Contact Professor Ana Soares
- Tel: +44 (0) 1234 758121
- Email: a.soares@cranfield.ac.uk
- Twitter: @Soares_UK
- ORCID
Areas of expertise
- Energy and the Environment
- Systems Engineering
- Water Science and Engineering
Background
Professor Ana Soares holds a MEng in Biotechnology Engineering from Algarve University (Portugal) and a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Lund University (Sweden) with a project entitled “Biodegradation of the Recalcitrant Endocrine Disruptor Nonylphenol”. Her PhD formed part of national research program COLDREM (Soil Remediation in Cold Climate) and was supported by MISTRA (Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.
Current activities
Dr Ana Soares is a Professor of Biotechnology Engineering specialised in environmental water protection and resource recovery currently working at Cranfield University in the UK. She holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Lund University, in Sweden and a MEng in Biotechnology Engineering from Algarve University in Portugal.
Her
work focuses in municipal as well as industrial wastewater management,
proposing innovative and economically feasible solutions to produce high
quality effluents and product recovery. Prof Soares research explores the
underpinning science required to develop and manage bioreactors employing new
biological organisms, cultures or pathways in order to develop or optimise
technologies and deliver the circular economy. Her scientific findings have resulted in leading-edge
processes and technological innovations that contribute, worldwide, to
sustainable solutions for effluent treatment. She is particularly
successful in bridging the gap between science and application, working in
close collaboration with industrial and institutional stakeholders. Prof Soares
is an IWA Fellow, active member of various national and international
committees, the editor in chief of the Water and Environment Journal and
associate editor for Water Research.
Prof Soares has a track record of winning and delivering research for: research council projects through a NERC CASE Studentship; organisations such as the Environment Agency (EA) and Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and European Union (EU) (COST ACTION WATER2020, Nov 2012) and Horizon 2020. She is the Cranfield PI in EU H2020 SMART-PLANT Project (https://www.smart-plant.eu) nextGen (https://nextgenwater.eu/) and the completed H2020 ENERWATER (http://www.enerwater.eu). Over her 14 years at Cranfield she had the opportunity to deliver projects to industrial clients such as water utilities (Yorkshire Water, Thames Water, Severn Trent, Scottish Water, etc.), petrochemical and chemical industries (Shell, Conoco Philips, Huntsman Chemicals, Nufarm, Tata Steel, etc.) as well as technical suppliers (Warden Biomedia). She has also chaired the 3th IWA Specialized International Conference on Ecotechnologies for Wastewater Treatment (2016) and the 16th IWA Leading Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies (LET2019). Dr Soares is an active member of various national and international committees (e.g.: IWA Resource Recovery Cluster, IChemE UK Research Committee, UK Water Industry Forum).
Clients
- Scottish Water
- Thames Water
- Yorkshire Water
- Anglian Water
- Severn Trent
- Environmental Agency
- Warden Biomedia
- Huntsman Chemicals
- ConocoPhillips
- Tata Steel
- NERC
- Technology Strategy Board
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Leng Y & Soares A (2023) Microbial phosphorus removal and recovery by struvite biomineralisation in comparison to chemical struvite precipitation in municipal wastewater, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 11 (2) Article No. 109208.
- Ochs P, Martin B, Germain-Cripps E, Stephenson T, van Loosdrecht M & Soares A (2023) Techno-economic analysis of sidestream ammonia removal technologies: biological options versus thermal stripping, Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, 13 (January) Article No. 100220. Dataset/s: 10.17862/cranfield.rd.21257802
- Guida S, Van Peteghem L, Luquami B, Sakarika M, McLeod A, McAdam EJ, Jefferson B, Rabaey K & Soares A (2022) Ammonia recovery from brines originating from a municipal wastewater ion exchange process and valorization of recovered nitrogen into microbial protein, Chemical Engineering Journal, 427 (January) Article No. 130896. Dataset/s: 10.17862/cranfield.rd.14725284
- Pinelli D, Bovina S, Rubertelli G, Martinelli A, Guida S, Soares A & Frascari D (2022) Regeneration and modelling of a phosphorous removal and recovery hybrid ion exchange resin after long term operation with municipal wastewater, Chemosphere, 286, Part 1 (January) Article No. 131581. Dataset/s: 10.6092/unibo/amsacta/6627
- Bortone I, Sakar H & Soares A (2022) Gaps in regulation and policies on the application of green technologies at household level in the United Kingdom, Sustainability, 14 (7) Article No. 4030.
