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Honorary Professor Zhiguo Yuan
Honorary Professor

Zhiguo Yuan

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Overview

Background

Prof Yuan received his PhD degree in aeronautical engineering in 1992 from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China. He changed research direction to wastewater management in 1994, when he took up a postdoctoral research fellow position at Ghent University, Belgium. He joined the Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), renamed as the Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology in July 2021, at The University of Queensland in 1998. He served as the AWMC Deputy Director 2001-2014, and then the AWMC/ACWEB Director in 2015 to July 2022. His research focuses on development of innovative solutions for urban water management and environmental biotechnology through effective integration of fundamental science and applied engineering. He won over $50M in government, industry and university research funding including many ARC Discovery, Linkage and Fellowship grants, mostly as the lead Chief Investigator. Prof Yuan was one of the founding members of the $117m Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities. He has published intensively both in specialised journals such as Water Research and Environmental Science and Technology, and multidisciplinary journals including Nature and Science. He is the founder of three biotechnology businesses namely SeweX, Cloevis and Lodomat, and his research has delivered documented savings of hundreds of millions of dollars to the Australian water industry. His research achievements and leadership have been recognized through major national and international awards including the 2015 ATSE Clunies Ross Award and the International Water Association (IWA) 2014 Global Project Innovation Award (Applied Research Category). Prof Yuan was named as one of Engineers Australia’s Top 100 Most Influential Engineers for 2015. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), an IWA Distinguished Fellow, and was awarded the highly prestigious ARC Australian Laureate Fellowship in 2017. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in January 2019.

Availability

Honorary Professor Zhiguo Yuan is:
Not available for supervision
Media expert

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics

Research interests

  • Integrated Urban Water Management

    A whole-of-system approach to managing multiple water resources in an urban water cycle and multiple elements in an urban water system.

  • Digital water

    Descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive data analytics for proactive urban water management

  • Sustainable carbon bioeconomy

    Gas fermentation to convert organic wastes to carbon commodities

  • Corrosion and odour management in sewers systems

    Effective control of H2S production in sewer systems and minimise its effect on sewer corrosion and odour generation

  • Sludge management in wastewater treatment systems

    Innovative technologies for enhancing bioenergy recovery from wastewater and reducing sludge production

  • Greenhouse gas emissions from water and wastewater systems

    Fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater systems including CH4 emission in sewers, N2O emission from wastewater treatment processes and CH4 and N2O emissions from estuaries, dams and bays

  • Biological nutrient removal and recovery

    Innovative technologies and fundamental science for biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal and recovery from wastewater

Research impacts

  • His research in sewer management has fundamentally changed practice of many Australian water utilities in corrosion and odour management in sewers. The documented savings to date for the water industry amounts to approximately $400 million, based on the testimonial letters provided by industry partners.
  • He has collaborated with almost all major water utilities in Australia through many ARC Industry Linkage projects as well as a large number of collaborative research projects.
  • He was a founding and Executive Committee member of the $117 million Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cites, with over 80 industry partners, and led the Future Technologies Program Leader.
  • Established SeweX, a consulting company under UniQuest Pty Ltd, in 2008. SeweX has undertaken over $3 million consulting work since 2009. Clients included both Australian water utilities and companies from overseas. SeweX has been recently licensed to Envirosuite, an ASX listed technology company.
  • Established Cloevis Pty Ltd, a spin-off company from my sewer research. The company has licenced its patented technology on biofilm removal from sewer pipes to USP Technologies (US).
  • His research on sludge treatment using free nitrous acid has led to the development of the patented Lodomat technology that substantially increases biogas production from wastewater sludge. The technology has recently attracted >$5M (+ >$4M in-kind) industry and government funding for pilot plant demonstrations.
  • His research has frequently attracted media attention, with many articles published in newspapers such as The Australian and The Courier Mail, the News Agency Websites (e.g. ABC, Xinhua Agency), and industry magazines, newsletters and websites. Five of his papers have Altmetric Attention Scores that are in the top 5% of the 6.4 million research outputs tracked.
  • He is an Editor of Water Research, a top journal in water science and technology.
  • He published over 500 papers in internationally leading journals (the full list and citation record: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1IPdGqkAAAAJ&hl=en)

Works

Search Professor Zhiguo Yuan’s works on UQ eSpace

805 works between 1992 and 2025

461 - 480 of 805 works

2013

Journal Article

In-situ caustic generation from sewage: The impact of caustic strength and sewage composition

Pikaar, Ilje, Rozendal, Renne A., Rabaey, Korneel and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). In-situ caustic generation from sewage: The impact of caustic strength and sewage composition. Water Research, 47 (15), 5828-5835. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.07.007

In-situ caustic generation from sewage: The impact of caustic strength and sewage composition

2013

Journal Article

Volumetric mass transfer coefficients of dilute SO2 absorption into aqueous of sodium phosphate in packed column

Yuan, Zhi-Guo, Liu, You-Zhi and Peng, Bo (2013). Volumetric mass transfer coefficients of dilute SO2 absorption into aqueous of sodium phosphate in packed column. Xiandai Huagong/Modern Chemical Industry, 33 (10), 112-115.

