Dr Sabeha Ouki

Biography

Dr. Sabèha Ouki  is a Chemical Engineer with a Diplome d’Ingenieur d’Etat from l’Ecole Nationale Polytechnique, an MSc in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh USA.   Upon graduation she joined the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London as a research fellow where she has worked on the development of novel technologies for water pollution treatment systems. In 1995 she was appointed as a Foundation Fund Lecturer in Environmental Engineering at the University of Surrey and promoted to Reader in 2000.  From 2003-2008 she was Director for Doctoral Research Studies for  the School of Engineering and Director of the MSc Programmes in Water and Environmental Engineering within the Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering Division from 2008 to present. 

Her research interests are mainly focussed on novel water/wastewater treatment processes and systems, contaminated land remediation and waste management issues.   Most of her research activities are funded by industry, EPSRC, TSB and the EU with collaboration at both national and international level. She has in excess of 80 paper publications, supervised 11 Doctoral Students and in excess of 55 MSc Dissertations.  She is currently Deputy Director of the Centre for Environmental and Health Engineering (CEHE).

Research Interests

• Novel water and wastewater treatment processes.
• Process optimisation  techniques  for  anaerobic digestion systems for biofuel production.
• Extent and fate of metal-based manufactured nanoparticles (MNPs) in aqueous and soil systems
• Novel technologies for the conversion and beneficial reuse/application of waste materials
• Development of remediation technologies for contaminated land

NEW RESEARCH PROJECTS

• Optimising advanced anaerobic digestion processes for sustainable energy extraction from sewage sludge- Funded by EPSRC/Thames Water - 2012-2016
• Innovative processes for improving Mesophyllic Anaerobic Digestion (MAD) for efficient biogas production - Collaborative project funded by Thames Water Utilities (2010-2013).
• Development of robust  sustainable wastewater treatment systems- Funded by EPSRC/Thames Water Utilities (2010-2014).

ON-GOING PROJECTS

• Effect of climate change on groundwater pollution in the Jaffna Peninsula Sri Lanka- Development of an integrated water resources management strategy using a 3D hydraulic model coupled with field experiments in Collaboration with Mott MacDonald).
• Assessment of the extent of hydrocarbons pollution of ground and surface waters due to petrochemical activities around the Kaduna Province-Nigeria and development of sustainable short & long term remediation strategies (Petroleum Technology Development Fund).
• Use of novel adsorbents for the removal of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) -Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenezene and Xylene from wastewaters – A kinetic and mechanistic modelling approach.

COMPLETED PhDs - PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR

1. Richard Scriven (1997) - The impact of physical-chemical water treatment of downstream clarification processes.
2. Henrietta Slater (1999) - Enhancing pathogen removal performance of tertiary lagoons.
3. Kate Whitehead (2000) - The application of synthetic zeolites for the removal of heavy metals from effluents.
4. Faith Goodfellow (2001) - Environmental management of chemical incidents; improving the public health response.
5. Karen Stead (2002) - Environmental implications of using natural zeolites clinoptilolite for the remediation of sludge-amended soils.
6. Tim Wilkes (2005) - The treatment of municipal solid waste air pollution control residues with sodium silicate.
7. Saravanan Subramanian (2005) - ANNTAX - An artificial intelligence based decision support system for the management of water treatment works.
8. John Andrews (2006) - Fenton Oxidation of Sewage Sludge for the removal of Potentially Toxic Elements.
9. Marianna Valerie Gonzales (2006) - Enhancing Gas Production in mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD).
10. Priya Vishnu Gadepalle (2009) – The Use of Novel Compost for the remediation of heavy metals contaminated soils.
11. Vasileios Tyryakidis (2010) - Development of an Integrated Water Resources Management Strategy for the Jaffna Peninsula Groundwater Pollution Problems using a 3D hydraulic model (Hydro-3D).

Research Collaborations

Research Collaboration Organisations

• Veolia
• SITA
• Thames Water
• Mott MacDonald
• Stadtwerke Karlsruhe, Germany
• Imperial College London
• University College London
• University of Cambridge
• University of Sheffield
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Karlsrhue, Germany
• University of Cantabria, Spain
• University of Rome La Spienza, Italy
• University College Dublin, Ireland
• Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie Paris, France
• AgroTech Paris, France

Publications

Recent Publications 2006-2011

Cubukcuoglu, B. and Ouki, S.K. (2012)
Solidification/stabilisation of electric arc furnace waste using low grade MgO
Chemosphere, Vol.86, pp789-796, 2012

Mohamed, M. and  Ouki, S. (2011)
Removal Mechanisms of Toluene from Aqueous Solutions by Chitin and Chitosan
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 50(16), pp. 9557-9563.

