PhD supervision
Interested in supervising students studying:
- Synthetic Membrane Separation Processes
- Food Process Engineering
- Reduction of Water and Energy consumption in industrial processes
- Fouling and Cleaning of Process Plant.
Dr Michael Bird
BEng, PhD
Profile
Dr Bird holds degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Universities of Swansea and Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, and a Chartered Engineer.
Research
Dr Bird’s research interests are in the area of biochemical and food process engineering. Research work has investigated the interaction between surfaces and bioproducts, particularly in stainless steel equipment and in pressure driven synthetic membrane systems. This includes fouling and cleaning of surfaces; a multidisciplinary area requiring an appreciation of surface chemistry, material science, biochemistry as well as chemical engineering.
Chemical cleaning is of great interest to the food industry to ensure product quality. Optimisation of cleaning processes leads to a reduction in the amount of water, energy and cleaning chemicals consumed, and the downtime lost.
Fouling and cleaning phenomena are critical to the operation of synthetic membranes. Such membranes are used to purify and process streams containing proteins, carbohydrates and salts in food, water and pharmaceutical industries. Mike’s work has a strong relevance to improving product quality, and reducing downtime, water and chemical consumption.
A strong emphasis is placed on understanding the fundamental surface science of the deposition and removal processes occurring.
Dr Bird’s research group has studied deposition to and removal from:
- Ultra/microfiltration membranes of: Bacterial spores (Kerry Group), beer (Courages), coffee (Nestle), gum Arabic (Kerry Group), lignosulphonates (Borregarrd Lignotech, Alfa Laval), molasses (Danisco), nisin (Danisco) raw skimmed milk (TetraPak), tea (Unilever, Findlays), tomato serum (Unilever), milk protein isolate (Kerry Group) and yeast,
- Clothes fabrics (P&G)
- Heat exchange surfaces of: Whey proteins and starches,
- Non-heated stainless steel surfaces of: crude oil (International Products Corp), tube drawing lubricants (Fine Tubes), and bacterial biofilms (Solvay Interox),
- Electrical component surfaces (cables and relay contacts) of: rosin flux and surface contamination.
He has co-authored in excess of 80 papers, of which over 30 have appeared in peer reviewed journals.
Publications
Articles
Head, L. E. and Bird, M. R., 2013. Backwashing of tubular ceramic microfilters fouled with milk protein isolate feeds. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 36 (2), pp. 228-240.
Head, L. E. and Bird, M. R., 2013. The removal of psychrotropic spores from milk protein isolate feeds using tubular ceramic microfilters. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 36 (1), pp. 113-124.
Muir, A. C., Mckeown, P., Li, Y., Kobine, J. J. and Bird, M. R., 2013. Forthcoming. The removal of food fat based soils during the washing of fabrics. Chemical Engineering Research & Design
Lewis, W.J.T., Peck, O.P.W., Muir, A.C., John Chew, Y.M. and Bird, M.R., 2012. The fouling and cleaning of surfaces in the food sector. Food Science and Technology (London), 26 (4), pp. 30-32.
Lewis, W. J. T., Chew, Y. M. J. and Bird, M. R., 2012. The application of fluid dynamic gauging in characterising cake deposition during the cross-flow microfiltration of a yeast suspension. Journal of Membrane Science, 405-406, pp. 113-122.
Jones, S. A., Chew, Y. M. J., Wilson, D. I. and Bird, M. R., 2012. Fluid dynamic gauging of microfiltration membranes fouled with sugar beet molasses. Journal of Food Engineering, 108 (1), pp. 22-29.
Jones, S. A., Pihlajamäki, A. and Bird, M. R., 2012. The role of synthetic membrane pre-treatment in influencing filtration performance over multiple operational cycles. Separation Science and Technology, 47 (8), pp. 1119-1128.
Jones, S. A., Bird, M. R. and Pihlajamaki, A., 2011. An experimental investigation into the pre-treatment of synthetic membranes using sodium hydroxide solutions. Journal of Food Engineering, 105 (1), pp. 128-137.
Asteriadou, K., Hasting, A. P. M., Bird, M. R. and Melrose, J., 2010. Modeling heat exchanger performance for non-Newtonian fluids. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 33 (6), pp. 1010-1035.
Jones, S. A., Chew, Y. M. J., Bird, M. R. and Wilson, D. I., 2010. The application of fluid dynamic gauging in the investigation of synthetic membrane fouling phenomena. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 88 (4), pp. 409-418.
Wu, D. and Bird, M. R., 2010. The interaction of protein and polyphenol species in ready to drink black tea liquor production. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 33 (3), pp. 481-505.
Evans, P. J. and Bird, M. R., 2010. The role of black tea feed conditions upon ultrafiltration performance during membrane fouling and cleaning. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 33 (2), pp. 309-332.
