Honorary Professor Zhiguo Yuan
Honorary Professor

Zhiguo Yuan

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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

Fields of research

Environmental biotechnology Environmental engineering

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)

Search Professor Zhiguo Yuan’s works on UQ eSpace

805 works between 1992 and 2025
All (805) Journal Article (623) Book Chapter (9) Conference Publication (169) Book (1) Other Outputs (3)

481 - 500 of 805 works

2013

Journal Article

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). Anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled to nitrate reduction in a novel archaeal lineage. Nature, 500 (7464), 567-570. doi: 10.1038/nature12375

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

2013

Conference Publication

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from coastal, estuarine and freshwater systems in subtropical Australia

Musenze, Ronald, Grinham, Alistair, Werner, Ursula, Udy, James and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from coastal, estuarine and freshwater systems in subtropical Australia. European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2013, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2013. Goettingen, Germany: Copernicus.

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from coastal, estuarine and freshwater systems in subtropical Australia

2013

Conference Publication

Effects of sewer conditions on the dissipation of illicit drug residues and metabolites in wastewater

Jiang, Guangming, Thai, Phong, Gernjak, Wolfgang, Yuan, Zhiguo and Mueller, Jochen (2013). Effects of sewer conditions on the dissipation of illicit drug residues and metabolites in wastewater. SPN7 2013: 7th International Conference on Sewer Processes and Networks, Sheffield, UK., 28-30 August, 2013.

Effects of sewer conditions on the dissipation of illicit drug residues and metabolites in wastewater

2013

Journal Article

Controlling chemical dosing for sulfide mitigation in sewer networks using a hybrid automata control strategy

Liu, Yiqi, Ganigue, Ramon, Sharma, Keshab and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Controlling chemical dosing for sulfide mitigation in sewer networks using a hybrid automata control strategy. Water Science and Technology, 68 (12), 2584-2590. doi: 10.2166/wst.2013.525

Controlling chemical dosing for sulfide mitigation in sewer networks using a hybrid automata control strategy

2013

Conference Publication

A novel free nitrous acid (FNA)-based technology for enhancing methane production from waste activated sludge

Wang, Q., Ye, L., Jiang, G., Jensen, P., Batstone, D. and Yuan, Z. (2013). A novel free nitrous acid (FNA)-based technology for enhancing methane production from waste activated sludge. LET 2013: 10th IWA Leading Edge Conference on Water and Waste Water Technologies 2013, Bordeaux, France, 2-6 June, 2013.

A novel free nitrous acid (FNA)-based technology for enhancing methane production from waste activated sludge

2013

Conference Publication

Australia field trials of H2S odour control in a rising main sewer by dosing free nitrous acid

Jiang, G., Keating, A., Corrie, S., O'Halloran, K., Nguyen, L. and Yuan, Z. (2013). Australia field trials of H2S odour control in a rising main sewer by dosing free nitrous acid. 5th IWA Conference on Odors and Air Emissions jointly held with 10th Conference on Biofiltration for Air Pollution Control, San Francisco, CA, USA., 4-7 March, 2013.

Australia field trials of H2S odour control in a rising main sewer by dosing free nitrous acid

2013

Conference Publication

Impact of reduced water consumption on sulfide and methane production in rising main sewers

Sun, Jing, Hu, Shihu, Sharma, Keshab Raj and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Impact of reduced water consumption on sulfide and methane production in rising main sewers. IWA-SPN7: 7th International Conference on Sewer Processes and Networks, Sheffield, UK, 28-30 August, 2013. Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.02.041

Impact of reduced water consumption on sulfide and methane production in rising main sewers

2013

Journal Article

Effect of long-term starvation conditions on polyphosphate- and glycogen-accumulating organisms

Vargas, M., Yuan, Z. and Pijuan, M. (2013). Effect of long-term starvation conditions on polyphosphate- and glycogen-accumulating organisms. Bioresource Technology, 127, 126-131. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.09.117

Effect of long-term starvation conditions on polyphosphate- and glycogen-accumulating organisms

2013

Conference Publication

Development and field trials of a novel technology for sulfide and methane control in sewers

Jiang, Guangming, Keating, Anthony, Corrie, Shaun, Ohalloran, Kelly, Nguyen, Lam and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Development and field trials of a novel technology for sulfide and methane control in sewers. Ozwater’13, Perth, WA, Australia, 7-9 May, 2013.

Development and field trials of a novel technology for sulfide and methane control in sewers

2013

Conference Publication

Methane bubbling: from speculation to quantification

Grinham, Alistair, Dunbabin, Matthew and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Methane bubbling: from speculation to quantification. American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2013, San Francisco, CA, USA, 9-13 December, 2013.