Mohamed, M., & Ouki, S. K. (2011)
Kinetic and Removal Mechanisms of Ethylbenzene from Contaminated Solutions by Chitin  and Chitosan
Water, Air and Soil Pollution, Vol.220(1-4), pp.131-140.

Mohamed M and Ouki S (2011)
Kinetics and removal mechanisms of a selected refinery wastewater compound –benzene by
chitin and chitosan
12th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology (CEST2011). September 8 – 10, 2011, Rhodes Island, Greece.

Cubukcuoglu, B. and Ouki, S.K. (2011)
Effectiveness of steel slag as a stabilised agent for the treatment of electric arc furnace slag
Eurasia Waste Management Symposium, Istanbul, Turkey – 14-16 November 2011.

A. Shana, S. Ouki,  M. Asaadi, P. Pearce (2011)
Application of an innovative process for improving mesophilic anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge
16th European Biosolids and Organic Resources Conference, November 14-16, Leeds, UK, 2011.

Cubukcuoglu, B. and Ouki, S.K. (2011)
Use of Low Grade MgO to stabilise heavy metals in steel electric arc furnace waste
The 26th International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management,  Philadelphia, PA U.S.A., pp523-533, March 27-30, 2011 pp 523-533.
ISSN 1091-8043

Cubukcuoglu, B. and Ouki, S.K. (2009)
The use of alternative constituents in cement-based solidification/stabilization of electric arc furnace dust –
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Sustainable Management of  Waste and Recycled Materials in Construction, WASCON, Lyon, France, 3 - 5 June 2009.

 Gadepalle VP, Ouki SK, Hutchings T. (2009)
Remediation of copper and cadmium in contaminated soils using compost with inorganic amendments.
Water, Air and Soil Pollution, Vol.196, pp355-368, 2009.

Gadepalle VP, Ouki SK,  Van Herwijnen R, Hutchings T. (2008)
Effects of amended compost on mobility and uptake of arsenic by rye grass in contaminated soil.
Chemosphere, Vol.7, pp1056-1061, 2008.

Gadepalle VP, Ouki SK,  Van Herwijnen R, Hutchings T. (2007)
Immobilisation of heavy metals in soil using natural and waste materials for vegetation establishment on contaminated sites.
Soil and Sediment Contamination, Vol 16 (2), pp 233-251, 2007.

Van Herwijnen R, Hutchings TR, Al-Tabbaa A, Moffat AJ, Johns ML and Ouki SK. (2007)
Remediation of metal contaminated soil with mineral-amended composts
Environmental Pollution,Vol 153(3), pp347-354, 2007.

van Herwijnen R, Al-Tabbaa A, HutchingsTR, Moffat AJ,  Ouki SK, Johns ML. (2007)
The impact of waste compost-based soil amendments on the leaching behaviour of a heavy metal contaminated soil.
Environmental Engineering Science, Vol.24 (7), pp897-904, 2007.

Ouki SK., van Herwijnen R,  Harbottle R, HutchingsTR., Al-Tabbaa A, Johns ML, Moffat AJ
Novel Special-purpose Composts for Sustainable Remediation.
Chapter 8 in Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: Liveable Places from Problem Spaces
Blackwell Publishing, 2007.

Michael J. Harbottle, Michael D. Mantle, Michael L. Johns, René van Herwijnen, Abir Al-Tabbaa, Tony R. Hutchings, Andy J. Moffat and Sabeha K. Ouki
Magnetic resonance imaging of the effect of zeolite on lithium uptake in poplar
Environmental Science and Technology, Vol 41 (10), pp3444-3448, 2007.

Vishnu Priya Gadepalle, Sabeha K Ouki, René van Herwijnen, Tony Hutchings
Sustainable remediation of arsenic contaminated soils using amended compost
10th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology, Vol.A, pp 395-401, 2007.

