Thomas Lippert
2.13 ZEB-laboratoriet Gløshaugen, Trondheim
About
Thomas Lippert holds a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Technical University of Munich (2015), including a one-year exchange at Technical University of Denmark. Afterwards, he completed his PhD at Technical University of Munich in 2021 with a focus on ultrasonic sewage sludge treatment, for which he received the Willy-Hager-Prize in 2022. Subsequently, Thomas worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Technical University of Munich, developing zero liquid discharge concepts for the chemical industry (2021-2022). He then continued his postdoctoral training at both Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory (2022-2025), where he performed research on energy recovery from wastewater through integrated biochemical and electrochemical methods. In May 2025, he was promoted to research assistant professor at Northwestern University. He joined the water and wastewater systems engineering group at NTNU as an associate professor in April 2026.
Thomas’ research interests include the energy and resource integration of wastewater, as well as the advanced treatment of emerging contaminants (e.g., PFAS). His guiding principles for the development of novel treatment approaches are chemical-free operation, mild operating conditions, real-world applicability, and a high degree of process automation.
Publications
2025
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Lin, Yupo J.;
Nielsen, Heather D.;
Wells, George F..
(2025)
Neutral water electrolysis unifies green hydrogen and renewable natural gas production from biogas.
Chemical Engineering Journal
Academic article
2023
-
Ilić, Nebojša;
Andalib, Afrina;
Lippert, Thomas;
Knoop, Oliver;
Franke, Marcus;
Bräutigam, Patrick.
(2023)
Ultrasonic degradation of GenX (HFPO-DA) – Performance comparison to PFOA and PFOS at high frequencies.
Chemical Engineering Journal
Academic article
2022
-
Bardi, Mohammad Javad;
Mahmood, Ammad;
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Koch, Konrad.
(2022)
Stimulating effect of hydrostatic pressure on ultrasonic sewage sludge treatment for COD solubilization and methane production.
Bioresource Technology
Academic article
2020
-
Bandelin, Jochen;
Lippert, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2020)
Assessment of sonotrode and tube reactors for ultrasonic pre-treatment of two different sewage sludge types.
Ultrasonics sonochemistry
Academic article
-
Bandelin, Jochen;
Lippert, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2020)
Impact of high flow rates and increased viscosity of digested sewage sludge on the cavitation intensity in ultrasonic tube reactors.
Chemical Engineering and Processing
Academic article
-
Horstmeyer, Nils;
Thies, Cornelius;
Lippert, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E..
(2020)
A hydraulically optimized fluidized bed UF membrane reactor (FB-UF-MR) for direct treatment of raw municipal wastewater to enable water reclamation with integrated energy recovery.
Separation and Purification Technology
Academic article
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Vogl, Dominik;
Tesieh, Zahra Alipour;
Wild, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E..
(2020)
Full-Scale Assessment of Ultrasonic Sewage Sludge Pretreatment Using a Novel Double-Tube Reactor.
ACS ES&T Engineering
Academic article
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Xu, Yunqi;
Liu, Yu Chen;
Robles, Gabriel Hernández;
Drewes, Jörg E..
(2020)
From pre-treatment to co-treatment - How successful is ultrasonication of digested sewage sludge in continuously operated anaerobic digesters?.
Renewable Energy
Academic article
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Schlederer, Felizitas;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2020)
Effects of ultrasonic reactor design on sewage sludge disintegration.
Ultrasonics sonochemistry
Academic article
2019
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Schlederer, Felizitas;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2019)
Impact of ultrasound-induced cavitation on the fluid dynamics of water and sewage sludge in ultrasonic flatbed reactors.
Ultrasonics sonochemistry
Academic article
2018
-
Horstmeyer, Nils;
Lippert, Thomas;
Schön, David;
Schlederer, Felizitas;
Picioreanu, Cristian;
Achterhold, Klaus.
(2018)
CT scanning of membrane feed spacers – Impact of spacer model accuracy on hydrodynamic and solute transport modeling in membrane feed channels.
Journal of Membrane Science
Academic article
-
Bandelin, Jochen;
Lippert, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2018)
Cavitation field analysis for an increased efficiency of ultrasonic sludge pre-treatment using a novel hydrophone system.
Ultrasonics sonochemistry
Academic article
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Musch, Alexandra;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2018)
Energy-positive sewage sludge pre-treatment with a novel ultrasonic flatbed reactor at low energy input.
