1. General Information
The Department of Environmental Science and Engineering (ESE) of USST was established in April 1997. Nowadays, ESE offers Ph.D programs in ‘Energy and Environmental Engineering’, M.S. programs in ‘Environmental Science and Engineering’ and M.E. programs in ‘Environmental Engineering’. There are currently 45 full-time faculty members, including 6 professors (4 Ph.D advisors) and 17 associate professors. 37 faculty members have Ph.D degrees, and 37 faculty members have industry or engineering background. Our faculty members enter the program of ‘Famous Teaching Teacher in Shanghai’. Thirteen famous experts with certain influence in the industry and enterprises serve as external teachers.
The ESE department now has the ‘Key Laboratory of Environmental Science and Engineering’ of Shanghai Education Commission, the ‘High Level Platform of Environmental Engineering Education’ in Shanghai universities, and the ‘Training Base of Innovative Talents for Young Talents’ in Shanghai (Environmental Science Practice Woarkstation of USST). The existing laboratory area is about 1600 m2, and the value of instruments, equipments, systems and software is more than 30 million Yuan. The ESE department has won 2 National Science and Technology Awards and 7 Provincial Science and Technology Awards.
Over the past three years, the Department has got 12 national projects (including National 973 Plan, National Science and Technology Support Plan for the 11th Five-Year Plan, National Natural Science Foundation of China etc.), 35 regional projects (Key Research Projects of Shanghai Science and Technology Committee, Shanghai Natural Science and Technology Foundation, Key Research Projects of Shanghai Environmental Protection Agency etc.) and 2 international cooperation projects. Recent research has been supported by nearly 20 millions project funding, which published 257 papers (including 203 SCI, EI, ISTP and 5 ESI articles), 4 monographs and 13 authorized invention patents.
2. Outstanding research features
2.1 Water pollution control and water reuse
In the aspect of water pollution control and water reuse, research efforts have been put in wastewater treatment processes such as membrane bioreactor, orbal oxidation ditch, biofilm process, ICAST, BOAF etc., which form a new treatment system for the usage of reclaimed water and rainwater. The new model of water supply and drainage system in urban districts has been successfully applied to five pilot scale projects of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission. By studying the new ways of removing inorganic anions from drinking water and heavy metals from slightly polluted water, a new method has been developed to ensure the safety of drinking water. Moreover, research results have led to another new method to control the eutrophication of drinking water reservoirs, which can help to reduce phosphorus concentration and control algae blooming. Full scale demonstration project covers a field area of 2000 m2. Considering the characteristics of pollutant components in coking wastewater, an in-situ treatment technology has been developed. ADM1 model has been adopted and improved with more dynamic variables and optimized control parameters. At the same time, the improved model has been applied to simulate and optimize the process parameters for anaerobic digestion of agricultural organic waste. By studying the mechanism, influencing factors and prediction model of biogas production, a new method is established for the utilization of agricultural wastes.
The research results have been awarded the first prize of the Green Building Innovation Award of the Ministry of Construction in 2005, the top ten construction science and technology achievement awards in 2006, the first prize of Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award in 2006 (20064069-1), the second prize of Zhejiang Science and Technology Award in 2009 (0902044-2), the third prize of China Machinery Industry Science and Technology Award in 2009 (0906017), and the third prize in 2011. Third Prize of China Machinery Industry Science and Technology Award (R1106037).
2.2 Air pollution diffusion and control
The Department of Environmental Science and Engineering (ESE) of USST was established in April 1997. Nowadays, ESE offers Ph.D programs in ‘Energy and Environmental Engineering’, M.S. programs in ‘Environmental Science and Engineering’ and M.E. programs in ‘Environmental Engineering’. In 2018, the undergraduate program of environmental engineering passed the Chinese certification of engineering education, and in 2019, it entered the list of double 10000 plan for the construction of national first-class undergraduate program. There are currently 47 full-time faculty members, including 6 professors (5 Ph.D advisors) and 25 associate professors. 37 faculty members have Ph.D degrees, and 37 faculty members have industry or engineering background. Our faculty members enter the program of ‘National Million Talents Project’, ‘National Thousand Talents Project’, and ‘Famous Teaching Teacher in Shanghai’. Thirteen famous experts with certain influence in the industry and enterprises serve as external teachers.
