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Description:

The Sanitary and Environmental Engineering Group (GISA) promotes teaching, research and consultancy activities in the context of the typical themes of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering. In particular, the most treated issues concern water and wastewater treatment, with particular attention to advanced treatments (MBR, MBBR, granular, SBR, etc.), urban and special waste management, contaminated soils and aquifers reclamation, analysis and restoration of polluted water bodies, risk analysis and environmental safety. Consulting activities concern the monitoring of processes and plants for wastewater treatment and waste disposal.

Main research topics:

• Water and wastestewater treatment (municipal and industrial) with advanced biological processes (MBR, MBBR, IFAS, granular processes, SBR, etc.): pollutants removal efficiency; biomass biokinetic parameters through respirometry; membrane fouling; materials recovery: PHA production; study and control of the dysfunctions of the main biological processes of wastewater treatment; greenhouse gases and energy consumption from wastewater treatment plants; processes and plants for waste treatment and reduction.
• Waste management: monitoring of uncontrolled biogas emissions from landfill surface; leachate production and treatment in MSW landfills; biological stability of organic fractions through dynamic respirometric index and germination test; pyrolytic waste treatments.
• Contaminated soil and groundwater remediation: risk analysis; treatment of contaminated sediments through bio-slurry reactors.
• Environmental water quality modelling: advanced mathematical modelling techniques, uncertainty, identifiability and sensitivity analysis, climate and land use impacts on water resources, lakes and rivers models, integrated modelling of urban water systems.

Main funded research projects:

• Project “RETURN - Multi-Risk sciEnce for resilienT commUnities undeR a changiNg climate”. Progetto di Partenariato Esteso (PE), funded by the European Union (Next Generation EU) under the NRRP (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), missione 4, componente 2, investimento 1.3. Da novembre 2022 a ottobre 2025. Scientific responsible of local unit of Spoke VS4: Prof. Daniele Di Trapani. Scientific responsible of local unit of Spoke TS2: Prof. Michele Torregrossa
• PRIN 2022 PNRR: “Innovative Membrane technologies for advanced and sustainable wastewater treatment in view of boosting a circular economy approach - Next Generation EU” - PNRR M4 - C2 -investimento 1.1: Fondo per il Programma Nazionale di Ricerca e Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN). Start date: 30 november 2023, Planned end: 31 october 2025. Scientific responsible: Prof. Giorgio Mannina
• Horizon 2020: “Achieving wider uptake of water-smart solutions—WIDER UPTAKE” (grant agreement number: 869283) financed by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. Start date: 1 May 2020, Planned end: 31 october 2024. Scientific responsible: Prof. Giorgio Mannina
• Project PRIMA, Section 2 Multitopics 2022, Misura: Water management, “SWRIPS - Sustainable Wastewater Re-use with Innovative Purification and Sensing system for the agri-food supply chain” - PRIMA Programme – Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area. Start date: 1 october 2023, Project duration: 36 months. Scientific responsible: Prof. Michele Torregrossa
• PO FESR Sicilia 2014-2020 - linea di intervento 1.1.5. Progetto “SMARTEE PLANTS - Smart-Energy-Efficiency Wastewater Treatment Plants” - Start date: 1 January 2023, Start date: 12 dicember 2022, Project duration: 30 months. Scientific responsible: Prof. Daniele Di Trapani
• Project “BioGoal - Dalle aree ad elevato rischio ambientale alla bioeconomia circolare per costruire strategie regionali a partire dai goal dello sviluppo sostenibile”. Bando SNSvS 2 (Categoria 1 - NP 1.25 - Sicilia), Ministero dell'Ambiente e della tutela del Territorio e del Mare. Start date: september 2020 Project duration: 24 months. Scientific responsible: Prof. Gaspare Viviani
• Project “Bilge Water Separator - Realizzazione di un impianto di trattamento delle acque di sentina”. Programma HORIZON 2020 – PON 2014-2020. Da marzo 2018 a febbraio 2021.
• Project “BIOFEEDSTOCK – Sviluppo di Piattaforme Tecnologiche Integrate per la Valorizzazione di Biomasse Residuali”. PON 2015-2020. Da luglio 2018 a dicembre 2020.
• Strategic Project Grant NSERC “Aerobic granular sludge in continuous flow reactor configuration”. Finanziamento supportato dall’Università di Manitoba (Canada). Responsabile del progetto: Prof. J.A. Oleszkiewicz. Durata: 24 mesi, da dicembre 2018 a novembre 2019.
• Project “STI-TAM Sviluppo di Tecnologie Innovative per il trattamento dei rifiuti liquidi della navigazione finalizzate alla Tutela dell’Ambiente Marino”. PON R&C 2007-2013. Da luglio 2012 a giugno 2015.
• PRIN 2012 “Energy consumption and GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emissions in the wastewater treatment plants: a decision support system for planning and management”.

Keywords: 

drinking water and wastewater treatment, waste management, soil and groundwater remediation, pollution.