Ingmar Nopens

Position/title: 
associate professor
Institution: 
Ghent University (UGent)
Department: 
Mathematical Modelling Statistics and bioinformatics
Research interests: 
kinetic modelling
CFD
PBM
optimisation
Short CV / biography / description of scientific focus and achievements: 

Main Research activities and Interest

  • Model-based optimisation and control of bioprocesses. Bioprocesses cover a wide variety of biological and physical processes related to wastewater treatment, resource recovery, water production, fermentation technology and pharmaceutical systems
  • Development and application of (bio)kinetic models, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Population Balance Models (PBM) and certain combinations thereof to the abovementioned bioprocesses in order to analyse and optimise them

Publications and conference contributions

Author of 3 book chapters, 121 papers in international journals with peer review. H-index of 21. Over 200 contributions at international conferences, either oral or as poster. Organisor of several international conferences and workshops. Editor of 2 special issues on Population Balance Modelling in the Elsevier journal Chemical Engineering Science.

Relevant publications: 
Ratkovich N., Nopens I. and Vanrolleghem P.A. (2009). Experimental study and CFD modelling of a two-phase slug flow for an airlift tubular membrane. Chem. Eng. Sci., 64(16), 3576-3584.
Alvarado Martinez A., Vedantam S., Goethals P. and Nopens I. (2012). Compartmental Models to Describe Hydraulics in Full-scale Waste Stabilization Ponds. Water Res., 46, 521-530.
Yang, J., Vedantam, S., Spanjers, H., Nopens, I., van Lier, J.B (2012). Analysis of mass transfer characteristics in a tubular membrane using CFD modeling. Water Res., 46(15), 4705-4712.
Naessens W., Maere T., Ratkovich N., Vedantam S. and Nopens I. (2012). Critical review of Membrane Bioreactor models - Part 2: hydrodynamic & integrated models. Bioresource Technol., 122, 107-118.
Barrera E.L., Spanjers H., Solon K., Amerlinck Y., Nopens I. and Dewulf J. (2015). Modelling the anaerobic digestion of cane-molasses vinasse: extension of the anaerobic digestion model No. 1 (ADM1) with sulfate reduction for high strength and sulfate rich wastewater. Water Res., 71, 42-54.