Asteriadou, K., Hasting, A. P. M., Bird, M. R. and Melrose, J., 2009. Exploring CFD Solutions for Coexisting Flow Regimes in a T-Piece. Chemical Engineering & Technology, 32 (6), pp. 948-955.
Evans, P. J., Bird, M. R., Rogers, D. and Wright, C. J., 2009. Measurement of polyphenol-membrane interaction forces during the ultrafiltration of black tea liquor. Colloids and Surfaces, A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 335 (1-3), pp. 148-153.
Evans, P. J., Bird, M. R., Pihlajamaeki, A. and Nystroem, M., 2008. The influence of hydrophobicity, roughness and charge upon ultrafiltration membranes for black tea liquor clarification. Journal of Membrane Science, 313 (1-2), pp. 250-262.
Asteriadou, K., Hasting, T., Bird, M. and Melrose, J., 2007. Predicting cleaning of equipment using computational fluid dynamics. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 30 (1), pp. 88-105.
Wu, D. and Bird, M. R., 2007. The fouling and cleaning of ultrafiltration membranes during the filtration of model tea component solutions. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 30 (3), pp. 293-323.
Asteriadou, K., Hasting, A. P. M., Bird, M. R. and Melrose, J., 2006. Computational fluid dynamics for the prediction of temperature profiles and hygienic design in the food industry. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 84 (C2), pp. 157-163.
Evans, P. J. and Bird, M. R., 2006. Solute-membrane fouling interactions during the ultrafiltration of black tea liquor. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 84 (C4), pp. 292-301.
Weis, A., Bird, M. R., Nystrom, M. and Wright, C., 2005. The influence of morphology, hydrophobicity and charge upon the long-term performance of ultrafiltration membranes fouled with spent sulphite liquor. Desalination, 175 (1), pp. 73-85.
Weis, A., Bird, M. R. and Nystrom, M., 2003. The chemical cleaning of polymeric UF membranes fouled with spent sulphite liquor over multiple operational cycles. Journal of Membrane Science, 216 (1-2), pp. 67-79.
Bird, M. R. and Bartlett, M., 2002. Measuring and modelling flux recovery during the chemical cleaning of MF membranes for the processing of whey protein concentrate. Journal of Food Engineering, 53 (2), pp. 143-152.
Vaisanen, P., Bird, M. R. and Nystrom, M., 2002. Treatment of UF membranes with simple and formulated cleaning agents. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 80 (C2), pp. 98-108.
Gan, Q., Howell, J. A., Field, R. W., England, R., Bird, M. R., O'Shaughnessy, C. L. and MeKechinie, M. T., 2001. Beer clarification by microfiltration - product quality control and fractionation of particles and macromolecules. Journal of Membrane Science, 194 (2), pp. 185-196.
Weis, A. and Bird, M. R., 2001. The influence of multiple fouling and cleaning cycles upon the membrane processing of lignosulphonates. Food and Bioproducts Processing, 79 (C3), pp. 184-187.
Conference or Workshop Items
Manning, H. and Bird, M., 2013. The application of hybrid membrane processes to fractionate Gum Arabic into streams of added value. In: 17th Gums & Stabilisers for the Food Industry Conference, 2013-06-25 - 2013-06-28, Wrexham.
Bird, M., Evans, P. and Wu, D., 2007. The application of UF membranes to the filtration of model tea component solutions and reconstituted black tea powder. In: International Membrane Science and Technology Conference (IMSTEC'07), 2007-11-05 - 2007-11-09, Sydney.
Evans, P. and Bird, M., 2007. The fouling and cleaning of ultrafiltration membranes for black tea liquor clarification. In: European Congress of Chemical Engineering (ECCE) – 6, 2007-09-16 - 2007-09-21, Copenhagen.
Asteriadou, K., Hasting, A., Bird, M. and Melrose, J., 2006. Assessing the cleaning of unhygienic geometries in the food industry using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In: Fouling, Cleaning and Disinfection 2006, 2006-03-20 - 2006-03-22, Jesus College, Cambridge.
Evans, P. and Bird, M., 2006. Solute – membrane interactions during the ultrafiltration of black tea liquor. In: Fouling, Cleaning and Disinfection 2006, 2006-03-20 - 2006-03-22, Jesus College, Cambridge.
Asteriadou, K., Hasting, A., Bird, M. and Melrose, J., 2005. Cleanability prediction for complex geometries in the food industry using CFD. In: World Congress of Chemical Engineering, 7th, 2005-07-10 - 2005-07-14, Glasgow.
Asteriadou, K., Hasting, A., Bird, M. and Melrose, J., 2004. The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics for predicting the microbiological safety of foods. In: ICEF9, 2004-03-08 - 2004-03-11, France.
