Areas of Expertise (6)
Solving the growing problem of how to treat and remove waste is one of today's most important environmental concerns. Dr. Metin Duran’s professional activities lay on the interface of applied microbiology and engineering. He uses microbiological principles to understand, design, and control biological processes for wastewater treatment, bioremediation, solid and hazardous waste management, and water quality control. Dr. Duran can discuss how to identify and remediate pollutants in waste, and the potential for wastewater reuse. Particularly timely is Duran's research on increasing methane yield at Philadelphia Water Department Water Pollution Control Facilities so that use of methane as a renewable energy source would be economically more feasible. He can also speak about microorganisms that live in extreme environments like thermal vents on Earth and possibly on Mars.
Dr. Duran also leads the Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology (EMB) Laboratory at Villanova, which is engaged in research and education in the applied microbiology area as it relates to biological processes of environmental engineering.
Vanderbilt University: PhD
Vanderbilt University: MS
Istanbul Technical University: BS
- Visiting Scholar, Genomics and Microarray Facility, The Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, 2016
- Visiting Scholar, Environmental Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 2013
Select Media Appearances (2)
Olympics 2016: Meet the fishermen of Rio's contaminated Guanabara Bay
Yahoo! Sports online
“Just because there is fecal pollution doesn’t mean it’s 100 percent disease-causing,” said Metin Duran, a professor of environmental engineering at Villanova. “I wouldn’t say this is reassuring; there is definitely risk. It’s just not sure that everyone is going to get sick.”
What a Villanova Professor Can Teach You About Sustainability
Green Philly online
Driving home from Phillies games, I would watch the lights of the city race by in the backseat of my dad’s car. Along what seemed like an endless stretch of highway, I always knew we were close to home when I spotted the ever burning flame. About 10 years and half a civil engineering education later, I finally learned why there was a constant flame burning in an industrial park next to I-95. This is how the Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant (NEWPCP) used to handle the majority of methane generated from its wastewater treatment operations, a process called flaring.
Thanks partly to a number of studies performed by Villanova University’s Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory (a group within the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department), the Philadelphia Water Department can now generate 5.6 MW at the methane co-generation plant constructed at the NEWPCP. This is equivalent to powering 85% of the electrical requirements for plant operations ...
Research Grants (3)
A novel, high temperature anaerobic digestion process for renewable energy from biosolids, animal manure, and cellulosic biomass
American Refining and Biochemical, Inc. $156,240
Villanova Researchers Receive Clean Water Grant from National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation (NSF) $246,942
Pilot-scale investigation of sewage sludge and scum co-digestion
Philadelphia Water Department $38,660
Select Academic Articles (5)
Guo, L., Ding, K. Rockne, K. Duran, M.
Rabah, J., Mansaray, A., Wynne, R.
Alanya, S., Dewulf, J., and Duran, M.
Yilmazel, Y.D., Johnston, D. and Duran, M.