Detlef Knappe is a Professor of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at NC State University. Dr. Knappe received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and he joined the NC State faculty in 1996. He has conducted research on water treatment processes for over 20 years and has been the recipient of numerous grants and contracts related to activated carbon adsorption and oxidation process research. Current research efforts focus on (1) evaluation of powdered activated carbon (PAC), including superfine PAC, for the control of disinfection byproduct precursors and trace organic compounds (taste and odor causing substances, perfluorinated compounds, endocrine disrupting chemicals, antibiotics, and other pharmaceutically active compounds), (2) evaluation of scaling laws for the scale-up of granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorbers, and (3) developing quantitative structure-property relationships for predicting the adsorption capacity of activated carbons for trace organic compounds. Funding agencies that have supported or are currently supporting Dr. Knappe’s research include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the Water Research Foundation (formerly American Water Works Association Research Foundation), the North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute, and the North Carolina Urban Water Consortium. He is an Associate Editor for the journal Water Science and Technology, a Topical Editor for the Open Access Journal Drinking Water Engineering and Science, and a member of the American Water Works Association Standards Committee for Activated Carbon. Dr. Knappe and his students have been the recipients of numerous best paper, best poster, and best thesis awards. Dr. Knappe is a recipient of the NCSU Outstanding Teacher Award, the Bill Horn Kimley-Horn Faculty Award for excellence in graduate and undergraduate teaching and other accomplishments at NC State University, and the Young Civil Engineer Achievement Award from the University of Illinois.

Recent Research Projects for Knappe

• Evaluation of Available Scale-up Approaches for the Design of Granular Activated Carbon Contactors — 05/01/10 - 05/01/13 Details
• Generation of Biodegradation - Sorption Barriers for Munitions Constituents 11 EB-ER1-079 (formerly ER1-038) — 03/30/11 - 03/30/15 Details
• Removal of Perfluorinated Compounds by Powdered Activated Carbon Blends, Superfine Powdered Activated Carbon, and Magnetic Anion Exchange Resins — 01/01/11 - 04/01/14 Details
• Evaluation of Available Scale-up Approaches for the Design of Granular Activated Carbon Contactors — 05/01/10 - 05/01/13 Details
• Effectiveness of Sub-Micrometer Sized Powdered Activated Carbon for the Combined Removal of Disinfection By-Product Precursors and Trace Organic Pollutants — 10/01/09 - 05/01/13 Details
• Protecting Receiving Waters: Removal of Biochemically Active Compounds from Wastewater by Ozonation and Activated Carbon Adsorption Processes — 03/01/09 - 12/31/10 Details
• Decision Support Tool Guidance Document for Management of Debris from Incidents of National Significance — 09/05/08 - 01/31/11 Details
• Treatment Options for the Removal of Emerging Pollutants of Concern — 01/15/09 - 01/14/11 Details
• Impact of UV Location and Sequence on By-Product Formation — 10/15/07 - 01/15/11 Details
• Development of an Analytical Method for Taste and Odor Compounds and Application to NC Drinking Water Sources and Finished Waters — 03/01/08 - 08/31/09 Details
• Protecting Receiving Waters: Removal of Biochemically Active Compounds from Wastewater by Sequential Photochemical and Biological Oxidation Processes — 03/01/07 - 08/31/08 Details
• Master Agreement - Scientific, Technical, Research, Engineering, and Modeling Support (STREAMS) — 09/27/05 - 09/26/10 Details
• Removal of 2-Methylisoborneol and Geosmin With High-Silica Zeolites and Zeolite-Enhanced Ozonation — 02/01/06 - 01/01/10 Details
• Evaluation of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for Modeling UV-Initiated Advanced Oxidation Processes — 01/01/06 - 07/15/09 Details
• Study of Landfill Gas as a Pathway for Chemical and Biological Contaminants — 08/25/04 - 12/31/09 Details

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Upcoming Courses
Taught By Knappe

• CE 771 - 001 — Spring '12 Physical-Chemical Water Treatment Processes
• CE 378 - 202 — Fall '12 Environmental Chemistry and Microbiology
• CE 574 - 601 — Fall '12 Chemical Principles of Environmental Engineering
• CE 596 - 005 — Fall '12 Special Topics in Water Resource and Environmental Engineering