Methane bubbling: from speculation to quantification

2013

Journal Article

Evaluating four mathematical models for nitrous oxide production by autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria

Ni, Bing-Jie, Yuan, Zhiguo, Chandran, Kartik, Vanrolleghem, Peter A. and Murthy, Sudhir (2013). Evaluating four mathematical models for nitrous oxide production by autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 110 (1), 153-163. doi: 10.1002/bit.24620

Evaluating four mathematical models for nitrous oxide production by autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria

2013

Conference Publication

A novel methodology to quantify nitrous oxide emission from wastewater treatment systems with surface aerators

Ye, L., Ni, B.J., Law, Y., Byers, C. and Yuan, Z. (2013). A novel methodology to quantify nitrous oxide emission from wastewater treatment systems with surface aerators. 10th IWA Leading Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies, Bordeaux, France, 03-06 June 2013.

A novel methodology to quantify nitrous oxide emission from wastewater treatment systems with surface aerators

2013

Conference Publication

Sulfide control in sewers by intermittently dosing acidified nitrite: from scientific discovery to application

Yuan, Zhiguo, Jiang, Guangming, Keating, Tony, Corrie, Shaun, O'Halloran, Kelly and Nguyen, Lam (2013). Sulfide control in sewers by intermittently dosing acidified nitrite: from scientific discovery to application. SPN7 2013: 7th International Conference on Sewer Processes and Networks, Sheffield, UK, 28-30 August, 2013.

Sulfide control in sewers by intermittently dosing acidified nitrite: from scientific discovery to application

2013

Conference Publication

Subtropical freshwater storages: a major source of nitrous oxide and methane?

Sturm, Katrin, Grinham, Alistair and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Subtropical freshwater storages: a major source of nitrous oxide and methane?. European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2013, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2013. Goettingen, Germany: Copernicus.

Subtropical freshwater storages: a major source of nitrous oxide and methane?

2013

Journal Article

Nitrogen removal from wastewater by coupling anammox and methane-dependent denitrification in a membrane biofilm reactor

Shi, Ying, Hu, Shihu, Lou, Juqing, Lu, Peili, Keller, Jurg and Yuan, Zhiguo (2013). Nitrogen removal from wastewater by coupling anammox and methane-dependent denitrification in a membrane biofilm reactor. Environmental Science and Technology, 47 (20), 11577-11583. doi: 10.1021/es402775z

Nitrogen removal from wastewater by coupling anammox and methane-dependent denitrification in a membrane biofilm reactor

2012

Journal Article

Phosphorus recovery from wastewater through microbial processes

Yuan, Zhiguo, Pratt, Steven and Batstone, Damien J. (2012). Phosphorus recovery from wastewater through microbial processes. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 23 (6), 878-883. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2012.08.001

Phosphorus recovery from wastewater through microbial processes

2012

Journal Article

Control filamentous bulking caused by chlorine-resistant Type 021N bacteria through adding a biocide CTAB

Guo, Jianhua, Peng, Yongzhen, Wang, Zhongwei, Yuan, Zhiguo, Yang, Xiong and Wang, Shuying (2012). Control filamentous bulking caused by chlorine-resistant Type 021N bacteria through adding a biocide CTAB. Water Research, 46 (19), 6531-6542. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2012.09.037

Control filamentous bulking caused by chlorine-resistant Type 021N bacteria through adding a biocide CTAB

2012

Journal Article

Aerobic sludge granulation: a tale of two polysaccharides?

Seviour, Thomas, Yuan, Zhiguo, van Loosdrecht, Mark C. M. and Lin, Yuemei (2012). Aerobic sludge granulation: a tale of two polysaccharides?. Water Research, 46 (15), 4803-4813. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2012.06.018

Aerobic sludge granulation: a tale of two polysaccharides?

2012

Journal Article

Effect of pH on N2O reduction and accumulation during denitrification by methanol utilizing denitrifiers

Pan, Yuting, Ye, Liu, Ni, Bing-Jie and Yuan, Zhiguo (2012). Effect of pH on N2O reduction and accumulation during denitrification by methanol utilizing denitrifiers. Water Research, 46 (15), 4832-4840. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2012.06.003

Effect of pH on N2O reduction and accumulation during denitrification by methanol utilizing denitrifiers

2012

Journal Article

Improving secondary sludge biodegradability using free nitrous acid treatment

Pijuan, Maite, Wang, Qilin, Ye, Liu and Yuan, Zhiguo (2012). Improving secondary sludge biodegradability using free nitrous acid treatment. Bioresource Technology, 116, 92-98. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.04.016

Improving secondary sludge biodegradability using free nitrous acid treatment

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

    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

  • Doctor Philosophy

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

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Xueqin Zhang, Dr Bernardino Virdis

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Honorary Professor Zhiguo Yuan directly for media enquiries about:

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

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