- Guida S, Rubertelli G, Jefferson B & Soares A (2021) Demonstration of ion exchange technology for phosphorus removal and recovery from municipal wastewater, Chemical Engineering Journal, 420, Pt 1 (September) Article No. 129913. Dataset/s: 10.17862/cranfield.rd.144546
- Ochs P, Martin BD, Germain E, Wu Z, Lee PH, Stephenson T, van Loosdrecht M & Soares A (2021) Evaluation of a full-scale suspended sludge deammonification technology coupled with an hydrocyclone to treat thermal hydrolysis dewatering liquors, Processes, 9 (2) Article No. 278.
- Ochs P, Martin BD, Germain E, Stephenson T, van Loosdrecht M & Soares A (2021) Ammonia removal from thermal hydrolysis dewatering liquors via three different deammonification technologies, Science of the Total Environment, 755, Part 1, (February) Article No. 142684. Dataset/s: 10.17862/cranfield.rd.13063589
- Lizarralde I, Guida S, Canellas J, Jefferson B, Grau P & Soares A (2021) Development and calibration of a new mathematical model for the description of an ion-exchange process for ammonia removal in the presence of competing ions, Water Research, 206 (November) Article No. 117779.
- Leng Y & Soares A (2021) The mechanisms of struvite biomineralization in municipal wastewater, Science of the Total Environment, 799 (December) Article No. 149261.
- Leng Y & Soares A (2021) Understanding the mechanisms of biological struvite biomineralisation, Chemosphere, 281 (October) Article No. 130986.
- Guida S, Conzelmann L, Remy C, Vale P, Jefferson B & Soares A (2021) Resilience and life cycle assessment of ion exchange process for ammonium removal from municipal wastewater, Science of the Total Environment, 783 (August) Article No. 146834.
- Leng Y, Colston R & Soares A (2020) Understanding the biochemical characteristics of struvite bio-mineralising microorganisms and their future in nutrient recovery, Chemosphere, 247 (May) Article No. 125799.
- Zhang M, Song T, Zhu C, Fan Y, Soares A, Gu X & Wu J (2020) Roles of nitrate recycling ratio in the A2/O-MBBR denitrifying phosphorus removal system for high-efficient wastewater treatment: Performance comparison, nutrient mechanism and potential evaluation, Journal of Environmental Management, 270 (September) Article No. 110887.
- Ochs P, Martin BD, Germain E, Stephenson T, van Loosdrecht MC & Soares A (2020) Ammonia removal from mixed dewatering liquors by three different deammonification technologies, Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology, 6 (12) 3440-3450.
- Zhang M, Zhu C, Pan T, Fan Y, Soares A, Wu J & He C (2020) Nutrient metabolism, mass balance, and microbial structure community in a novel denitrifying phosphorus removal system based on the utilizing rules of acetate and propionate, Chemosphere, 257 (October) Article No. 127076.
- Soares A (2020) Wastewater treatment in 2050: Challenges ahead and future vision in a European context, Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, 2 (April) Article No. 100030.
- Wang KM, Soares A, Jefferson B, Wang HY, Zhang LJ, Jiang SF & McAdam EJ (2020) Establishing the mechanisms underpinning solids breakthrough in UASB configured anaerobic membrane bioreactors to mitigate fouling, Water Research, 176 (June) Article No. 115754.
- Ribera-Pi J, Campitelli A, Badia-Fabregat M, Jubany I, Martínez-Lladó X, McAdam E, Jefferson B & Soares A (2020) Hydrolysis and methanogenesis in UASB-AnMBR treating municipal wastewater under psychrophilic conditions: Importance of reactor configuration and inoculum, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Available online 02 November 2020.
- Guida S, Potter C, Jefferson B & Soares A (2020) Preparation and evaluation of zeolites for ammonium removal from municipal wastewater through ion exchange process, Scientific Reports, 10 (1) Article No. 12426.
