Our EWC seminar on this Friday, Sep 29, will feature Dr. Catherine Zhang, who is a postdoctoral teaching scholar at BTEC. She will discuss “Energy-Water-Environment Nexus: Synergy between Environmental Engineering and Biomanufacturing.” An abstract and bio are included below. Please join us in Mann 304 from 12:50-1:40pm.

Abstract: This presentation will focus on how to address the energy-water-environmental nexus by linking environmental engineering and the biomanufacturing industry. Advancements in biomanufacturing technologies, such as fermentation and bioprospecting, can be applied to environmental engineering. Meanwhile, environmentally friendly biomanufacturing systems are essential for the sustainable production of bioproducts required for maintaining healthy communities. Examples such as biohydrogen production from biomass and LCA for emerging biomanufacturing systems will be discussed.

Biohydrogen is a promising clean energy carrier, but three key challenges for large-scale biohydrogen production are to increase, 1) the hydrogen production rate, 2) the hydrogen molar yield, and 3) the extent of substrate utilization. A co-culture fermentation system for C. beijerinckii and G. metallireducens with extracellular electron shuttles called anthrahydroquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AH2QDS) was developed and evaluated for improved biohydrogen production, and then applied to ferment complex substrates from hydrolysates of lignocellulosic biomass as well as to utilize alternative extracellular electron shuttles (EES). The observed improvements in utilizing lignocellulosic hydrolysates and particularly on utilization of xylose support the feasibility of applying this co-culture system to biohydrogen production from lignocellulosic hydrolysates, especially xylose-rich ones. In addition, the replacement of AH2QDS by alternative EES, especially humic acids, makes the co-culture fermentation more economical and flexible.

In biomanufacturing, there has been a rapid transition from traditional cleanable processes to disposable processes to achieve more flexibility, lower costs, and less risk of contamination. However, the life-cycle assessment (LCA) of these systems are mainly provided by vendors and based on mammalian cell-line facilities within the United States. An educational version of open source LCA tools using Solid Waste Optimization Life-cycle Framework (SWOLF) is being developed and will be incorporated into biomanufacturing courses for biopharmaceutical industry professionals, which will improve the awareness of sustainability in biomanufacturing industry.

Bio: Xinyu “Catherine” Zhang received her PhD degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is currently a Postdoctoral Teaching Scholar at Biomanufacturing Training & Educational Center (BTEC) at North Carolina State University. Her research focus is on biofuel/biochemical production via fermentation technologies, sustainability in biomanufacturing industry, and new techniques for engineering education.