University of Zagreb

Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering

Category: Inženjerstvo okoliša

The Unit for Process Engineering conducts experimental research on individual processes and explores the possibility of applying new technologies in environmental engineering. Since photocatalysis is recognized as the best alternative technique for the purification of water and air, NRT (CWW BREF), special attention is paid to photocatalytic engineering and the processes of water and air purification on a laboratory and semi-industrial scale. For that purpose the Laboratory is equipped with experimental systems (reactors, pumps, the sources of UV and simulated sun radiation) for the photocatalytic treatment of air and water, a semi-industrial machine of an optimal geometry for thin-layer solar photocatalysis, several instruments and the accompanying equipment for the analysis of gases, air quality and wastewater. The Unit for Process Engineering is going to be fully equipped within the „Otpad i Sunce u službi fotokatalitičke razgradnje Mikroonečišćivala u vodama (OS-Mi)“ project. New equipment includes an automatic semi-industrial unit for the solar photocatalysis of a CPC type, state-of-the-art analytical equipment for detecting micro pollutants in surface water and other small and medium-size laboratory equipment. The application of new catalytic active materials used for the purification of leachate and the removal of landfill gases (ammonia and methane) from air currents is examined together with the Institute Ruđer Bošković within a project financed by the Croatian Science Foundation (CSF).

For the purpose of researching the process of bio-drying waste from the perspective of process engineering a bioreactor cell has been made, in which the processes of bio-drying and composting are possible. The cell can be used for preparing waste samples for testing in a triaxial device in such a way that a waste sample is brought into a desired degradation state through the process of bio-drying or composting. (Unit for Waste Mechanics).

The Unit for Process Engineering with its equipment enables scientific-research work for various purposes, such as writing bachelor, master and doctoral theses, conducting laboratory testing for scientific projects, no matter what the sources of financing are, and conducting research for the purpose of the realization of curricula. The Unit for Process Engineering enables undergraduate and graduate students to do extracurricular scientific work and since its opening it has been a centre where students work in teams and write papers which are nominated for the Rector`s award.

A long-term aim of the Unit for Process Engineering is to become a laboratory which will:
- be a centre for educating new environmental engineers from the perspective of process engineering
- conduct custom-made research for industry and companies in general
- serve as a space for the popularization of science in the are of new technologies and products in environmental engineering

Currently, the research in the Unit for Process Engineering is being conducted by:
Izv.prof.dr.sc. Ivana Grčić
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Dr.sc. Lucija Radetić
Kristina Miklec, mag.ing.amb.