Andrea Achilli
Associate Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Associate Professor, BIO5 Institute
Associate Professor of Environmental Science
Deputy Director, WEST Center
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Civil Engineering 306C
Andrea Achilli's main fields of research are membrane processes for desalination and water reuse and energy recovery from water and wastewater. Additional field of his research focuses on process integration, modelling, and optimization and biological processes for water and wastewater treatments. Achilli is the principal investigator on several research processes on membrane contactor processes and hybrid systems for desalination and water reuse.
Degrees
- PhD Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, United States
Work Experience
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (2017 - Ongoing)
- Humboldt State University, Arcata, California (2012 - 2017)
Interests
Teaching
Environmental engineering, water and wastewater treatment, physicochemical processes, mass and heat transfer
Research
Membrane processes in environmental applications, water and wastewater treatment, water reuse, desalination process design and intensification
Courses
View the full course list in UA Profiles.
Licensure & Certification
- Profession Engineer, Nevada Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (2012)
Selected Publications
Journals/Publications
- Alhussaini, M. A., Binger, Z. M., Souza-Chaves, B. M., Amusat, O. O., Park, J., Bartholomew, T. V., Gunter, D., & Achilli, A. (2023). Analysis of backwash settings to maximize net water production in an engineering-scale ultrafiltration system for water reuse. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 53, 103761.
- Binger, Z. M., & Achilli, A. (2023). Surrogate modeling of pressure loss & mass transfer in membrane channels via coupling of computational fluid dynamics and machine learning. Desalination, 548, 116241.
- Chaves, B., Alhussaini, M., Felix, V., Presson, L., Betancourt, W. Q., Hickenbottom, K., & Achilli, A. (2022). Extending the life of water reuse reverse osmosis membranes using chlorination. Journal of Membrane Science, 119897.
- Hardikar, M., Marquez, I., Phakdon, T., Sáez, A. E., & Achilli, A. (2022). Scale-up of membrane distillation systems using bench-scale data. Desalination, 530, 115654.
- Marquez, I., Sáez, A. E., Ogden, K. L., & Achilli, A. (2022). A hands-on course on intensified membrane process for sustainable water purification. Chemical Engineering Education.
- Xu, J., Phakdon, T., Achilli, A., Hickenbottom, K., & Farrell, J. (2022). Pretreatment of Reverse Osmosis Concentrate from Reclaimed Water for Conventional and High-Efficiency Reverse Osmosis and Evaluation of Electrochemical Production of Reagents. ACS ES&T Water, 2(6), 1022-1030.
- Binger, Z., O'Toole, G., & Achilli, A. (2021). Evidence of solution-diffusion-with-defects in an engineering-scale pressure retarded osmosis system. Journal of Membrane Science, 119135.
- Rabe, A., Presson, L., Felix, V., Hardikar, M., Hickenbottom, K., Achilli, A., & Ikner, L. A. (2021). Membrane distillation provides a dual barrier for coronavirus and bacteriophage removal. Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
- Tow, E. W., Hartman, A. L., Jaworowski, A., Zucker, I., Kum, S., AzadiAghdam, M., Blatchley, E. R., Achilli, A., Gu, H., Urper, G. M., & Warsinger, D. M. (2021). Modeling the energy consumption of potable water reuse schemes. Water research X, 13, 100126.
- AzadiAghdam, M., Park, M., Lopez-Prieto, I. J., Achilli, A., Snyder, S. A., & Farrell, J. (2020). Pretreatment for water reuse using fluidized bed crystallization. Journal of Water Process Engineering.
- Binger, Z. M., & Achilli, A. (2020). Forward osmosis and pressure retarded osmosis process modeling for integration with seawater reverse osmosis desalination. Desalination.
- Crosson, C., Achilli, A., Zuniga Teran, A. A., Mack, E. A., Albrecht, T., Shrestha, P. P., Boccelli, D., Cath, T. Y., Daigger, G. T., Duan, J. G., Lansey, K. E., Meixner, T., Pincetl, S., & Scott, C. A. (2020). Net Zero Urban Water from Concept to Applications: Integrating Natural, Built, and Social Systems for Responsive and Adaptive Solutions. ACS ES&T Water.
