Professor Emeritus, Earth and Environmental Engineering

NICKOLAS J. THEMELIS

Professor Emeritus, Earth and Environmental Engineering

Director, Earth Engineering Center, Columbia University

Chairman, Global Waste-to-Energy Research and Technology Council (WTERT)

Principal, Themelis Associates, New York City

500 West 120th St., #918 Mudd, Columbia University, New York City, N.Y. 10027

Tel: (212) 8542138; Fax: (212) 8548362; ;

Citizenship: U.S.A.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Themelis obtained his B. Eng. (British Association Medal for Great Distinction) and Ph.D. degrees from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) in chemical engineering.

In the first part of his career, he was Director of the Engineering Division of the Noranda Research Center in Pointe Claire where he invented and helped build the first continuous smelting and converting process, the Noranda Process. This process eliminated the use of fossil fuels in copper smelting and provided for the capture of sulphur dioxide for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. The prototype plant at Noranda, Quebec is still producing copper from copper concentrates and also recovers precious metals from over 50,000 tons of used electronics. Since its inception, the Noranda process has reduced sulphur emissions from copper smelting by millions of tons.

Before joining Columbia, he was Vice President of Technology of Kennecott Corp., the major no-ferrous company at that time. He was appointed as Professor by Columbia University (New York City, U.S.A.) in 1980 and was elected to Stanley-Thompson Chair of Chemical Metallurgy in 1988. He was chairman of the Henry Krumb School of Mines and founded Columbia’s Earth Engineering Center in 1996 (www.columbia.edu/cu/earth). In 1995, he introduced at Columbia University the teaching of industrial ecology and in 1997 led the transformation of the historic School of Mines to the new engineering discipline of Earth and Environmental Engineering and was first chairman of the new Department. (www.seas.columbia.edu/krumb

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Dr. Themelis has been consultant to industry and government in the areas of process design and management of technical resources. He is member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and member or fellow of several metallurgical and waste management societies. He is founder and Chair of the Global Waste to Energy Research and Technology Council (WTERT, www.columbia.edu/cu/wtert), an international consortium of universities, companies and governmental organizations concerned with the recovery of energy and materials from municipal and industrial wastes. WTERT is advancing and promoting the recovery of energy and materials from commercial and municipal solid wastes, instead of landfilling them. Current research work is on integrated waste management and has included recycling, composting and waste-to-energy. Since 2004, Prof. Themelis has directed a bi-annual national survey of the generation and disposition of municipal solid wastes generation he results of which are used by EPA in calculating the greenhouse gas impacts of waste management in the U.S..

Prof. Themelis is the recipient of several professional awards, author of nearly 200 technical papers and books and inventor of twenty one patents related to the thermal processing of materials. In 2015, Themelis and his research associate Dr. A.C. (Thanos) Bourtsalas were awarded a Columbia Presidential Global Initiative Award.

GRADUATE THESES DIRECTED BY PROF. THEMELIS IN RECENT YEARS (All available in www.wtert.org, Publications, Theses)

▪  Nour Awad: “Using engineered fuel as a substitute for fossil fuels in cement production” (NSF-STEM-SEGUE Scholar) (2015)

▪  Andres E. Wiechers: “Pre-feasibility study of using the Circulating Fluid Bed (CFB) waste-to-energy in Mexico City” (Fulbright Scholar) (2015)

▪  Shahnoza Boboeva: ”Current waste management in Tajikistan and potential for WTE in city of Khujand” (2015)

▪  Yuda Sun,”Life cycle environmental impact assessment and performance improvement of aa novel building integrated PV/thermal system” (2015)

▪  John Abrashkin: “ Application of Volume Based Waste Fee to New York City” (2015)

▪  Olivier Morin: ”Economic, Environment & Technical Analysis of Fluidized Bed Reactors” (2015)

▪  Jay Thrasher “Sources and Pathways of Dioxins to Humans-Natural and anthropogenic sources of dioxins” (2014)

▪  Shumeng Liu: ”Recycling of electronic wastes in the U.S. and in China”

▪  Henri Dwyer: ”Inventory of U.S. natural and anthropogenic dioxin emissions” (NSF-STEM-SEGUE Scholar).(2015)

