Mehdi Nemati BSc, MSc, PhD

Education and Experience

Ph.D. University of Manchester (UMIST), 1997
M.Sc. (Eng.) Amirkabir University of Technology, 1987
B.Sc. (Eng.) Amirkabir University of Technology,1984 
P.Eng. (Registered Professional Engineer, APEGS)

My research interest center around the area of environmental bioengineering, aiming to address some of the environmental problems encountered in the petroleum and mining industries, as well as the agriculture sector. These include application of the bacteria of sulphur cycle in treatment of acid mine drainage, sour gas and waters contaminated with sulphide and nitrate, containment of souring and biocorrosion in oil reservoirs, and control of H2S emission from livestock operations. Potential for generating energy during the treatment of wastewaters through utilization of microbial fuel cell type bioreactors is also investigated.

Development of biotechnologies for remediation of soils and waters contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy petroleum compounds and naphthenic acids, with the latter being a major environmental issue associated with processing of oil sands in Western Canada, is the other component of my research. Development and utilization of novel bioreactors such as bead mill and circulating packed-bed bioreactors for improving mass transfer and bioremediation kinetics is one of the main aspects of research in this area. Feasibility of an integrated chemical and biological approach for the treatment of complex organic pollutants is also being evaluated.

Specialization

• Environmental Bioengineering

Current and Past Projects

1. Treatment of organic wastewaters in microbial fuel cell bioreactors
2. Integrated chemical and biological remediation of petroleum contaminants
3. Bioremediation of naphthenic acids in a circulating packed bed bioreactor
4. Denitrification and biodesulphurization using sulphur and H2S
5. Removal of ammonia (nitrification) in conventional and microbial fuel cell bioreactors