- Simoes F, Colston R, Rosa-Fernandes C, Vale P, Stephenson T & Soares A (2020) Predicting the potential of sludge dewatering liquors to recover nutrients as struvite biominerals, Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, 3 (July) Article No. 100052.
- Huang X, Guida S, Jefferson B & Soares A (2020) Economic evaluation of ion-exchange processes for nutrient removal and recovery from municipal wastewater, npj Clean Water, 3 (1) Article No. 7.
- Muhammad A, Soares A & Jefferson B (2019) The impact of background wastewater constituents on the selectivity and capacity of a hybrid ion exchange resin for phosphorus removal from wastewater, Chemosphere, 224 (June) 494-501.
- Wang KM, Soares A, Jefferson B & McAdam EJ (2019) Comparable membrane permeability can be achieved in granular and flocculent anaerobic membrane bioreactor for sewage treatment through better sludge blanket control, Journal of Water Process Engineering, 28 (April) 181-189.
- Longo S, Mauricio-Iglesias M, Soares A, Campo P, Fatone F, Eusebi AL, Akkersdijk E, Stefani L & Hospido A (2019) ENERWATER – A standard method for assessing and improving the energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants, Applied Energy, 242 (May) 897-910.
- Raper E, Stephenson T, Fisher R, Anderson DR & Soares A (2019) Characterisation of thiocyanate degradation in a mixed culture activated sludge process treating coke wastewater, Bioresource Technology, 288 (September) Article No. 121524.
- Bajón Fernández Y, Soares A, Vale P, Koch K, Masse AL & Cartmell E (2019) Enhancing the anaerobic digestion process through carbon dioxide enrichment: Initial insights into mechanisms of utilisation, Environmental Technology, 40 (13) 1744-1755.
- Raper E, Fisher R, Anderson DR, Stephenson T & Soares A (2019) Nitrogen removal from coke making wastewater through a pre-denitrification activated sludge process, Science of the Total Environment, 666 (May) 31-38.
- Simoes F, Vale P, Stephenson T & Soares A (2018) Understanding the growth of the bio-struvite production Brevibacterium antiquum in sludge liquors, Environmental Technology, 39 (17) 2278-2287.
- Wang KM, Martin Garcia N, Soares A, Jefferson B & McAdam EJ (2018) Comparison of fouling between aerobic and anaerobic MBR treating municipal wastewater, H2Open Journal, 1 (2) 131-159.
- Wang KM, Jefferson B, Soares A & McAdam EJ (2018) Sustaining membrane permeability during unsteady-state operation of anaerobic membrane bioreactors for municipal wastewater treatment following peak-flow, Journal of Membrane Science, 564 (October) 289-297.
- Wang KM, Cingolani D, Eusebi AL, Soares A, Jefferson B & McAdam EJ (2018) Identification of gas sparging regimes for granular anaerobic membrane bioreactor to enable energy neutral municipal wastewater treatment, Journal of Membrane Science, 555 (June) 125-133.
- Dias J, Bellingham M, Hassan J, Barrett M, Stephenson T & Soares A (2018) Influence of carrier media physical properties on start-up of moving attached growth systems, Bioresource Technology, 266 (October) 463-471.
- Raper E, Fisher R, Anderson DR, Stephenson T & Soares A (2018) Alkalinity and external carbon requirements for denitrification-nitrification of coke wastewater, Environmental Technology, 39 (17) 2266-2277.
- Raper E, Stephenson T, Anderson DR, Fisher R & Soares A (2018) Industrial wastewater treatment through bioaugmentation, Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 118 (August) 178-187.
- Dias J, Bellingham M, Hassan J, Barrett M, Stephenson T & Soares A (2018) Impact of carrier media on oxygen transfer and wastewater hydrodynamics on a moving attached growth system, Chemical Engineering Journal, 351 (November) 399-408.
- Raper E, Stephenson T, Simões F, Fisher R, Anderson DR & Soares A (2018) Enhancing the removal of pollutants from coke wastewater by bioaugmentation: a scoping study, Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, 93 (9) 2535-2543.
- Manzano I, Dias JS, Cannon J & Soares A (2018) Optimization of a full-scale site to achieve total nitrogen removal through implementation of a denitrification-submerged anoxic filter, Water and Environment Journal, 32 (2) 242-249.