▪  Sara Barone: ” Numerical simulation of flow and mixing behavior of solids on a moving grate combustion system”.(2014)

▪  Jiao Zhang: Energy and environmental effects of using alternative fuels in cement production (2014)

▪  Dolly Shin: Generation and Disposition of MSW in the United States in 2011 (2014)

▪  Lauriane Joannic: Critical review of waste management in France (2013)

▪  Yoonjung Seo: Current waste management and status of waste to energy in South Korea (2013)

▪  Jennifer Namias: The Future of Electronic Waste Recycling in the United States

▪  Demetra Tsiamis: Transforming the Non-Recycled Plastics of New York City to Synthetic Oil

▪  Ling Qiu: Part I: Analysis of the Economics of Waste-to-Energy Plants in China; Part II: MSW Sorting Models in China and Potential for Improvement

▪  Claudine Ellyin:Small Scale Waste-To-Energy Technologies

▪  Chak Cherdsatirkul:Generation and disposition of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Thailand

▪  Timothy T. Sharobem:Tertiary Recycling of Waste Plastics: An Assessment of Pyrolysis by Microwave Radiation

▪  Natali Ganfer: Part A: MSW Management in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina and Potential for a WTE Plant; Part B: Upgrading Low BTU Fuels to Reduce Emissions in Internal Combustion Engines

▪  Yani Dong: Development of Waste-to-Energy in China; and Case Study of the Guangzhou Likeng WTE Plant

▪  Ranjith Kharvel Annepu : Sustainable solid waste management in India

▪  Maria Elena Diaz Barriga Rodriguez : Cost-benefit analysis of a waste to energy plant for Montevideo; and waste to energy in small islands

▪  Marzia Sesini : A The Garbage patch in the oceans: the problem and possible solutions

▪  María Gaviota Velasco Pérez Alonso: Generation and disposition of MSW in Mexico and potential for improving waste management in Toluca municipality

▪  Ljupka Arsova: Anaerobic digestion of food waste: Current status, problems and an alternative product

▪  Yohann Benhamou: Comparison of environmental performance of waste-to-energy (WTE) plants in France with Denmark and Germany

▪  Jawad Bhatti: Current state and potential for increasing plastics recycling in the U.S.

▪  Caroline Ducharme: Technical and economic analysis of Plasma-assisted Waste-to-Energy processes

▪  Lital Yinon: Ultrafine particle emissions: Comparison of waste-to-energy with coal- and biomass-fired power plants

▪  Garrett C. Fitzgerald: Technical and Economic Analysis of Pre-Shredding Municipal Solid Wastes Prior to Disposal

▪  Rob van Haaren: Large scale aerobic composting of source separated organic wastes: A comparative study of environmental impacts, costs, and contextual effects

▪  Shang-Hsiu Lee: High-Temperature Corrosion Phenomena in Waste-to-Energy Boilers

▪  Masato Nakamura: Mathematical and Physical Modeling of Mixing and Flow Phenomena of Municipal Solid Waste Particles on a Reverse Acting Grate

▪  Scott M. Kaufman: A New Screening Metric to Benchmark the Sustainability of Municipal Solid Waste Management Systems

▪  Giselle Balaguer Datiz: Life Cycle Assessment and Comparison of the Environmental Impacts of Thermal Treatment and Landfilling in Puerto Rico

▪  Priscilla Ulloa: Potential for Combined Heat and Power and District Heating and Cooling from Waste-to-Energy Facilities in the U.S. – Learning from the Danish Experience

▪  Perinaz Bhada: Feasibility Analysis of Waste-To-Energy as a Key Component of Integrated Solid Waste Management in Mumbai, India

▪  Adam Penque: Examination of Chlorides in Municipal Solid Waste to Energy Combustion Residue: Origins, Fate and Potential for Treatment

▪  Kimberly Llewellyn: Incineration, Waste-to-Energy and Catalytic Gasification: The Past, Present and Future of Medical Waste Management

▪  Paula Estevez Weinstein: WTE for Santiago, Chile: A Cost-Benefit Analysis

▪  Georgia Columbus: Management of Municipal Solid Wastes in Attica Region of Greece, and Potential for Waste-to-Energy

