon for end-of-tap devices. Procter and Gamble Co. (PI: Cannon). November 2005 to July 2006. $30,000.

BioEnergy Production. (PI: Logan). Frank Annuzio Award in Alternative Energy Sources. October 2005 (no end date). $25,000.

Harvesting energy from wastewater treatment. (PI: Logan). Paul L. Busch Award, Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF). October 2004 (no end date). $100,000.

In situ bioremediation of perchlorate in vadose zone soil using gaseous electron donors (PI: P.J. Evans, R. Brennan, B.E. Logan). ESTCP. January 2005 to December 2007. $750,000 total; $90,000 PSU subcontract.

Bacterial adhesion to uncoated and coated glass surfaces analyzed using batch adhesion tests and AFM. PPG Inc., May 1, 2005 to August 31, 2006. $78,362.

Improving power generation in microbial fuel cells. (PIs: Logan, Mallouk). NSF. October 2004 - September 2007. $509,342.

EMSI- Center for Environmental Chemical Synthesis. (Director: Brantley, PIs include Burgos, Dempsey, Logan). NSF. September 2004 ­ August 2009. $6,750,000 (plus $4,000,000 for DOE collaborators).

Reaction-based reactive transport modeling of iron reduction and uranium mobilization at area 2 of the NABIR Field Research Center. (co-PIs: Burgos, Dempsey, Yeh (UCF), Roden (UA)). DOE, Office of Science. September 2004 – Aug 2007. $685,633 (cash to PSU) and $130,569 (match from PSU).

Using nanotechnology to identify and characterize hydrological flowpaths in agricultural landscapes. (PIs: Walter, Luo, J Regan) Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, USDA. September 2004 – August 2006. $198,236.

TMDLs for PA waterways impacted by acid mine drainage. (PI: Burgos). PA DEP, November 2005 – October 2006. $60,000.

Evaluation of low-pH biological Fe(II) oxidation in deep mine discharges. (PIs: Burgos, Senko, and Bruns). PA DEP, November 2005 – October 2006. $94,677.

Evaluation of biological Mn(II) oxidation in mine water treatment beds. (PIs: Burgos and Senko). PA DEP, November 2005- October 2006. $98,500.

Energy production and pollutant mitigation from broiler houses on poultry farms in Pennsylvania and Jamaica, (PIs: Colledge, R Regan, and Sinclair), USDA Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management, July 2004 - June 2007. $45,000.

Demonstration of an operational hydrogen fueling station. (PIs: Anstrom, Rado, Logan). PA DEP and PA DCED. April 2004 to June 2006. $487,656 (cash) and $846,744 (match).

Coupled processes for bioEnergy production: Biological hydrogen linked with microbial fuel cells. (PIs: J. Regan, Logan, Guiltinen). USDA. September 2003 to August 2006. $790,798.

The Biogeochemical Research Initiative for Education (BRIE). (PIs: Brantley, Freeman, Brenchley. BRIE faculty: Burgos, Logan, J Regan). NSF. July 1999 - June 2006. $2,699,997.

Bridging the Gap: An introduction to Water and Wastewater sustainable infrastructure management. US Environmental Protection Agency (PIs: S. Sinha, R. Regan, and A. Miller). $170,000. October 2005- September 2006.