Publications related to Exergetic, environmental and economic assessment of sugarcane first-generation biorefineries

Development of Sustainable Carbohydrate-Based Solvents by Acetal Functionalisation of Biomass

Organic solvents are ubiquitous in industrial and domestic applications from the production of pharmaceuticals to household consumer products. The negative impact of most traditional solvents, especially aprotic types, on the environment, health, and safet ...

EPFL2024

Design and Synthesis of Bio-based Amphiphiles from Lignocellulosic Biomass

Songlan Sun

In the pursuit of a carbon-neutral chemical industry, minimizing fossil feedstock consumption while integrating renewable carbon sources is imperative. Surfactants, inherently amphiphilic, pose challenges in separation and recovery processes. Given their e ...

EPFL2024

Separation of CO2 and TFE by using diethanolamine and diisopropylamine

Elia Mercedes Ruiz Pachon, Muhammad Salman

The near-azeotrope mixture of TFE and CO2 is an important concern urging the scientific community to develop new ways for TFE/CO2 separations. In this work, for the first time, Diisopropylamine (DIPA) and Diethanolamine (DEA) are used as solvents for separ ...

Taylor & Francis Inc2024

Renewable energy integration and waste heat valorization in aluminum remelting for co-producing kerosene and methanol

François Maréchal, Daniel Alexander Florez Orrego, Meire Ellen Gorete Ribeiro Domingos, Réginald Germanier

The aluminium sector relies on natural gas for the conversion of recycled scrap into new feedstock, which results in substantial atmospheric emissions. Hydric resources are also impacted, as they serve as heat sinks for the waste heat generated during the ...

Associazione Italiana Di Ingegneria Chimica2024

Origin of the Activity Trend in the Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Ethanol over VOx/CeO2

Oliver Kröcher, Rob Jeremiah G. Nuguid, Anna Zabilska, Olga Safonova

Supported vanadia (VOx) is a versatile catalyst for various redox processes where ceria-supported VOx have shown to be particularly active in the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of alcohols. In this work, we clarify the origin of the volcano-shaped ethanol ...

Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH2023

Decision support for the design of integrated biorefineries

Julia Granacher

A shift from fossil-based energy and products to more sustainable alternatives is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and associated climate change impacts. Biomass represents a promising alternative for providing fuels and carbon-based products w ...

EPFL2023

Process modeling and integration of hydrogen and synthetic natural gas production in a kraft pulp mill via black liquor gasification

François Maréchal, Daniel Alexander Florez Orrego, Meire Ellen Gorete Ribeiro Domingos

The black liquor gasification integrated to chemical plants has shown potential for reducing the process irreversibility and promoting the decarbonization of this industrial sector. In the integrated chemical plants proposed in this work, the purpose is co ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023

A Sprayable Electrically Conductive Edible Coating for Piezoresistive Strain Sensing

Dario Floreano, Pietro Rossi, Bokeon Kwak

Edible electronics leverages the electronic properties of food-derived materials to deliver safer technologies that can be degraded (or digested) in the environment (or body) at the end-of-life. Sensors will be central to future smart edible robots, and ed ...

2024

Comparative techno-economic and energy analyses of integrated biorefinery processes of furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from biomass residue

François Maréchal

For efficient feedstock and energy utilization, integrated biorefinery processes are applied to furfural production from bagasse to convert furfural residue into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF)-an important intermediate building block for the production of v ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2023

Investigation of Biomass Hydrothermal Conversion Products by HRMS

Daniil Salionov

The dependency on fossil fuels and their impact on the environment is a matter of great concern for the future sustainability of modern society. The development of the "green" technologies which utilize renewable energy sources is now under investigation. ...

EPFL2023

Integrated production of urea and nitric acid in the pulp industry: techno-economic and environmental analysis of black liquor gasification-based processes

François Maréchal, Shivom Sharma, Daniel Alexander Florez Orrego, Meire Ellen Gorete Ribeiro Domingos

The pursuit of alternative energy sources for the nitrogen fertilizers sector has recently earned renewed interest due to increasing concerns regarding the world dependence on non-renewable energy resources and also motivated by the more stringent environm ...

2022

Thermal Design of a Medium Voltage Modular Multilevel Converter Cell

Drazen Dujic, Yanick Patrick Frei

This paper presents the cooling concept for a medium voltage modular multilevel converter cell. To optimize power density, the metallic enclosure is used to dissipate the heat generated by semiconductor losses, while maintaining maximum temperatures below ...

New York2023

Biomass to energy: a machine learning model for optimum gasification pathways

Berend Smit, Kevin Maik Jablonka, Susana Garcia Lopez

Biomass is a highly versatile renewable resource for decarbonizing energy systems. Gasification is a promising conversion technology that can transform biomass into multiple energy carriers to produce heat, electricity, biofuels, or chemicals. At present, ...

Royal Soc Chemistry2023

Comparative Exergy and Economic Assessment of Fossil and Biomass-Based Routes for Ammonia Production

François Maréchal, Daniel Alexander Florez Orrego

Due to the increasing concerns about the marked dependence on fossil resources and their intrinsic economic uncertainty, as well as motivated by more stringent environmental regulations, the pursuit of alternative energy resources for the synthetic fertili ...

Silesian University of Technology2023

Design and operational guidelines of solar-driven catalytic conversion of CO2 and H2 to fuels

Sophia Haussener, Sha Li

Sunlight-powered catalytic conversion of CO2 and (green) H2 into fuels and chemicals via Sabatier and reverse water gas shift (RWGS) processes offers a promising solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy utilization. The suc ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2023

Ni-Based Nanoparticles Catalyzed Hydrodeoxygenation of Ketones, Ethers, and Phenols to (Cyclo) Aliphatic Compounds

Paul Joseph Dyson, Yelin Hu, Matthias Beller, Mingyang Liu, Xiang Li

Catalytic hydrodeoxygenation is of prime importance in the valorization of biomass-based feedstocks to produce essential chemicals and fuels. To carry out this process in a more cost-effective and sustainable manner, the use of 3D-metal-based nanostructure ...

Amer Chemical Soc2023

Methods for Calibrating the Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance: Frequency to Mass and Compensation for Viscous Load

Stefano Mischler, Anna Neus Igual Muñoz

The main output from an Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance is a frequency shift. This note describes how to separate the mass- and viscous load contributions to this shift by a calibration procedure. The mass calibration is made by electroplating ...

MDPI2023

Lignin, from biomass waste to sustainable materials for food packaging, antiviral coatings and agriculture

Alice Boarino

Our planet has been challenged for years by our reckless use of fossil fuels, which has led to the ongoing climate change and energy crisis. The transition to the use of renewable alternative sources has now became urgent and inevitable. The valorization o ...

EPFL2023

Assessment of the technological viability of photoelectrochemical devices for oxygen and fuel production on Moon and Mars

Sophia Haussener, Byron Stuart Ross

Human deep space exploration is presented with multiple challenges, such as the reliable, efficient and sustainable operation of life support systems. The production and recycling of oxygen, carbon dioxide (CO2) and fuels are hereby key, as a resource resu ...

Nature Research2023

Leveraging industrial biorefineries for the energy transition

François Maréchal, Julia Granacher

Biorefineries hold the potential to provide products and energy carriers at reduced environmental impact compared to their fossil-based counterparts. Thus, they can contribute to the decarbonization of sectors in which electrification of demands is challen ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2023