SHORT SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC LIFE

Clara Reino Sánchez (A Estrada, Pontevedra, 1988) is a chemical engineer (USC, 2012), MSc in Environmental Studies (UAB, 2013) and PhD in Environmental Science and Technology (UAB, 2016) awarded with Cum Laude and International Mention (UAB, 2016). During her MSc studies she did an internship with AERIS EnviroTech, a spin-off of the UAB comprising experts from the GENOCOV research group, where she collaborated in planning, design, construction, start-up and operation of wastewater and gas treatment plants. Her doctoral thesis entitled ‘Autotrophic Biological Nitrogen Removal in a Two-Stage System at Mainstream Conditions’ aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of implementing the autotrophic biological nitrogen removal process as a two-stage system in the main water line of urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), with the objective of achieving an energetic self-sufficient urban WWTP. Thus, partial nitritation and anammox reactors were operated during her thesis and biomass developed on them was characterized through microbiological, kinetic and physicochemical points of view in order to gain more knowledge about the processes. During her thesis, Clara did a 3-months research stay in the Environmental Biotechnology research group at Delft University of Technology (Delft, The Netherlands). During this stay she characterized the nitrous oxide emissions produced in a partial nitritation reactor operating at mainstream conditions. Along with the doctoral thesis, she carried out teaching tasks at the Department of Chemical Engineering in UAB where she taught Fundamentals of Engineering both in Chemistry and Biotechnology Bachelor’s Degree.

Clara’s current research interests are:

• Nutrients removal in urban wastewater treatment plants
• Partial nitrification and anammox denitrification for nitrogen removal at mainstream conditions
• Study of the microorganisms involved in wastewater treatment, and more specifically in nitrogen removal processes
• Gaseous emissions production during wastewater treatment

As a result of her research, she has participated in different projects and has contributed with 3 oral presentations to international conferences. Nowadays, she is a postdoctoral researcher in GENOCOV.

PUBLICATIONS

Reino, C., Suárez-Ojeda, M.E., Pérez, J., Carrera, J., 2016. Kinetic and microbiological characterization of aerobic granules performing partial nitritation of a low-strength wastewater at 10 ºC. Water Research. 101, 147-156. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2016.05.059

Reino, C., Carrera, J., 2017. Low-strength wastewater treatment in an anammox UASB reactor: effect of the liquid upflow velocity. Chem. Eng. J. 313, 217–225. doi:10.1016/j.cej.2016.12.051

Reino, C., Suárez-Ojeda, M.E., Pérez, J., Carrera, J., 2016. Kinetic and microbiological characterization of aerobic granules performing partial nitritation of a low-strength wastewater at 10 °C. Water Res. 101, 147–156. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2016.05.059

Isanta, E., Reino, C., Pérez, J., Carrera, J., 2015. Stable partial nitritation for low strength wastewater at low temperature in an aerobic granular reactor. Water Res. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2015.04.028