Invited Speaker

Abstract: In this study, the performance of a medium sized industrial wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), in Kuwait, was investigated. The industrial wastewater treatment plant is of 7,500 m3/d capacity, and its treatment scheme is composed of primary reception lagoons, primary chemical treatment with dissolved air flotation (DAF) units, and an activated sludge process. With the overall objective of identifying retrofitting scenarios for the plant, the study objectives were to assess the current bottlenecks, identify specific performance related operational parameters, and propose options for expansion or ex-site replication. The wastewater treatment plant was operated well below its capacity (3,500 to 5,000 m3/d), it was found to produce excessive sludge after the primary chemical treatment due to use of chemicals and lower efficiency of the activated sludge process due to low biological community population caused by the inhibitive chemical contained in the industrial wastewater and introduced by the primary chemical treatment. Potential retrofitting scenarios were found to be the segregation of the received industrial wastewater by industry type, replacement of the chemical treatment by primary treatment stage with anaerobic biological reactor, and the use of an integrated film process instead of the conventional activated sludge process. It was found that through the use of the integrated film process (aerobic), the effluent could achieve 20 mg/l COD and dissolved oxygen > 2.0 mg/l.

Biography: Dr. Mohamed Elmuntasir Ahmed is Research Scientist at the Water Research Center (WRC) of Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). He obtained B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Civil Engineering from Bradley University and PhD in Environmental Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), USA, 2000. He was engaged as an international staff with UN and World bank in large infrastructure projects in over eleven countries. He has gained management experience at the regional level. He has been involved in institutional strengthening and policy development as part of his UN and World bank engagement. Dr Elmuntasir has also worked as an academic and research professor. Current research interest includes wastewater reuse, industrial wastewater treatment and management, biological treatment processes, ion-exchange membrane processes, adsorption processes.

Services to Research and Academic Institutions: Reviewer for international scientific journals. Editor for the Sudan Engineering Society, Journal and the International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management.

Professional Association Memberships: Has been member of water environment federation (WEF), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Fellow of the Sudan Engineering Society (SEC).

Project Activities: Regional project manager, project leader/principal investigator of many research projects, consultancies and regional/international studies prior to joining KISR.

Publications: Authored over 30 publications in refereed scientific journals and conferences. Over 30 technical reports have been written for various projects.

International Participation: Invited, participated, organized, presented in many international conferences and fora.