Tzahi Y. Cath

Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Dr. Tzahi Y. Cath and his students conduct research in the area of water and wastewater treatment, and specifically they focus on the use of commercial and novel membrane processes. In the area of wastewater treatment and reuse, they investigate the performance and enhancement of on-site wastewater treatment using novel hybrid membrane bioreactors and sequencing batch reactors. In this study, they focus on the simultaneous optimization of energy consumption, chemical use, and nutrient and organic removal. Dr. Cath and his students also explore the use of byproducts such as biosolids for bio-energy production. They investigate novel membrane processes such as osmotically driven membrane processes (forward osmosis and pressure-retarded osmosis) for multi-barrier treatment of domestic and industrial wastewater for ultimate direct potable reuse. Specifically, their research focuses on investigation of solute and solvent mass transport in forward osmosis and the effects of these phenomena on future industrial implementation of the technology.

In the area of desalination, Dr. Cath and his students investigate novel thermally driven membrane processes such as membrane distillation and osmotic distillation. Specifically, they investigate the potential implementation of these processes in industrial settings where low grade heat and impaired water are readily available and high quality water is needed. They also investigate the utilization of the process for harvesting of minerals during desalination of brines. In the area of desalination, they investigate novel thermally and chemically resistant nanofiltration membranes for various industrial applications. In particular, they study the occurrence, characteristics, and treatment of produced water from gas and oil exploration, and specifically coal-bed methane produced water.

Labs and Research Centers

• ConocoPhillips Center for a Sustainable WE²ST
• ReNUWIt

Publications

• Crosson, C., et al., Net zero urban water from concept to applications: Integrating natural, built and social systems for responsive and adaptive solutions, ES&T Water 1 (3) (2021) 518-529.
• Nicholas, E.R. and Cath, T.Y., Evaluation of sequencing batch bioreactor followed by media filtration for organic carbon and nitrogen removal in produced water, J. Water Process Eng., 40 (2021) 101863.
• Newhart, K.B., et al., Prediction of peracetic acid disinfection performance for secondary municipal wastewater treatment using artificial neural networks, ES&T Water 1 (2) (2020) 328-338.
• Klanderman, M.C., Newhart, K.B., Cath, T.Y. and Hering, A.S., Case studies in real-time fault isolation in a decentralized wastewater treatment facility, J. Water Process Eng., 38 (2020) 101556.
• Sedlacko, E.M., et al., Effect of produced water treatment technologies on irrigation-induced metal and salt accumulation in wheat and sunflower, Science of the Total Environment, 740 (2020) 140003.
• Klanderman, M., Newhart, K.B., Cath, T.Y. and Hering, A.S., Fault isolation for a complex decentralized wastewater treatment facility, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 69 (2020) 931-951.
• Newhart, K.B., et al., Hybrid statistical-machine learning ammonia forecasting in continuous activated sludge treatment for improved process control, J. Water Process Eng., 37 (2020) 101389.
• Jassby, D., Cath, T.Y. and Buisson, H., The role of nanotechnology in industrial water treatment, Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 13, August 2018, 670–672.
• Hancock, N.T., Xu, P., Roby, M.J., Gomez, J.D., and Cath, T.Y., Towards direct potable reuse with forward osmosis: Technical assessment of long-term process performance at the pilot scale, Journal of Membrane Science (2013) Accepted.
• Xu, P., Cath, T.Y., Robertson, A.P., Reinhard, M., Leckie, J.O. and Drewes,J.E., Critical review of desalination concentrate management, treatment and beneficial use, Environmental Engineering Science, (2013) Accepted.
• Coday, B., Heil, D.M., Xu, P. and Cath, T.Y., The effects of transmembrane hydraulic pressure on performance of forward osmosis membranes, Environmental Science and Technology, 47 (5) (2013)2386-2393. Supporting Information.
• Siegrist, R.L., McCray, J.E., Lowe, K.S., Cath, T.Y., Munakata-Marr, J, Onsite and decentralized Wastewater Systems: Advances from a decade of research and educational efforts, WATER,February 2013.
• Cath, T.Y., Elimelech, M, McCutcheon, J.R., McGinnis, R.L., Achilli, A., Anastasio, D., Brady, A.R., Childress, A.E., Farr, I.V, Hancock, N.T., Lampi, J., Nghiem, L.D., Xie, M. and Yip, N.Y., Standard methodology for evaluating membrane performance in osmotically driven membrane processes, Desalination 312 (2013) 31-38.
• Hickenbottom, K.L., Hancock, N.T., Hutchings, N.R., Appleton, E.W,. Beaudry, E.G., Xu, P. and Cath, T.Y., Forward osmosis treatment of drilling mud and fracturing wastewater from oil and gas operations, Desalination, 312 (2013) 60-66.
• Hancock, N.T., Black, N. and Cath, T.Y., Life cycle assessment of hybrid osmotically driven membrane processes for seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation, Water Research, 46 (4) (2012)1145–1154. Supporting Information.
• Hancock, N.T., Phillip, W., Elimelech, M., and Cath, T.Y., Modeling bi-directional solute permeation in osmotically driven membrane processes, Environmental Science and Technology, 45 (24) (2011) 10642–10651. Supporting Information
• Nghiem, L.D., Hildinger, F., Hai, F.I. and Cath, T.Y., Treatment of saline aqueous solutions using direct contact membrane distillation, Desalination and Water Treatment, 32 (2011) 234–241.
• Hancock, N.T., Xu, P., Heil, D.M., Bellona, C., and Cath, T.Y., A comprehensive bench- and pilot-scale investigation of trace organic compound rejection by forward osmosis, Environmental Science and Technology, 45 (19) (2011) 8483-8490. Supporting Information
• Cath, T.Y., Drewes, J.E., Lundin, C.D. and Hancock, N.T., Forward osmosis–reverse osmosis process offers a novel hybrid solution for water purification and reuse, IDA Journal on Desalination and Water Reuse, Fourth Quarter 2010, January 2011.
• Nghiem, L.D. and Cath, T.Y., A scaling mitigation approach during direct contact membrane distillation, Separation and Purification Technology, 80 (2) (2011) 315-322.
• Cath, T.Y., Osmotically and thermally driven membrane processes for enhancement of water recovery in desalination processes, Desalination and Water Treatment, 15 (2010) 279–286.
• Cath, T.Y., Hancock, N.T., Lundin, C.D., Hoppe-Jones, C., and Drewes, J.E., “A multi barrier hybrid osmotic dilution process for simultaneous desalination and purification of impaired water”, Journal of Membrane Science, 362 (2010) 417–426.
• Achilli, A., Cath, T.Y. and Childress, A.E., “Selection of inorganic-based draw solutions for forward osmosis applications”, Journal of Membrane Science, 364 (2010) 233–241.