Tzahi Y. CathProfessor

My students and I conduct research in the area of water and wastewater treatment, and specifically we focus on the use of commercial and novel membrane processes. In the area of wastewater treatment and reuse we investigate the performance and enhancement of on-site wastewater treatment using novel hybrid membrane bioreactors and sequencing batch reactors. In this study we focus on the simultaneous optimization of energy consumption, chemical use, and nutrient and organic removal. We also explore the use of byproducts such as biosolids for bio-energy production. We also investigate novel membrane processes such as osmotically driven membrane processes (forward osmosis and pressure-retarded osmosis) for multi-barrier treatment of domestic and industrial wastewater for ultimate direct potable reuse. Specifically, our research focuses on investigation of solute and solvent mass transport in forward osmosis and the effects of these phenomena on future industrial implementation of the technology.