- Goodwin L, Carra I, Campo P & Soares A (2018) Treatment options for reclaiming wastewater produced by the pesticide industry, International Journal of Water and Wastewater Treatment, 4 (1).
- Holloway TG & Soares A (2018) Influence of internal fluid velocities and media fill ratio on submerged aerated filter hydrodynamics and process performance for municipal wastewater treatment, Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 114 (February) 179-191.
- Simoes F, Vale P, Stephenson T & Soares A (2018) The role of pH on the biological struvite production in digested sludge dewatering liquors, Scientific Reports, 8 Article No. 7225.
- Alibardi L, Green K, Favaro L, Vale P, Soares A, Cartmell E & Bajón Fernández Y (2017) Performance and stability of sewage sludge digestion under CO 2 enrichment: a pilot study, Bioresource Technology, 245 (Part A) 581-589.
- Raper E, Soares A, Chen J, Sutcliffe A, Aries E, Anderson D & Stephenson T (2017) Enhancing the removal of hazardous pollutants from coke making wastewater by dosing activated carbon to a pilot‐scale activated sludge process, Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, 92 (9) 2325-2333.
- Bajón Fernández Y, Soares A, Koch K, Vale P & Cartmell E (2017) Bioconversion of carbon dioxide in anaerobic digesters for on-site carbon capture and biogas enhancement - A review, Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 47 (17) 1555-1580.
- Cookney J, Mcleod A, Mathioudakis V, Ncube P, Soares A, Jefferson B & McAdam EJ (2016) Dissolved methane recovery from anaerobic effluents using hollow fibre membrane contactors, Journal of Membrane Science, 502 141-150.
- Longo S, d’Antoni BM, Bongards M, Chaparro A, Cronrath A, Fatone F, Lema JM, Mauricio-Iglesias M, Soares A & Hospido A (2016) Monitoring and diagnosis of energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants. A state of the art and proposals for improvement, Applied Energy, 179 (October) 1251-1268.
- Bajón Fernández Y, Green K, Schuler K, Soares A, Vale P, Alibardi L & Cartmell E (2015) Biological carbon dioxide utilisation in food waste anaerobic digesters, Water Research, 87 467-475.
- Raper E, Davies S, Perkins B, Lamb H, Hermanson M, Soares A & Stephenson T (2015) Ecological conditions of ponds situated on blast furnace slag deposits located in South Gare Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Teesside, UK, Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 37 (3) 545-556.
- Belloir C, Stanford C & Soares A (2015) Energy benchmarking in wastewater treatment plants: the importance of site operation and layout, Environmental Technology, 36 (2) 260-269.
- Bajón Fernández Y, Cartmell E, Soares A, McAdam E, Vale P, Darche-Dugar C & Jefferson B (2015) Gas to liquid mass transfer in rheologically complex fluids, Chemical Engineering Journal, 273 656-667.
- Janson A, Santos A, Hussain A, Judd S, Soares A & Adham S (2015) Biotreatment of hydrate-inhibitor-containing produced waters at low pH, SPE Journal -Richardson-, 20 (6) 1254-1260.
- Bajón Fernández Y, Soares A, Villa R, Vale P & Cartmell E (2014) Carbon capture and biogas enhancement by carbon dioxide enrichment of anaerobic digesters treating sewage sludge or food waste, Bioresource Technology, 159 1-7.
- Soares A, Veesam M, Simoes F, Wood E, Parsons SA & Stephenson T (2014) Bio‐struvite: A new route to recover phosphorus from wastewater, CLEAN - Soil, Air, Water, 42 (7) 994-997.
- Warwick C, Guerreiro A, Gomez-Caballero A, Wood E, Kitson J, Robinson J & Soares A (2014) Conductance based sensing and analysis of soluble phosphates in wastewater, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 52 173-179.
- Martin Garcia I, Mokosch M, Soares A, Pidou M & Jefferson B (2013) Impact on reactor configuration on the performance of anaerobic MBRs: Treatment of settled sewage in temperate climates, Water Research, 47 (14) 4853-4860.
- Warwick C, Guerreiro A & Soares A (2013) Sensing and analysis of soluble phosphates in environmental samples: a review, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 41 1-11.
