Karapantsios Theodoros

Professor Theodoros Karapantsios started his academic and research career at the School of Chemistry of AUTH, since 2001. Until now, he has supervised 14 PhD and more than 20 master theses. He has published more than 160 research papers in international scientific journals, he participated in more than 250 scientific conferences and he is the owner of 6 patents. Moreover, he has participated in more than 85 European, national, industrial and service providing research projects, coordinating more than 60 of them. Since 2020, Prof. Karapantsios is the Director of Chemical and Environmental Technology Lab in our department and an administration board member of the Research Committee and Management of ELKE AUTH, while in 2021 he was elected as the Vise President of this Committee.

He is the Greek delegate of European Space Agency Program Board, on Human Spaceflight and Exploration, since 2010. Since 2021 he is the Greek delegate of Horizon Europe project’s, “Space” administration board. In the period 2014-2019, he was the head of ESA emblematic projects, regarding drinking water and wastewater on ISS. He participated in more than 20 technology development projects and 11 parabolic flight campaigns, together with the Multiphase Dynamics research Group, that he directs. Since March 2020, he is the coordinator of AUTH wastewater epidemiology group regarding the identification of SARS-CoV-2 viral load and mutations in Thessaloniki’s sewerage.

Teaching

• Physical Processes
• Chemical Technology
• Process Design in Chemical Industry
• Design and Simulation of Wastewater Treatment Plants

Research

Dynamic Multiphase Systems

Intensification of heat exchange processes (boiling, condensation, evaporation, frying). Hydrodynamics and dynamics of bubbles in two-phase flows (bubble column, liquid degassing) Bubble size, velocity and void fraction measurements. Bubble-bubble and bubble-particle interactions in multiphase mineral flotation systems. Experiments in micro-gravity and hyper-gravity conditions.

Emulsions and Foams

Prototype for the formation of stable emulsions and foams. Stability enhancement of emulsions and foams. Dynamics of the dispersed phase (bubbles, droplets). Study the rheology of emulsions and foams (application in food, cosmetics, detergents).

Wettability of surfaces

Prototype centrifugal device for studying the wettability of solid surfaces covered with biofilms, coatings or dyes. 3-D reconstruction of droplet geometry by merging peripheral droplet images through a software. Morphology study of covering layers (optical microscopy, nanofocus).

Rheology and surface tension measurements

Fluids rheological characterization. Viscoelastic measurements. Rheology of surfactant/ protein layers on air-liquid and liquid-liquid interfaces. Interfacial shear and dilatational viscoelastic measurements. Surface and interfacial tension measurements with maximum bubble pressure, pendant drop and Wilhelmy plate techniques.

Water and wastewater

Water and wastewater quality control. Silver and ammonium concentration measurements in drinking water. Development of relevant processing techniques. Dynamics and rationalization of viral shedding in wastewater and sewerage piping networks, based on sewerage qualitative physicochemical characteristics.

Medical diagnostic techniques for blood circulation

Development of medical diagnostic devices for blood circulation assessment in human body. Application of an innovative electrical impedance spectroscopy technique with high sensitivity and accuracy. Diagnosis of coronary disease and decompression sickness (astronauts, divers, metro workers).