Kuang Zhu

Postdoctoral Researcher

[email protected]

 

 

Education and training

  • Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Michigan, 2020 - present
  • D. in Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, 2016-2020
  • S. in Civil Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2011-2013
  • Eng. in Water and Wastewater Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, China 2007-2011

Areas of interest
Anaerobic processes, resource recovery, microbial ecology.

Research Project
During my PhD project I investigated high-rate resource recovery, specifically hydrogen production, from waste streams using encapsulated biomass from the perspectives of reactor operation, modeling and microbial community analysis.

Honors and Awards

  • Departmental Fellowship, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geo-Engineering, University of Minnesota, 2016
  • School-level Scholarship, School of Municipal Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, 2008-2010

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles and Presentations
Publications:

  • Zhu, K., Arnold, W. A., Sakkos, J., Davis, C. W., Novak, P. J., Achieving high-rate hydrogen recovery from wastewater using customizable alginate polymer gel matrices encapsulating biomass. Environmental Science: Water Res. Technol, 2018, 4, 1867-1876
  • Zhu, K., Arnold, W. A., & Novak, P. J. Modeling alginate encapsulation system for biological hydrogen production. Biotechnology and bioengineering. 2019, 116(12), 3189-3199.

Manuscripts in preparation:

  • Zhu, K., Novak, J. T., Anaerobic Co-digestion of Long Chain Fatty Acids with Municipal wastewater sludge.
  • Zhu, K., Davis, C. W., Novak, P. J., Arnold, W. A., Alginate Encapsulation for the Mitigation of Biomass Inhibition during Resource Recovery from High Strength Wastewater
  • Zhu, K., Arnold, W. A., Novak, P. J., Comparing Microbial Community Shifts in an Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor and an Anaerobic Reactor Containing Encapsulated Biomass during Unplanned and Intermittent Perturbations

Conference presentations and proceedings:

  • Zhu, K., Novak, J. T., Impact of Free Long-Chain Fatty Acids on Completely Mixed Anaerobic Digesters Treating Municipal Sewage Sludge. In: Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation Residuals and Biosolids, 2014.
  • Zhu, K., Wadhawan, T., Michaelis, M., De Clippeleir, H., DeBarbadillo, C., Vlaeminck, S., Al-Omari, A., Murthy S., Higgins M. A Novel Method for Quantifying the Solubilization Potential of Thermal Hydrolysis Process. In: Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference, 2015.
  • Zhu, K., Arnold, W.A., Novak, P.J. High-rate Resource Recovery from Wastewater by Encapsulated Biomass. Oral presentation, AEESP Conference, Tempe, AZ, May 15, 2019
  • Zhu, K., Arnold W.A., Novak, P.J. High-rate Resource Recovery from Wastewater by Encapsulated Biomass. Oral presentation, WEFTEC 2019, Chicago, IL, September 24, 2019
  • Zhu, K., Arnold, W.A., Sakkos, J., Aksan, A., Novak, P.J. Achieving High-rate Wastewater Resource Recovery through Biomass Encapsulation ”. Oral presentation. Minneapolis Conference on the Environment, November 7, 2018.

Other Interests
I enjoy cooking, biking (on paved road), hiking, painting (oil, water color, and pen), gaming, music, and movies

Contact Information
1351 Beal Avenue, 211 EWRE, Ann Arbor, MI 48109