▪  Pearl Moy: A Health Risk Comparison of Landfill Disposal and Waste-to-Energy Treatment of Municipal Solid Wastes in New York City (NYC)

▪  Michael P. Hyland: Evaluation of the Chemical Effects of Waste to Energy (WtE) Ash used for the Remediation of Abandoned Coal Mines and Potential for Removal of Chlorine from WtE Fly Ash

▪  Monica M. DeAngelo: Siting of Waste-To-Energy Facilities in New York City Using GIS Technology

▪  Panagiotis G. Deriziotis: Substance and Perceptions of Environmental Impacts of Dioxin Emissions

▪  Scott M. Kaufman: Analysis of Technology and Infrastructure of the Paper Recycling Industry in New York City

▪  Karena Ostrem: Greening Waste: Anaerobic Digestion for Treating the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Wastes

▪  Brian Weiss: Effect of Mercury Emissions in China on North America

▪  Emily Ayers: Development and implementation of a flexible system for monitoring a created wetland (Great Kills Park, Staten Island, New York)

▪  Alexander Klein: Gasification: An Alternative Disposal and Energy Recovery Process for MSW

▪  Ko Matsunaga: Comparison of Environmental Impacts and Physical Properties of Refrigerants

▪  Claire Todd: Technical and Economical Analysis of the NYC Recycling System

▪  Shefali Verma: Anaerobic Digestion of Biodegradable Organics in Municipal Solid Wastes

▪  Elisabeth Law-wai: Mobilization and Transport of Arsenic by Landfill Leachates and Contamination of Groundwater at Winthrop, Maine

▪  Alexander F. Gregory: Assessment of Mercury Contamination in Surficial Sediments of Newark Bay

▪  Joseph Di Dio, III: PART I: Demonstration Site for "Green Building" Technologies PART II: Using Geothermal Energy In Place of Fossil Fuels

▪  A.J. Dubanowitz: Design of Automated Materials Recovery Facility for Processing the NYC Recyclables

▪  M. Sasha Mackler: Estimation of the Total PCB Mass in the Hudson River System

▪  Mark H. Brady: Materials and Energy Recovery from the Dry Stream of New York City's Municipal Solid Waste

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS BY NICKOLAS J. THEMELIS (2001-2015)

2012-2015

M.R. Lusardi, McKenzie Kohn, N. J. Themelis, M.J. Castaldi: Technical assessment of the CLEERGAS moving grate-based process for energy generation from municipal solid waste Waste Management and Research 2014, p.772.
Themelis, N.J., Arsova, L., Calculating tons to composting in the U.S. BioCycle, 56 (2), pp. 27-29 (2015)
Vardelle, A., Moreau, C., Themelis, N.J., Chazelas, C., A Perspective on Plasma Spray Technology (2014) Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing, 19 p. Article in Press.
Bourtsalas, A.C, Vandeperre, L.J., Grimes, S.M., Themelis, N., Cheeseman, C.R.
Production of pyroxene ceramics from the fine fraction of incinerator bottom ash
(2014) Waste Management, . Article in Press.
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84924022594&partnerID=40&md5=980b1d6202bbe5f582df3161b5e880ca
Psomopoulos, C.S., Venetis, I., Themelis, N.J., Impact from implementation of "Waste to Energy" to the economy. A macroeconomic approach for the trade balance of Greece (2014) Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 23 (11), pp. 2735-2741.
Lusardi, M.R., Kohn, M., Themelis, N.J., Castaldi, M.J.. “The CLEERGAS moving grate process for energy generation from municipal solid waste (2014) Waste Management and Research, 32 (8), pp. 772-781.
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84906725153&partnerID=40&md5=b9f6c817633c6fa51a3aaaa710708337
N. Chatziaras, C.S. Psomopoulos, N.J. Themelis,Use of alternative fuels in cement industry, Proceedings of International Conference Protection and Restoration of the Environment XII, Skiathos,June 2014.
P. Chaliki, C. S. Psomopoulos, N. J. Themelis, C. Stavroulakis.,WTE plants installed in10 European Cities, Proc. International Conference Protection and Restoration of the Environment,Skiathos,June 2014