The ESE department now has the ‘Key Laboratory of Environmental Science and Engineering’ of Shanghai Education Commission, the ‘High Level Platform of Environmental Engineering Education’ in Shanghai universities, Key Laboratory of coal (gas) high efficiency combustion and ultra-low emission of Chinese Machinery Industry Federation and the ‘Training Base of Innovative Talents for Young Talents’ in Shanghai (Environmental Science Practice Workstation of USST). The existing laboratory area is about 1600 m2, and the value of instruments, equipments, systems and software is more than 30 million Yuan. The ESE department has won 2 National Science and Technology Awards and 7 Provincial Science and Technology Awards.
Over the past three years, the Department has got 12 national projects (including National 973 Plan, National Science and Technology Support Plan for the 11th Five-Year Plan, National Natural Science Foundation of China etc.), 35 regional projects (Key Research Projects of Shanghai Science and Technology Committee, Shanghai Natural Science and Technology Foundation, Key Research Projects of Shanghai Environmental Protection Agency etc.) and 2 international cooperation projects. Recent research has been supported by nearly 20 million project funding, which published 257 papers (including 203 SCI, EI, ISTP and 19 ESI articles), 4 monographs and 13 authorized invention patents.
2.3 Environmental functional materials
In the field of environmental functional materials, research progress has been made in the preparation of various cellulose derivatives, molecular sieves with different pore sizes, zeolite membranes, and controllable core-shell structure photo-catalytic materials. The sediment of polluted river is used as raw material to prepare environmental friendly material by using sintering-free technology. A complete set of anaerobic digestion technology for high solid content organic wastes, such as kitchen waste and excess sludge, has been established to achieve harmless waste reduction and methane energy gases at the same time. Moreover, through the development of a new method for rapid detection of trace cations in aqueous system, an advanced international method for ultra-sensitive detection of environmental pollutants has been formed.
2.4 Energy utilization and pollution control
In terms of energy, environment and pollution control, a new technology based on simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification in combustion process has been established by developing advanced low NOx combustion technology and combined denitrification method. By studying the efficient separation and emission reduction methods of CO2 from combustion flue gas and its resource utilization, a bio-synthesis method based on ammonia and algae absorption of CO2 followed by the synthesis of bio-oil is established. The research results have been awarded the 2nd prize of Shanghai Technology Invention Award in 2007 (20073027-2), and the 2nd prize of China Machinery Industry Science and Technology Award in 2007 (0702056).
2.5 Environment and low carbon science
The life cycle of aerosols in atmospheric environment, especially the structure and dissolution process of aerosol ions, is investigated by time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ATOFMS) and atmospheric smoke chamber or aerosol reactor. The important particles with diameters of 0.002~10 µm in the atmosphere are searched, and the formation mechanism of aerosols is studied from a microscopic point of view. The mechanism of multiphase reaction and the determination of semi volatile organic compounds in atmospheric aerosols are studied by electro spray ionization mass spectrometry, and new technologies for aerosol monitoring and analysis are developed.
By studying the self-assembly of two-dimensional and three-dimensional nanostructure DNA molecules, STM and QCM technologies in the field of protein molecular self-assembly have made great progress in the toxicology of atmospheric pollution, soil pollution and water pollution to endogenous organisms, such as: biological applications of atomic force microscopy (AFM), self-assembly of biological macromolecules by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and single-molecule force. More than 20 papers have been published by Nature, Nature Nanotechnology, Journal of the American Chemical Society, ACS Nano and other world-class academic journals.
At present, the ESE department has carried out scientific cooperation and academic exchanges with Germany, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries, and international exchanges have increased significantly.