V.Tyriakidis, R.K. Guganesharajah, S.K.Ouki, B.J.Lloyd
A water management strategy for Salinity Control of the groundwater resources in the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka
Proceedings of 2nd international Conference on Hydrology and  Watershed Management,  Hyderabad, India, Volume 1, pp 512-525, 2007.

J. Andrews, M. Asaadi, B. Clarke, S.K.Ouki, Y.Zagdaa
Managing Dewaterability, Pathogen and Heavy Metal Content in Sewage Sludge Using Fenton’s Reagent
Journal of Residuals, Science and Technology, July 2006.

R.van Herwijen, S.K.Ouki, V.P.Gadepalle , T.R. Hutchings,  A.Al-Tabbaa, A.J.Moffatt, M.L. Johns
Mineral enriched composts for the remediation of heavy metal contaminated sites
22nd Annual International conference on Soils, Sediments and Water. Amherst, Massachusetts, 2006.

J.P. Andrews, M. Asaadi, B. Clarke and S. Ouki
Potentially toxic element release by Fenton oxidation of sewage sludge
Water Science & Technology, Vol.  54 No 5, pp 197–205, 2006.

R.van Herwijen, V.P.Gadepalle, S.K.Ouki, T.Hutchings
Novel technique for sustainable brownfield remediation of arsenic contaminated soils
22nd Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments and Water, Amherst, Massachusetts, October 2006.

R.van Herwijen,  S.K.Ouki, V.P.Gadepalle , T.R. Hutchings,  A.Al-Tabbaa, A.J.Moffatt, M.L. Johns
Zeolite and bentonite enriched compots as soil amendments for the remediation of heavy metals contaminated sites
ICSTEP conference 2006.

van Herwijnen, R., Laverye, T., Ouki, S.K., Al-Tabbaa, A., Hodson, M.E. and Hutchings, T.R The effect of composts on the leaching of metals from contaminated soils
Brownfields 2006-Third International Conference on Prevention, Assessment, Rehabilitation and Development of Brownfield Sites, Tallinn, July, pp 99-108, 2006.

R.van Herwijen, T. Laverye,  S.K.Ouki,  A.Al-Tabbaa, M.E. Hodson, T.R Hutchings
The effect of compost on the leaching properties of metals from contaminated soils
BrownfieldsIII, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 94, pp 99- 110, 2006.

R.van Herwijen, V.P.Gadepalle, S.K.Ouki, T.Hutchings
Testing of two mineral amended composts for remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil: metal immobilisation performance of ryegrass
21st International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management, Philadephia, PA, USA,  March 26-29, 2006.

V.P.Gadepalle, S.K.Ouki, T.Hutchings, R.van Herwijen
Novel Technique for sustainable remediation of Arsenic contaminated soils, 21st International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management, Philadephia, PA, USA,  March 26-29, 2006.

J.P.Andrews, M.Assadi, B.Clarke, S.K.Ouki
Advanced Oxidation Processes in Sewage Sludge Treatment
Sludge 14,- Royal Soiciety of Chemistry in association with Institution of Chemical Engineers,  pp 44-50,  January 2006.

J.P.Andrews, M.Assadi, B.Clarke, S.K.Ouki
Potentially toxic elements release by Fenton oxidation of sewage Sludge
Proceeding of International Water Association- Management  of Residues Emanating from Water and Wastewater Treatment- Johannesburg, South Africa, August 2005.

Teaching

• ENG1051 -  Engineering Practice and Sustainability
• ENG3144 -  Wastewater Treatment Processes and Waste Management
• ENGM036 -  Pollution Control Processes
• Undergraduate/Postgraduate Projects Supervision
• Undergraduate/Postgraduate Personal Tutor

Departmental Duties

• Director  MSc. Water and Environmental Engineering and Water Regulation and Management
• Deputy Director Centre for Environmental Health Engineering
• Member of  Surrey Water: Innovation Research and Learning (SWIRL)

Affiliations

Professional Membership

• Member of the Institution of Chemical Engineers Water Subject group (http://www.icheme.org)
• Member of the International  Water Association   (http://www.iwa.org) 
• Member  of the Network of Industrially Contaminated Land in Europe (http://www.nicole.org)
• Member of  the European Sediment Research Network  (http://www.sednet.org)