July 1st, 2020: Congratulation! Dr. Zhiwu Wang received a NSF grant (Award ID: 2001568)!

This is a collaborative research with Dr. Yi Zheng from Kansas State University and Dr. Sandeep Kumar from Old Dominion University. The project titled “A Novel Biological Valorization of Hydrothermal Liquefaction Wastewater with Marine Protist and its Granulated Phenotype” harnesses a marine protist, namely Thraustochytrium striatum,  to purify the toxic and recalcitrant wastewater produced from the hydrothermal liquefaction process, a promising thermochemical approach to produce biofuels. The objectives of the project include: (1) determine the impact of hydrothermal liquefaction conditions on the correlation between biocrude yield/property and hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater biodegradability; (2) investigate the performance, proteomics, and transcriptomics of suspended T. striatum cells towards HTL-WW valorization; (3) explore the formation of granulated phenotype of T. striatum cells to enhance hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater valorization and establish mathematic modeling of hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater valorization with T. striatum. The interdisciplinary nature of the proposed research will facilitate the integration of research and educational plans to enhance the education programs of three institutes involved in this project.