Imperial College London

Prof David C. Stuckey

Faculty of EngineeringDepartment of Chemical Engineering

Emeritus Professor
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 5591d.stuckey

 
 
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Location

 

510ACE ExtensionSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Overview

Research Interests

My research interests fall into three seemingly disparate but ultimately inter-related areas:

  1. Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment : Treatment of dilute (500 mg/l COD) and heavy metal/dye containing wastes using a "Baffled Reactor" (ABR). Production, characterisation and removal of Soluble Microbial Products (SMPs) from anaerobic digester effluents. Sulphate reduction to disinfect and remove metals from sludges. Use of solid-phase gas membrane separation in anaerobic digestion to control shock loads. The use of 16S rRNA molecular probes to understand the microbial ecology of anaerobic reactors. In addition, I am looking at immobilised (in PVA) nitrification/denitrification for high ammonia (1000 mg/l) wastewaters in gas-lift reactors.
  2. Downstream Separations in Biotechnology : Selectivity, activity recovery, kinetics and contactor design (Graesser) using reverse micelles (5 nanometer w/o microemulsions) to extract proteins from fermentation broths. Colloidal liquid aphrons (CLAs-5 micron o/w emulsions) to extract non-polar (erythromycin) and polar (phenylalanine) solutes from broths. Interfacial mass transfer in solvent extraction in the presence of proteins/surfactants and cell debris looking at Marangoni instabilities. Extraction of eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) from marine algae using solvent extraction, silver ion chromatography, and solid phase membrane/silver ion extraction.(3) Biotransformations : Production of chiral epoxides in solid-phase membrane bioreactors. Biphasic enzymatic reactions on colloidal liquid aphrons, as well as the development of crossflow membrane reactors with CLAs.

Selected Research Projects

  1. "Protein Extraction from Fermentation Broths using Reverse Micelles: Selectivity, Activity Recovery and Contactor Design" in collaboration with Dr. L. Poppenborg, S. Jarudilokkul and E. Paulsen. download PDF
  2. "The Treatment of Industrial Wastewaters in an Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR): Acclimation and Microbial Ecology using 16s rRNA Molecular Probes" in collaboration with Dr. J. Plumb and L. Freese download PDF
  3. "The Immobilisation of Enzymes on Colloidal Liquid Aphrons (CLAs) for Bi-phasic Reactions: Stability, Protein Structure and Use in Crossflow Membrane Bioreactors" in collaboration with S. Lamb and F. Oloo download PDF