- Paterakis N, Chiu TY, Koh YK, Lester JN, McAdam EJ, Scrimshaw MD, Soares A & Cartmell E (2012) The effectiveness of anaerobic digestion in removing estrogens and nonylphenol ethoxylates, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 199-200 88-95.
- Pratt C, Parsons SA, Soares A & Martin BD (2012) Biologically and chemically mediated adsorption and precipitation of phosphorus from wastewater, Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 23 (6) 890-896.
- Bagnall JP, Ito A, McAdam E, Soares A, Lester JN & Cartmell E (2012) Resource dependent biodegradation of estrogens and the role of ammonia oxidising and heterotrophic bacteria, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 239-240 56-63.
- Martin I, Pidou M, Soares A, Judd S & Jefferson B (2011) Modelling the energy demands of aerobic and anaerobic membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment, Environmental Technology, 32 (9) 921-932.
- McAdam EJ, Bagnall JP, Soares A, Koh YK, Chiu TY, Scrimshaw MD, Lester JN & Cartmell E (2010) Fate of Alkylphenolic Compounds during Activated Sludge Treatment: Impact of Loading and Organic Composition., Environmental Science and Technology, 45 (1) 248-254.
- Soares A, Kampas P, Maillard S, Wood E, Brigg J, Tillotson M, Parsons SA & Cartmell E (2010) Comparison between disintegrated and fermented sewage sludge for production of a carbon source suitable for biological nutrient removal, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 175 (1-3) 733-739.
- Kampas P, Parsons SA, Pearce P, Ledoux S, Vale P, Cartmell E & Soares AL (2009) An internal carbon source for improving biological nutrient removal, Bioresource Technology, 100 (1) 149-154.
- Lester JN, Soares AL, San Martin D, Harper P, Jefferson B, Brigg J, Wood E & Cartmell E (2009) A novel approach to the anaerobic treatment of municipal wastewater in temperate climates through primary sludge fortification, Environmental Technology, 30 (10) 985-994.
- Koh YKK, Chiu TY, Boobis AR, Scrimshaw MD, Bagnall JP, Soares A, Pollard S, Cartmell E & Lester JN (2009) Influence of Operating Parameters on the Biodegradation of Steroid Estrogens and Nonylphenolic Compounds during Biological Wastewater Treatment Processes, Environmental Science and Technology, 43 (17) 6646-6654.
- Guerreiro ARL, Soares A, Piletska EV, Mattiasson B & Piletsky SA (2008) Preliminary evaluation of new polymer matrix for solid-phase extraction of nonylphenol from water samples, Analytica Chimica Acta, 612 (1) 99-104.
- Soares A, Guieysse B, Jefferson B, Cartmell E & Lester JN (2008) Nonylphenol in the environment: A critical review on occurrence, fate, toxicity and treatment in wastewaters, Environment International, 34 (7) 1033-1049.
- Soares AL, Guieysse B & Mattiasson B (2006) Influence of agitation on the removal of nonylphenol by the white-rot fungi Trametes versicolor and Bjerkandera sp. BOL 13, Biotechnology Letters, 28 139-143.
- Zilouei H, Soares AL, Guieysse B & Mattiasson B (2006) Influence of temperature on process efficiency and microbial community response during the biological removal of chlorophenols in a packed-bed bioreactor, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 72 591-599.
- Soares AL, Murto M, Guieysse B & Mattiasson B (2006) Biodegradation of nonylphenol in a continuous bioreactor at low temperatures and effects on the microbial population, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 69 597-606.
- Soares AL, Jonasson K, Trerrazas H, Guieysse B & Mattiasson B (2005) The ability of white-rot fungi to degrade the endocrine disrupting compound nonylphenol, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 66 719-725.
- Guieysse B, Autem Y & Soares AL (2005) Biodegradation of phenol at low temperature using two-phase partitioning bioreactors, Water Science and Technology, 52 97-105.
- Soares AL, Guieysse B & Mattiasson B (2003) Biodegradation of nonylphenol in continuous packed-bed bioreactor, Biotechnology Letters, 25 927-933.
- Soares AL, Guieysse B, Delgado O & Mattiasson B (2003) Aerobic biodegradation of nonylphenol by cold-adapted bacteria, Biotechnology Letters, 25 731-738.