Volumetric mass transfer coefficients of dilute SO2 absorption into aqueous of sodium phosphate in packed column

2013

Journal Article

Erratum: Anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled to nitrate reduction in a novel archaeal lineage

Haroon, Mohamed F., Hu, Shihu, Shi, Ying, Imelfort, Michael, Keller, Jurg, Hugenholtz, Philip, Yuan, Zhiguo and Tyson, Gene W. (2013). Erratum: Anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled to nitrate reduction in a novel archaeal lineage. Nature, 501 (7468), 578-578. doi: 10.1038/nature12619

Erratum: Anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled to nitrate reduction in a novel archaeal lineage

2013

Journal Article

Breakage and growth towards a stable aerobic granule size during the treatment of wastewater

Verawaty, Marieska, Tait, Stephan, Pijuan, Maite, Yuan, Zhiguo and Bond, Philip L. (2013). Breakage and growth towards a stable aerobic granule size during the treatment of wastewater. Water Research, 47 (14), 5338-5349. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.06.012

Breakage and growth towards a stable aerobic granule size during the treatment of wastewater

2013

Journal Article

Dosing free nitrous acid for sulfide control in sewers: results of field trials in Australia

Jiang, Guangming, Keating, Anthony, Corrie, Shaun, O'halloran, Kelly, Lam Nguyen and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Dosing free nitrous acid for sulfide control in sewers: results of field trials in Australia. Water Research, 47 (13), 4331-4339. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.05.024

Dosing free nitrous acid for sulfide control in sewers: results of field trials in Australia

2013

Journal Article

Fossil organic carbon in wastewater and its fate in treatment plants

Law, Yingyu, Jacobsen, Geraldine E., Smith, Andrew M., Yuan, Zhiguo and Lant, Paul (2013). Fossil organic carbon in wastewater and its fate in treatment plants. Water Research, 47 (14), 5270-5281. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.06.002

Fossil organic carbon in wastewater and its fate in treatment plants

2013

Journal Article

Effect of H2S on N2O Reduction and Accumulation during Denitrification by Methanol Utilizing Denitrifiers

Pan, Yuting, Ye, Liu and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Effect of H2S on N2O Reduction and Accumulation during Denitrification by Methanol Utilizing Denitrifiers. Environmental Science & Technology, 47 (15), 8408-8415. doi: 10.1021/es401632r

Effect of H2S on N2O Reduction and Accumulation during Denitrification by Methanol Utilizing Denitrifiers

2013

Journal Article

The confounding effect of Nitrite on N2O production by an enriched Ammonia-Oxidizing culture

Law, Yingyu, Lant, Paul and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). The confounding effect of Nitrite on N2O production by an enriched Ammonia-Oxidizing culture. Environmental Science and Technology, 47 (13), 7186-7194. doi: 10.1021/es4009689

The confounding effect of Nitrite on N2O production by an enriched Ammonia-Oxidizing culture

2013

Journal Article

A free nitrous acid (FNA)-based technology for reducing sludge production

Wang, Qilin, Ye, Liu, Jiang, Guangming and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). A free nitrous acid (FNA)-based technology for reducing sludge production. Water Research, 47 (11), 3663-3672. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.04.016

A free nitrous acid (FNA)-based technology for reducing sludge production

2013

Journal Article

Mathematical modeling of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from full-scale wastewater treatment plants

Ni, Bing-Jie, Ye, Liu, Law, Yingyu, Byers, Craig and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Mathematical modeling of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from full-scale wastewater treatment plants. Environmental Science and Technology, 47 (14), 7795-7803. doi: 10.1021/es4005398

Mathematical modeling of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from full-scale wastewater treatment plants

2013

Journal Article

Inactivation kinetics of anaerobic wastewater biofilms by free nitrous acid

Jiang, Guangming and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Inactivation kinetics of anaerobic wastewater biofilms by free nitrous acid. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 98 (3), 1367-1376. doi: 10.1007/s00253-013-5031-6

Inactivation kinetics of anaerobic wastewater biofilms by free nitrous acid

2013

Journal Article

Electron competition among nitrogen oxides reduction during methanol-utilizing denitrification in wastewater treatment

Pan, Yuting, Ni, Bing-Jie, Bond, Philip L., Ye, Liu and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Electron competition among nitrogen oxides reduction during methanol-utilizing denitrification in wastewater treatment. Water Research, 47 (10), 3273-3281. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.02.054

Electron competition among nitrogen oxides reduction during methanol-utilizing denitrification in wastewater treatment