- Hardikar, M., Marquez, I., & Achilli, A. (2020). Emerging investigator series: membrane distillation and high salinity: analysis and implications. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology.
- Wei, X., Binger, Z. M., Achilli, A., Sanders, K. T., & Childress, A. E. (2020). A modeling framework to evaluate blending of seawater and treated wastewater streams for synergistic desalination and potable reuse. Water research, 170, 115282.
- Armstrong, N. R., Shallcross, R. C., Ogden, K., Snyder, S., Achilli, A., & Armstrong, E. L. (2018). Challenges and opportunities at the nexus of energy, water, and food: A perspective from the southwest United States. MRS Energy & Sustainability, 5, E6.
Proceedings Publications
- Binger, Z. M., Hardikar, M., Josefik, N., Guy, K., Marchand, E. A., Hiibel, S. R., Childress, A. E., & Achilli, A. (2022). Biological Removal, Membrane Separation, and Thermal Destruction: A Multi-Barrier Approach to Potable Water Reuse and Waste Heat Recovery. In WEFTEC 2022.
- Morrow, C. P., Furtaw, N. M., Achilli, A., Marchand, E. A., Hiibel, S. R., & Childress, A. E. (2018, March). Potable reuse with engineered osmosis; integrating an osmotic membrane bioreactor with membrane distillation. In AWWA/AMTA 2018 Membrane Technology Conference & Exposition.
- Furtaw, N. M., Ahmadiannamini, P., Morrow, C. P., Murphy, J. P., Dash, S., Park, C., Achilli, A., Childress, A. E., Marchand, E. A., & Hiibel, S. R. (2017, July). Application of a submerged forward osmosis membrane bioreactor paired with membrane distillation utilizing waste heat. In 11th IWA International Conference on Water Reclamation and Reuse.
- Jones, L., & Achilli, A. (2017, February). California's Desalination Amendment: Opportunities from the colocation of desal facilities with wastewater treatment plants. In AWWA/AMTA 2017 Membrane Technology Conference & Exposition.
- Achilli, A. (2014). Integration of reverse osmosis and pressure retarded osmosis to decrease energy expenditures in seawater desalination. In AWWA/AMTA 2014 Membrane Technology Conference and Exposition.
Poster Presentations
- Childress, A. E., Achilli, A., Hiibel, S. R., Marchand, E. A., & Park, C. (2017, November). A Fully Integrated Membrane Bioreactor System for Wastewater Treatment in Remote Applications. SERDP-ESTCP Symposium 2017.
Presentations
- Achilli, A. (2017, May). Integrated membrane processes for water reuse and desalination. Workshop: Water Reuse Monitoring and Treatment Technologies.
- Achilli, A., & Hiibel, S. R. (2017, November). A Fully Integrated Membrane Bioreactor System for Wastewater Treatment in Remote Applications. Wastewater treatment technology project meeting (environmental restoration program area), SERDP-ESTCP Symposium 2017.
- Ahmadiannamini, P., Furtaw, N. M., Murphy, J. P., Morrow, C. P., Achilli, A., Marchand, E. A., Childress, A. E., & Hiibel, S. R. (2017, August). An integrated membrane pilot system for direct potable reuse. ICOM 2017.
- Furtaw, N. M., Ahmadiannamini, P., Morrow, C. P., Murphy, J. R., Dash, S., Park, C., Achilli, A., Childress, A. E., Hiibel, S. R., & Marchand, E. A. (2017, April). Application of a submerged forward osmosis membrane bioreactor paired with membrane distillation utilizing waste heat. 2017 Nevada Water Environment Association Annual Conference.
- O'Toole, G., & Achilli, A. (2017, August). Optimizing operating parameters for minimum net energy consumption in a pilot-scale SWRO-PRO system. ICOM 2017.