Lynsey Melville

Design and Optimisation of Anaerobic Digestion Processes – This work focuses on evaluation of the biomethane potential of biomass from a variety of sources. Lynsey’s work has focused on pre-treatment as well as conversion (from small scale BMP tests to longer term dynamic assessment at bench, pilot and full-scale). Her work has included assessment of novel biomass such as macroalgae (Seaweed), food waste and sewage sludges. A summary of our recent BBSRC BIV project can be found here.

Development of Decision Support Tools for the Bioenergy Domain - Working closely with the knowledge-based engineering group and a broad range of stakeholders the aim of this work is to capture data and information from across the whole bioenergy delivery chain. The outcome of this work is the development of a number of innovative and adaptive decision support systems (from bioresource maps to economic tools and visualisations) which will enable stakeholders to identify optimal sites, partners and markets and develop project plans which are tailored to regional conditions. These projects include EnAlgae, BioenNW and AlgAD. 

Humanitarian Engineering and Energy for Development –Lynsey has established a number of initiatives and programmes with consortiums in both developed and developing countries to explore the potential to synergise waste, agricultural and energy sectors through the development of sustainable bio-based economies. This work aims to build resilience by reducing the environmental impact of waste, supporting economic development and enhancing social wellbeing within communities.  Collaborative projects are being developed in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Kenya.

• Anaerobic Digestion
• Biomass and Bioenergy
• Organic Waste Management
• Wastewater treatment

2010 - Post Graduate Certificate (PGCert) – Learning and Teaching in HE. Birmingham City University.

2003 - PhD – EPSRC case award - Acid Washing of Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) and its Impact on Drinking Water Quality, University of Wolverhampton/ Imperial College London.

1998 - BSc(hons) Environmental Science Plymouth University.

• Member of Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC)
• Member of the European Algal Bioenergy Association (EABA)
• Member of Engineers Without Borders (EWB)
• Associate Member -Women’s Engineering Society (WES)
• STEM ambassador
• UNICEF children’s champion

Lynsey established the Biotechnology and Environmental Research group in 2010 and since then the group has generated over £2million in research income from a variety of sources. The group works with over 40 partners internationally and operates from two state of the art laboratories at Millennium Point. The interdisciplinary team of researchers includes academic staff, post-doctoral researchers and PhD students within CEBE.

Current PhDs:

• Aminu Bature – Opportunities to establish low tech algae-based markets in developing countries.
• Ugochukwu Chibuisi – Algae biotechnology – design and development of novel low-tech solutions for developing countries.
• Tania Islam– Indicators of Success and Failure of AD plants in Bangladesh.
• Arifur Rahman – Formal and informal waste management practices in Bangladesh – Textiles waste

• Stiles, W.A.V., Styles, D., Chapman, S.P., Esteves, S., Bywater, A., Melville, L., Silkina, A., Lupatsch, I., Fuentes Grunewald, C., Lovitt, R., Chaloner, T., Bull, A., Morris, C & Llewellyn, C.A., Using microalgae in the circular economy to valorise anaerobic digestate: challenges and opportunities, Bioresource Technology. (2018) 267, 732-42. 
• Suhartini, S., Melville, L., Amato, T.  Pre-Treatment of thickened waste activated sludge (TWAS) for enhanced biogas production via the application of radial horn sonication technology, Water Science and Technology, (2017), Vol 75.9, pp2179-219
• Rahman, K. M. and Melville, L., Implementation of biomass-based bioenergy project: supporting sustainable development for low income countries. Enerzine 2nd issue, ISSN2518-6485, p45-48, Institute of Energy, University of Dhaka (2018).
• Rahman, K. M., Melville, L., D. Fulford and S M Imamul Huq, Greenhouse gas mitigation capacity of a small scale rural biogas plant: calculations for Bangladesh through Life Cycle Assessment approach  Waste Management & Research, p 1-11,  (2017).
• Bature, A., Melville, L., and Rahman K. M. Towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through Microalgae – Livestock Systems: A Review. Book of Abstracts 4th International Conference on Agriculture and Forestry, TIIKM, ISSN 2362-1036 Vol. 3, 2017, pp. 27-39. (2017).
• Rahman, K. M., D. Fulford and Melville, L., Evaluating the Potential of Rice Straw as a Co-digestion Feedstock for Biogas Production in Bangladesh. Journal of Advanced Catalysis Science and Technology, Vol 4, p 8-14(2017).
• Rahman, K. M. and Melville, L., Promoting bioenergy production in developing countries through understanding the socio-cultural impacts on domestic internal air pollution and health. The AD Network (BBSRC NIBB) Early Career Researcher Event July 2017, Birmingham. (2017).
• Sapkota, K., Raju, P., Chapman, C., Melville, M., Wright, D., Scott, J. Ontology-based economic models for bioenergy and biofuel projects, 9th IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing (ICSC), February 7 – 9, (2015) Anaheim, CA,
• Melville, L., Raju, P., Byrne, W., Feroz, M., Rahman, K., Challenges of Mapping and Managing Bioresources for Energy in North West Europe, International Materials Research Conference (IMRC) Mexico, August (2017)
• Paul, R., Suhartini, S., Sulu, M., Melville, L., Feasibility of Seaweed and Agricultural Crop waste residues as co-digestion feedstock, International Water Association (IWA) World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion, Beijing, China, October (2017)
• Paul, R., Suhartini, S., Sulu, M., Melville, L., Feasibility of cultivated S. latissimi as a novel co-digestion feedstock. BBSRC AD Net 3^rd Early Career Research Conference, Birmingham, July, (2017)
• Farazi, F., Chapman, C., Raju, P., Melville, L., WordNet powered Faceted Semantic search with automatic sense disambiguation for Bioenergy Domain, IEEE, International Conference on Information Systems Engineering, Los Angeles, April (2016)
• Rahman, K. M. and Melville, L., Conference paper titled An Assessment of Rice Straw as a Potential feedstock for Anaerobic Digestion, The AD Network (BBSRC NIBB) Early Career Researcher Event July 2016, Birmingham.
• Rahman, K. M. and Melville, L., Book Section - Anaerobic Digestion Systems. National Renewable Energy Expo, Institute of Energy, Dhaka University, Path to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Energine, 1: vol. 1, p 99-102, ISSN 2518-6485(2016).
• Melville, L, Developing Decision Support for BioenNW, Bioenergy Networks and Biomass potential – Valorising European Biomass, International Conference, Brussels, Sept (2015)

                    Book Chapter

• Melville, L., Weger A., Wiesgickl S., Franke M., Anaerobic Digestion in: Transformation of Biomass Theory to Practice. Ed. Andreas Hornung, 2014, Wiley Publications.