Demetra Tsiamis and N.J. Themelis, “Pyrolysis of non-recycled plastics”, Proc. North American WTE Conference (NAWTEC 20), Fort Myers, FL, 2013

Jay Thrasher and N.J. Themelis, “Study of WTE dioxin emissions, in U.S., France and South Korea”, Proc. North American WTE Conference (NAWTEC 20), Fort Myers, FL, 2013

2012-2013

N.J. Themelis, “Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology” (18 volumes, Springer Pub.), editor of Waste-to-Energy section (2012)

Martin Kaltdchmidt, N.J. Themelis et al, “Renewable Energy Systems” (3 volumes), Springer ReferenceNew York, 2012

N.J. Themelis, “The Role of Waste-to-Energy in Urban Infrastructure”, Chapter 21, p. 500-519 of “Metropolitan Sustainability”, Frank Zeman, ed., Woodhead Publishing, Oxford 2012

Bourtsalas, A.C., and Themelis, N.J., “The Problem of Management of MSW in Greece”, Chemical Chronicles (Greece), No., 7, pp., 12-17, 2011.

Ange Nzihou, Nickolas J. Themelis, Mohammed Kemiha, Yohan Benhamou, “Dioxin Emissions from Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators in France”, Waste Management, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956053X12002863

Fitzgerald, C. Garret, Nickolas J. Themelis, , J. Cross, Änalysis of Single and Dual Recycling Systems”, Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Volume 69, December 2012, p. 50–56

2011-2012

Nakamura, M.R., Castaldi, M.J., Themelis, N.J., “Particle-based bed modeling on mixing diffusion of municipal solid waste particles by the motion of a grate system”; Air and Waste Management Association - Thermal Treatment Technologies and Hazardous Waste Combustors 2011, pp. 161-174

Barriga-Diaz, M.E. and N.J. Themelis, “Potential and Obstacles for Waste-to Energy in Island Settings”, Proc. NAWTEC 19, May 16-18 2011

Brandes W. and N.J. Themelis, “Materials and Energy Recovery From Municipal Waste”, Proc. NAWTEC 19, May 16-18, 2011

Themelis, N.J. “Changes in Public Perception of Role of WTE for Sustainable Waste Management”, Proc. NAWTEC 19, May 16-18, 2011

Ellyin, Claudine and N.J. Themelis, “Small Scale Waste-to-Energy Technolgies”, NAWTEC 19, May 16-18 2011;

Themelis, N.J., "Global Bright Lights", Waste Management World, Jan-Feb 2011, p. 41-45, 2011.

Kalogirou, E. and N,J, Themelis, The Global WTERT Council and its role in advancing WTE", Proceedings, International Recovery Congress, 12-13 September 2011, Warsaw, Poland.

Brandes W. and Nickolas Themelis, “Is Waste the Answer to a Renewables Deficit?”, Waste Management World, P54-57, September-October 2011

Bourtsalas, A.C., Nicholas Themelis and E. Kalogirou, “MSW Management in Greece”, Chem Eng, May, DPSCE, P26-28, May-June 2011

Kalogirou, E. K. Manolis, A. Bourtsalas, and N.J. Themelis, Mull & Abfall, P211-217, May 2011

Karagiannidis A., Themelis N., Barton J., Kalogirou E. and Samaras P. (2011), “Converting waste into energy via thermal, biological and mechanical processing” , inWaste (www.novapublishers.com.), Novascience publisher, USA (ISBN: 978-1-62100-179-9,).

EEC study for American Chemistry Council: “Energy and Economic Value of Non-recycled Plastics (NRP) currently landfilled in the Fifty States”; http://plastics.americanchemistry.com/Education-Resources/Publications/Report-from-Columbia-Universitys-Earth-Engineering-Center.pdf

2010-2011

Nakamura M.R., M.J. Castaldi, and N.J. Themelis, "Stochastic and physical modeling of motion of municipal solid waste (MSW) particles on a waste-to-energy (WTE) moving grate," International Journal of Thermal Sciences, Volume 49, Issue 6, 984-992 (2010).

Levis, J.W. Barlaz, MA., N.J. Themelis, P. Ulloa, “State of Anaerobic Digestion of Food Wastes in the USA and Canada” ,Waste Management, 30 (8-9), pp., 1486-1494.