ITU En3Lab Research Group

A review article from our research group was recently published in the Journal of Water Process Engineering. The paper examines pilot- and full-scale applications of microalgae-based wastewater treatment, highlighting current technology, key challenges, and future perspectives.

Pelin Duru ÇUKURLU from our research group has been selected as a TÜBİTAK STAR Scholar! We congratulate her for achieving this significant success, driven by her passion for science and research. @Tubitak @itu1773

Our study, published in the Biomass and Bioenergy journal, investigated the digestibility of excess sludge from the A2O process, HRAS+MBR system, and AGS process, demonstrating that different wastewater treatment configurations influence sludge digestibility.

Today, Assistant Prof. Antonio Mineo from the University of Palermo delivered a lecture entitled “Bioplastic Production from Sewage Sludge”. His insights into resource recovery and circular approaches provided valuable perspectives. We sincerely thank him for his contribution.

What we see as waste today can become tomorrow’s clean energy—and our research is dedicated to making that transformation possible.

Our study, published in the Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy journal, shows that an integrated aerobic granular sludge–membrane filtration–UV disinfection system enables the safe and sustainable reuse of treated municipal wastewater for agricultural irrigation.

Today we had 61. En3Lab Scientific Meeting Beril Çavdar made an informative presentation on “Sustainable treatment of DIE using an integrated anaerobic membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis system for industrial water reuse”. We would like to thank her for the great presentation.

Oxygen-free and thriving. ⚡️ Our AD system turns sludge into gold (well, biogas). It’s the quiet, introverted powerhouse of the renewable energy world.

A researcher from our group co-authored a study in the International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology evaluating LCA-based use of fly ash, olive cake ash, and zeolite instead of cement for expansive soil stabilization, with fly ash showing the best performance.

We launched our ITU Research Start-Up Support Project: “Cultivation of Halotolerant Microalgae in a Urine–SeawaterMixture for Nutrient Recovery and Circular Economy”, focusing on nutrient recovery, circular economy, and sustainable microalgae cultivation strategies.

Our study, published in Biomass&Bioenergy, shows that chitosan-assisted microalgae harvesting and co-digestion with dairy wastewater enhance biomethane production. LCA results indicate that biofuel production has superior environmental performance than feed and biogas production.

Not exactly the Academy Awards, but we’re crowning our own favorites anyway.

2025 in Hindsight: From Breakthroughs to Shared Smiles.

So many moments that quietly turned into beautiful memories.

Prof. Mustafa Evren Ersahin from our research group delivered a presentation titled “Wastewater Reuse:New Approaches and Applications” at the “Water Awareness and Scarcity Workshop”, organized by Maramara University Idea Training Club. We sincerely thank them for kind invitation.

Today, Prof. Mustafa Evren Ersahin delivered a lecture titled “Energy Management in Wastewater Treatment” at the Türkiye-Iraq Joint Permanent Water Committee. We would like to thank the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and SUEN for their kind invitation. @SUEN_gov @TCTarim

Today, as a whole research group, we talked about projects, studies, good news and funny moments in 2025. Thank you to our entire research team for all happy moments we had in 2025. Best wishes to everyone in 2026.

Kayıt Linki: itu-edu-tr.zoom.us/meeting/regist…

TÜBITAK tarafindan desteklenen "Döngüsel Ekonomi Konseptinde Kentsel Atıksu Arıtma Tesislerinde Enerji ve Amonyum Geri Kazanımı (Proje No:123Y019)”1001 projesi kapsamında;18.12.2025 tarihinde 09:30-12:15 arasında gerçekleştirilecek çalıştayımıza katılımınızdan memnuniyet duyarız.

Lab equipment puzzle: unlocked 🔬🧩