2013

Journal Article

Hydrolysis, acidification and dewaterability of waste activated sludge under alkaline conditions: Combined effects of NaOH and Ca(OH)(2)

Su, Gaoqiang, Huo, Mingxin, Yuan, Zhiguo, Wang, Shuying and Peng, Yongzhen (2013). Hydrolysis, acidification and dewaterability of waste activated sludge under alkaline conditions: Combined effects of NaOH and Ca(OH)(2). Bioresource Technology, 136, 237-243. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2013.03.024

Hydrolysis, acidification and dewaterability of waste activated sludge under alkaline conditions: Combined effects of NaOH and Ca(OH)(2)

2013

Journal Article

Synergistic inactivation of anaerobic wastewater biofilm by free nitrous acid and hydrogen peroxide

Jiang, Guangming and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Synergistic inactivation of anaerobic wastewater biofilm by free nitrous acid and hydrogen peroxide. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 250, 91-98. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.01.047

Synergistic inactivation of anaerobic wastewater biofilm by free nitrous acid and hydrogen peroxide

2013

Journal Article

Confinement of chemisorbed phosphates in a controlled nanospace with three-dimensional mesostructures

Yang, Jie, Zhou, Liang, Zhang, Jun, Zou, Jin, Yuan, Zhiguo and Yu, Chengzhong (2013). Confinement of chemisorbed phosphates in a controlled nanospace with three-dimensional mesostructures. Chemistry-A European Journal, 19 (18), 5578-5585. doi: 10.1002/chem.201300273

Confinement of chemisorbed phosphates in a controlled nanospace with three-dimensional mesostructures

2013

Journal Article

Impact of iron salt dosage to sewers on downstream anaerobic sludge digesters: sulfide control and methane production

Ge, Huoqing, Zhang, Lishan, Batstone, Damien J., Keller, Jurg and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Impact of iron salt dosage to sewers on downstream anaerobic sludge digesters: sulfide control and methane production. Journal of Environmental Engineering, 139 (4), 594-601. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0000650

Impact of iron salt dosage to sewers on downstream anaerobic sludge digesters: sulfide control and methane production

2013

Journal Article

Effects of nitrate dosing on methanogenic activity in a sulfide-producing sewer biofilm reactor

Jiang, Guangming, Sharma, Keshab Raj and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Effects of nitrate dosing on methanogenic activity in a sulfide-producing sewer biofilm reactor. Water Research, 47 (5), 1783-1792. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2012.12.036

Effects of nitrate dosing on methanogenic activity in a sulfide-producing sewer biofilm reactor

2013

Journal Article

A model-based assessment of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide production in membrane-aerated autotrophic nitrogen removal biofilm systems

Ni, Bing-Jie and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). A model-based assessment of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide production in membrane-aerated autotrophic nitrogen removal biofilm systems. Journal of Membrane Science, 428, 163-171. doi: 10.1016/j.memsci.2012.10.049

A model-based assessment of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide production in membrane-aerated autotrophic nitrogen removal biofilm systems

2013

Journal Article

The effect of free nitrous acid on key anaerobic processes in enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems

Ye, Liu, Pijuan, Maite and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). The effect of free nitrous acid on key anaerobic processes in enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems. Bioresource Technology, 130, 382-389. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.11.127

The effect of free nitrous acid on key anaerobic processes in enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems

2013

Journal Article

Laboratory assessment of bioproducts for sulphide and methane control in sewer systems

Sudarjanto, Gatut, Gutierrez, Oriol, Ren, Guo and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Laboratory assessment of bioproducts for sulphide and methane control in sewer systems. Science of the Total Environment, 443, 429-437. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.10.083

Laboratory assessment of bioproducts for sulphide and methane control in sewer systems

Supervision

Availability

Honorary Professor Zhiguo Yuan is:
Not available for supervision

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Airflow and temperature modelling for sewers

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Jiuling Li

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding of Ventilation-Based Drying for Sewer Corrosion Control

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Jiuling Li, Dr Zhetai Hu

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Data quality assurance in digitalisation of urban water management

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Helen Huang, Dr Jiuling Li, Dr Ruihong Qiu

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Extracellular Electron Transfer-Facilitated Microbial Conversion of Methanol by Eubacterium limosum

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Xueqin Zhang, Dr Bernardino Virdis

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Understanding of Condensation-induced Concrete Corrsoion in the Sewer Crown Region

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Damien Batstone, Dr Jiuling Li

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Integrated use of magnesium and iron chemicals in urban wastewater systems

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Zhetai Hu

  • Doctor Philosophy

    In-depth understanding of bioprocess and microbial community in a novel methane-based membrane biofilm reactor

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Jianhua Guo

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

Contact Honorary Professor Zhiguo Yuan directly for media enquiries about:

  • Corrosion - sewers
  • Odour - sewers
  • Sewers
  • Wastewater management
  • Wastewater treatment
  • Water treatment

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au