Biorefinery Engineering and Microfluidics (BEAM) Lab

The lab is working on three major research areas;

1. Wastewater treatment and clean drinking water supply

• Developing sterilizations technologies for clean drinking water
• Improving energy efficiency of wastewater treatment process
• Developing novel adsorbents for wastewater treatment

2. Bio-fuel production

• Utilizing indigenous resources to produce biofuels
• Improving energy efficiency industrial chemical processes

3. Microalgae Cultivation

• Resource Recovery from Wastewater and Biodiesel Production using Microalgae.
• Lipid enhancement by using nutrient mediator through symbiotic algae-bacterium consortia for biodiesel production.
• Biodiesel production from microalgal species through carbon sequestration.

The technologies have been locally developed at lab scale and shown tremendous potential. The lab has facilities for the development of the said technologies. However, there are some key analytical equipment still required for smooth functioning of the lab.

Awarded National Research Program for Universities (NRPU) Projects

1. Simultaneous Biodiesel Production and Textile Wastewater Treatment using Microalgal Advance Deoxidation Process System (19.8 million PKR)
2. The Use of Microalgae for Biodiesel Production and Wastewater Treatment in Pakistan (3.8 million PKR)
3. Hydrogen Production and separation for decentralized power generation for rural areas of Pakistan (10.05 million PKR)

Other Projects:

• Chemical Synthesis Through Non-LTE Plasmas
• Production Of Biodiesel Through Castor Oil And Oleic Acid
• Microbubble Mediated Production Of Methyl Acetate
• Plasma Based Advanced Oxidation Processes For Textile Waste Water Purification
• Biodiesel Production Using Animal Fats By Microbubble Technology

Publications

• Fazal T., Rehman S., Mushtaq A., Hafeez A., Javed F., Aslam M., Fatima M., Faisal A., Iqbal J., Farooq R., Rehman F. “Simultaneous production of bioelectricity and biogas from chicken droppings and dairy industry wastewater employing bioelectrochemical system”, Fuel, 2019. 256,115902 (IF=5.80).
• Javed F.; Shamair Z., Aslam M., Rashid N., Khan A. L., Yasin M., Fazal T.,Hafeez A., Rehman F., Rehman S., Yasin M., Khan Z, Iqbal J., Bazmi A., A., “Microalgae-based biofuels, resource recovery and wastewater treatment: A pathway towards sustainable biorefinery”, Fuel, 2019. 255, 115826 (IF=5.80).
• Ahmad N, Javed F. Awan J. A., Ali S., Fazal T., Hafeez A., Aslam R., Rashid N., Rehman S., Zimmerman W., Rehman. F., “Biodiesel Production intensification through microbubble mediated esterification”, Fuel, 2019. 253, 25-31. (IF= 5.80).
• Javed, F., Shamair, Z., Ahmad, N., Ali, S., Hafeez, A., Fazal, T., Rehman, M.S.U., Zimmerman, W.B.J. and Rehman, F., 2019. “Pushing and Pulling the” equilibrium through bubble mediated reactive separation for ethyl acetate production. Reaction Chemistry & Engineering. (IF=3.935).
• Fazal, T., Mushtaq, A., Rehman, F., Khan, A.U., Rashid, N., Farooq, W., Rehman, M.S.U. and Xu, J., 2018. Bioremediation of textile wastewater and successive biodiesel production using microalgae. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. (IF=10.935)

Article under Review

• Fazal T., Razzaq A., Javed F., Hafeez A., Rashid N., Amjad U., Faisal A., Rehman S., Rehman F.,“ Integrating Adsorption and Photocatalysis: A Cost Effective Strategy for Textile Wastewater Treatment using Hybrid Biochar-TiO2 Composite”, 2019. Under review in Journal of Hazardous Materials- Revisions received (IF=7.650)
• Hafeez A., Taqvi A., Fazal T., Javed F., Khan Z., Amjad U., Bokhari A., Shehzad N., Rashid N., Rehman S., Rehman F, “Optimization on Cleaner Intensification of Ozone Production using Artificial Neural Networking and Response Surface Methodology: Parametric and Comparative Study”, 2019. Under review in Journal of Cleaner Production, Revisions received (IF=6.395)
• Hafeez A., Javed F., Fazal T., Bazmi A. A., Haider B., Rehman S., Rehman F., “Solar Powered Cold Plasma ozonation and Micofluidic aeration Technologies for sustainable water systems”, 2019. Under review in Science of The Total Environment. (IF=5.589)
• Fazal T., Faisal A., Mushtaq A., Hafeez A., Javed F. Aludin A., Hafeez A., Rashid N., Aslam M., Rehman S., Rehman. F., “Macroalgae and Coal-Based Biochars as a Sustainable Bioresource Reuse for Treatment of Textile Wastewater”, (2019). under review in Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery (IF=2.326)
• Ali S. Hafeez A., Javed F., Fazal T., Rehman S., Bazmi A. A., Rehman F., “Investigating biodiesel production strategies as a sustainable energy resource for Pakistan”. (2019). Journal of cleaner production (IF=6.395).

Articles in pipeline

• Hafeez A., Shamari Z., Javed F., Fazal T., Rehman, M.S.U, Rehman F., “Textile industry pollution and its remediation”, under preparation.
• Hafeez A., Yaseen S., Javed F., Fazal T., Rehman, M.S.U, Rehman F., “Remediation of textile dye (Reactive Black-5) using non thermal plasma micro reactor” under preparation.

Group Members

PhD students