ProfessorB.A.Sc., M.A.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Waterloo), F.C.I.C., F.E.I.C., F.C.A.E., F.A.A.A.S., P.Eng.
Frank Dottori Chair in Pulp and Paper Engineering
Principal Investigator, Bioprocess Engineering Lab and BioZone - Centre for Applied Bioscience and Bioengineering
Room: WB363 | Tel: 416-978-8517 | Email: dgrant.allen@utoronto.ca
New Projects Available
- Photocatalytic pretreatment for anaerobic treatment of pulp mill wastewaters (with Frank Gu)
- Microfluidics for direct carbon capture by algae in buildings (with Ben Hatton, MSE)
Currently accepting graduate students? Yes
- MASc
Honours & Awards
Sustained Excellence in Teaching Award 2022, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
The Professor Diran Basmadjian Teacher of the Year Award, Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry
Fellow, Chemical Institute of Canada
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering
Fellow, Engineering Institute of Canada
LeSuer Memorial Award for Technical Excellence, Society of the Chemical Industry, Canada
Chair, Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, 2011-2021
Vice-Dean (Undergraduate Studies), Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, 2007-2011
Memberships
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Canadian Academy of Engineering
Chemical Institute of Canada
Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering
Professional Engineers of Ontario
Research Interests
Environmental Bioprocess Engineering Research
Bioprocess engineering is an exciting and growing field in which chemical engineering principles are applied to the use of biologically-based processes. The field is interdisciplinary, involving biotechnology, chemical engineering, microbiology and biochemistry and has a wide range of application areas including the production of food, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and the treatment of industrial wastes. Students can focus on fundamental engineering, chemistry and/or biology and interact with other faculty and industry on problems of economic and social importance.
One of my main areas of activity is in biological wastewater treatment, particularly as it relates to the pulp and paper industry. This is already applied in industry on a wide scale and continues to show enormous further potential, because of increasingly stringent environmental controls, an emphasis on minimum impact technologies, advances in biotechnology and the remarkable ability of microorganisms to degrade a wide range of pollutants. The work to date has been on understanding and optimizing the biological treatment for a range of compounds and classes of compounds, reducing biosolids discharges/production, linking process operating conditions to system performance, floc microbiology and properties.
More recently, we have been focusing on biologically producing value added products (energy, biopolymers) from wastes and the processing of biological sludges. Specifically, we have several projects that examine the fundamentals of biosludge dewatering and applying novel biopolymers and processes to enhance biosolids processing, reducing energy costs and the environmental footprint. We also are investigating strategies to optimize anaerobic conversion of wastewater and biosolids into fuel. Another new area involves the utilizing wastewater and waste carbon dioxide to grow microalgae and convert it into fuels, chemicals and food. In particular, we have developed a patented ‘wave guide’ technology for growing algal biofilms that will reduce energy costs and allow us to effectively treat wastewater with reduced footprint.
Many of the projects involve looking more in depth at the microbial processes involved in collaboration with microbiologists. In particular, we are interested in how bioreactor operation influences the microbial community and physical/chemical properties of biofilms and flocs in these treatment systems and how this in turn affects transport processes such as mass transfer and settling. We apply advanced molecular techniques to probe microbial community structure and advance microscopy and physical chemical measurements to analyze the physical matrix (biofloc or biofilm).
Our projects also often involve collaborations among engineers (chemical, mechanical, electrical, civil), microbiologists, biologists and chemists and also provide opportunities for advanced professional development (communication skills, team skills, etc.). All of these areas have both engineering (e.g., kinetics, modeling, optimization) and microbiology (e.g., identification, monitoring, molecular biology) aspects and have received significant funding from government and industry.
Selected Publications
Ghazisaidi, H., Tran, H.N., Meyer, T. and Allen, D.G. (2022, in press) “Enhancement of Biosludge Dewatering using Proteins through Dual Conditioning”, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering
Cheung, S.L., Short, S.M. & Allen, D.G. The influence of wastewater pretreatment, attachment material, and inoculation strategy on the growth of target algal species in cultivated biofilms. J Appl Phycol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-021-02637-3
Stephens, S., Mahadevan, K. and Allen, D.G. “Engineering Photosynthetic Processes for Sustainable Chemical Production: A Review”. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 8: 610723, 2021
Ghazisaidi, H., Garcia, R.A., Tran, H.N., Yuan, R. and Allen, D.G. “Enhancing Biosludge Dewaterabilty with Hemoglobin from Waste Blood as a Bioflocculant”, Polymers 12:275502767, 2021
Cheung, S., Allen, D.G. and Short, S., “Specific Quantification of Scenedesmus obliquus and Chlorella vulgaris in Mixed-species Algal Biofilms” Bioresource Technology 295: 122251, 2020
Meyer, T., Amin, P., Tran, H.N. and Allen, D.G., (2018) “Dewatering of Pulp and Paper Mill Biosludge and Primary Sludge”, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 6, 6317-6321
Bonilla, S., and Allen, D.G. , “Cationic Proteins for Enhancing Biosludge Dewatering: A Comparative Assessment of Surface and Conditioning Characteristics of Synthetic Polymers, Surfactants and Proteins”, Separation and Purification Technology 191, 200-207, 2018.
Azimi, Y., Liu, Y., Tan, T.C., Allen, D.G. and Farnood, R.R. “The Tail of Two Models: Impact of Circularity and Biomass Non-Homogeneity on UV Disinfection of Wastewater Flocs”, Water Research 126, 70-78, 2017
Schnurr, P.J., Molenda, O., Edwards, E.A., Espie, G.S. and Allen, D.G. , “Improved biomass productivity in algal biofilms through synergistic interactions between photon flux density and CO2 concentration”, Bioresource Technology 219, 62-79, 2016.
Namazi, A.B., Allen, D.G. and Jia, C.Q., “Benefits of Microwave Heating Method in Production of Activated Carbon”, Can J Chem Eng 94(7)1262-1268, 2016
Meyer, T.,Chen, Xu Tran, H.N., Allen, D.G., Edwards, E.A. Natural freezing-thawing and its impact on dewaterability and anaerobic digestibility of biosludge. Environ. Eng. Sci., 34(5) 357-366, May 2017
Genin, S.N., Aitchison, J.S. and Allen, D.G., “Novel Waveguide for Enhancing Algal Biofilm Growth”, Algal Research 12, 529-538, 2015
Bonilla, S., Tran, H.N. & Allen, D.G., “Enhancing Pulp and Paper Mill Biosludge Dewaterabilty using Enzymes”, Water Research 68, 692-700, 2015.
Dumitrache, A., Eberl, H., Allen, D.G., and Wolfaardt, G.M. “Mathematical Modeling to Validate Online CO2 Measurements as a Metric for Cellulolytic Biofilm Activity in Continuous-flow Bioreactors”, Biochemical Engineering Journal 101, 55-67, 2015
Azimi, Y., Allen, D.G., Seto, P. and Farnood, R. 2014. “Effect of Activated Sludge Retention Time, Operating Temperature and Influent Phosphorus Deficiency on Floc Physicochemical Characteristics and UV Disinfection”, Ind Eng Chem Res.53: 12485-12493, 2014.
Garcia Becerra, F.Y., Acosta, E.J. and Allen, D.G., 2012. Wood Adhesives based on Alkaline Extracts from Wastewater Biosolids and Mustard Protein”, Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 89, 1315-1323
Hayes, A.C., Liss, S.N. and Allen, D.G. 2010. Growth Kinetics of Hyphomicrobium and Thiobacillus spp. In Mixed Cultures Degrading Dimethyl Sulphide and Methanol Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 76, 5423-5431