Metin Duran, PhD
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering | Villanova University
Villanova, PA, UNITED STATES
Metin Duran, PhD, is an expert on using beneficial microorganisms to re-mediate pollutants and remove harmful microorganisms from water.
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Areas of Expertise (4)
Microbial Water Quality
Renewable Energy from Waste
Wastewater Treatment
Water Pollution
Biography
Solving the growing problem of how to treat and remove waste is one of today's most important environmental concerns. Dr. Metin Duran’s professional activities lay on the interface of applied microbiology and engineering. He uses microbiological principles to understand, design, and control biological processes for wastewater treatment, bioremediation, solid and hazardous waste management, and water quality control. Dr. Duran can discuss how to identify and remediate pollutants in waste, and the potential for wastewater reuse. Particularly timely is Duran's research on increasing methane yield at Philadelphia Water Department Water Pollution Control Facilities so that use of methane as a renewable energy source would be economically more feasible. He can also speak about microorganisms that live in extreme environments like thermal vents on Earth and possibly on Mars.
Dr. Duran also leads the Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology (EMB) Laboratory at Villanova, which is engaged in research and education in the applied microbiology area as it relates to biological processes of environmental engineering.
Education (3)
Vanderbilt University: PhD
Vanderbilt University: MS
Istanbul Technical University: BS
Links (1)
Affiliations (2)
- Visiting Scholar, Environmental Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 2013
- Visiting Scholar, Genomics and Microarray Facility, The Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, 2006
Select Media Appearances (6)
Olympics Bet Against Climate Change with Seine Swimming. For Days, it Looked Like They Would Lose
Associated Press online
2024-07-30
Some scientists and engineers said organizers were taking a huge gamble at a time when heavy rains have increased with human-caused climate change, especially in Europe. The rains run off from the urban environment and contribute to higher bacteria levels in the city’s famed river. “They just gambled, flipped the coin and hope for a dry season and it turned out to be the rainiest in the last 30 years,” said Metin Duran, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Villanova University who has researched stormwater management.
Is the Seine Really Clean Enough for Swimming? Depending on the Weather
VeryWell Health online
2024-07-26
Bacterial contamination is not unique to the Seine. Many urban rivers around the world have unsafe levels of runoff from untreated sewage. Frequent and intense storms fueled by climate change have made it more challenging to prevent sewage overflow into these rivers, according to Metin Duran, PhD, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Villanova University.
‘We’re Gonna Swim’: Paris Preps for Olympic Events in Cleaned-Up Seine
Sports Business Journal online
2024-07-22
If new infrastructure can keep polluted water out of the river, organizers might be able to pull off the events. Summer temperatures and sun can help lower bacteria levels in the river, said Metin Duran, civil and environmental engineering professor at Villanova Univ. “As long as they can actually keep the sewage from entering the river for a prolonged period of time before the Games, the pathogen levels will decrease,” Duran said. “They don’t really survive in rivers for a prolonged period of time if the pollution is not there.”
Will the Seine be Clean Enough by the Olympics? Not Even the Experts Know Yet
Associated Press online
2024-07-15
In May, Paris officials inaugurated a giant underground water storage basin next to the Austerlitz train station aimed at collecting excess rainwater and stopping wastewater from entering the Seine. The basin can hold the equivalent of 20 Olympic swimming pools of dirty water that will now be treated and is the centerpiece of major infrastructure improvements that the city has rushed to finish in time for the Games, but to also ensure that Parisians have a cleaner Seine in years to come. “The Seine is not a special case,” said Metin Duran, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Villanova University who has researched stormwater management. “It really is a complicated and very costly problem.”
Olympics 2016: Meet the Fishermen of Rio's Contaminated Guanabara Bay
Yahoo! Sports online
2016-08-01
“Just because there is fecal pollution doesn’t mean it’s 100 percent disease-causing,” said Metin Duran, a professor of environmental engineering at Villanova. “I wouldn’t say this is reassuring; there is definitely risk. It’s just not sure that everyone is going to get sick.”
What a Villanova Professor Can Teach You About Sustainability
Green Philly online
2016-01-07
Driving home from Phillies games, I would watch the lights of the city race by in the backseat of my dad’s car. Along what seemed like an endless stretch of highway, I always knew we were close to home when I spotted the ever burning flame. About 10 years and half a civil engineering education later, I finally learned why there was a constant flame burning in an industrial park next to I-95. This is how the Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant (NEWPCP) used to handle the majority of methane generated from its wastewater treatment operations, a process called flaring. Thanks partly to a number of studies performed by Villanova University’s Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory (a group within the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department), the Philadelphia Water Department can now generate 5.6 MW at the methane co-generation plant constructed at the NEWPCP. This is equivalent to powering 85% of the electrical requirements for plant operations ...
Research Grants (3)
A novel, high temperature anaerobic digestion process for renewable energy from biosolids, animal manure, and cellulosic biomass
American Refining and Biochemical, Inc. $156,240
2010-2013
Villanova Researchers Receive Clean Water Grant from National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation (NSF) $246,942
2012
Pilot-scale investigation of sewage sludge and scum co-digestion
Philadelphia Water Department $38,660
2010
Select Academic Articles (6)
Anaerobic biodegradation of brown grease and its potential as a source of renewable energy
Frontiers in Environmental EngineeringAmy Heindel, Ross Lee, Dan Spracklin, Metin Duran
2024
Bacterial inactivation at a sub-stoichiometric titanium dioxide reactive electrochemical membrane
Journal of Hazardous MaterialsGuo, L., Ding, K. Rockne, K. Duran, M.
2016
Human Immunoglobulin Class G (IgG) Antibody Detection With Photonic Crystal Fiber
Journal of Lightwave TechnologyRabah, J., Mansaray, A., Wynne, R.
2016
Comparison of Overall Resource Consumption of Biosolids Management System Processes Using Exergetic Life Cycle Assessment
Environmental Science and TechnologyAlanya, S., Dewulf, J., and Duran, M.
2015
Hyperthermophilic hydrogen production from wastewater biosolids by Caldicellulosiruptor bescii
International Journal of Hydrogen EnergyYilmazel, Y.D., Johnston, D. and Duran, M.
2015
Is aceticlastic methanogen composition in full-scale anaerobic processes related to acetate utilization capacity?
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology2014