Bioresource Technology
Academic article
2017
-
Koch, Konrad;
Lippert, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E..
(2017)
The role of inoculum’s origin on the methane yield of different substrates in biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests.
Bioresource Technology
Academic article
-
Koch, Konrad;
Lippert, Thomas;
Sabadini, Natalia Hauck;
Drewes, Jörg E..
(2017)
Tube reactors as a novel ultrasonication system for trouble-free treatment of sludges.
Ultrasonics sonochemistry
Academic article
Journal publications
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Lin, Yupo J.;
Nielsen, Heather D.;
Wells, George F..
(2025)
Neutral water electrolysis unifies green hydrogen and renewable natural gas production from biogas.
Chemical Engineering Journal
Academic article
-
Ilić, Nebojša;
Andalib, Afrina;
Lippert, Thomas;
Knoop, Oliver;
Franke, Marcus;
Bräutigam, Patrick.
(2023)
Ultrasonic degradation of GenX (HFPO-DA) – Performance comparison to PFOA and PFOS at high frequencies.
Chemical Engineering Journal
Academic article
-
Bardi, Mohammad Javad;
Mahmood, Ammad;
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Koch, Konrad.
(2022)
Stimulating effect of hydrostatic pressure on ultrasonic sewage sludge treatment for COD solubilization and methane production.
Bioresource Technology
Academic article
-
Bandelin, Jochen;
Lippert, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2020)
Assessment of sonotrode and tube reactors for ultrasonic pre-treatment of two different sewage sludge types.
Ultrasonics sonochemistry
Academic article
-
Bandelin, Jochen;
Lippert, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2020)
Impact of high flow rates and increased viscosity of digested sewage sludge on the cavitation intensity in ultrasonic tube reactors.
Chemical Engineering and Processing
Academic article
-
Horstmeyer, Nils;
Thies, Cornelius;
Lippert, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E..
(2020)
A hydraulically optimized fluidized bed UF membrane reactor (FB-UF-MR) for direct treatment of raw municipal wastewater to enable water reclamation with integrated energy recovery.
Separation and Purification Technology
Academic article
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Vogl, Dominik;
Tesieh, Zahra Alipour;
Wild, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E..
(2020)
Full-Scale Assessment of Ultrasonic Sewage Sludge Pretreatment Using a Novel Double-Tube Reactor.
ACS ES&T Engineering
Academic article
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Xu, Yunqi;
Liu, Yu Chen;
Robles, Gabriel Hernández;
Drewes, Jörg E..
(2020)
From pre-treatment to co-treatment - How successful is ultrasonication of digested sewage sludge in continuously operated anaerobic digesters?.
Renewable Energy
Academic article
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Schlederer, Felizitas;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2020)
Effects of ultrasonic reactor design on sewage sludge disintegration.
Ultrasonics sonochemistry
Academic article
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Schlederer, Felizitas;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2019)
Impact of ultrasound-induced cavitation on the fluid dynamics of water and sewage sludge in ultrasonic flatbed reactors.
Ultrasonics sonochemistry
Academic article
-
Horstmeyer, Nils;
Lippert, Thomas;
Schön, David;
Schlederer, Felizitas;
Picioreanu, Cristian;
Achterhold, Klaus.
(2018)
CT scanning of membrane feed spacers – Impact of spacer model accuracy on hydrodynamic and solute transport modeling in membrane feed channels.
Journal of Membrane Science
Academic article
-
Bandelin, Jochen;
Lippert, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2018)
Cavitation field analysis for an increased efficiency of ultrasonic sludge pre-treatment using a novel hydrophone system.
Ultrasonics sonochemistry
Academic article
-
Lippert, Thomas;
Bandelin, Jochen;
Musch, Alexandra;
Drewes, Jörg E.;
Koch, Konrad.
(2018)
Energy-positive sewage sludge pre-treatment with a novel ultrasonic flatbed reactor at low energy input.
Bioresource Technology
Academic article
-
Koch, Konrad;
Lippert, Thomas;
Drewes, Jörg E..
(2017)
The role of inoculum’s origin on the methane yield of different substrates in biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests.
Bioresource Technology
Academic article
-
Koch, Konrad;
Lippert, Thomas;
Sabadini, Natalia Hauck;
Drewes, Jörg E..
(2017)
Tube reactors as a novel ultrasonication system for trouble-free treatment of sludges.
Ultrasonics sonochemistry
Academic article