Tipologia del laboratorio
Laboratorio leggero che presenta anche apparecchiature pesanti
Responsabile del laboratorio
Afferenti al laboratorio
Descrizione attività del laboratorio
Il Laboratorio Biomasse (LB) nasce per valorizzare biomasse residuali e rifiuti organici per trarne sostanze e materiali di interesse in ambito energetico, ambientale, agricolo, della chimica verde, alimentare e nutraceutico. Il concetto che ispira il LB è quello dell’economia circolare declinata in innovazione di processo e impianto, bioraffineria.
Il LB nasce nel 2004 per la valorizzazione di biomasse residuali agro-industriali (es. vinacce residuali di vinificazione, scarti di lavorazione del pesce) come fonte di composti e molecole di interesse alimentare: oli, omega-3, composti polifenolici, antiossidanti e bioattivi. Si opera a mezzo della tecnologia di estrazione con CO2 supercritica, oltre che con metodiche tradizionali.
Alcuni anni dopo all’interno del LB si sviluppano nuove linee di ricerca nell’ambito dell’ingegneria energetica e di recupero di materiali con valenza ambientale: vettori energetici solidi (biocarbone) e gassosi (biogas), materiali adsorbenti (carboni attivi) e di utilizzo agricolo come fonte di C e macronutrienti (N, P, K: fertilizzanti ed ammendanti), molecole di interesse per la chimica verde (platform chemicals). Biomasse e rifiuti organici vengono convertiti via conversione idrotermica, in presenza di acqua allo stato liquido: idrolisi termica e soprattutto carbonizzazione idrotermica (hydrothermal carbonization, HTC). Con l’HTC, operando a temperature nell’intervallo 180-250 °C (P 10-50 bar), in poche ore si realizza il processo di carbonizzazione che in natura ha luogo nel corso delle ere geologiche. Attraverso collaborazioni con laboratori partner presenti all’interno del DICAM vengono inoltre studiati i processi di digestione anaerobica, compostaggio e adsorbimento per water remediation. L’approccio è quello tipico dell’ingegneria di processo: si sviluppano nuovi processi integrati (bioraffineria, process symbiosys) per innovare, intensificare ed efficientare i processi industriali in ottica di recupero di materia ed energia.
Locali
Piano interrato - stanza 7
Info
The research and activities of our team are focused on the development of new technologies in the Waste to Energy and Waste to Chemicals sectors.
Our competencies in process, chemical, and industrial engineering make our research activities focused on real-life cases. The aim is valorising biomasses, such as agro-industrial residues and organic wastes, through experimental tests and process modelling simulations. By combining them, we are capable of simulating chemical-physical phenomena at lab- and industrial-scale levels. Among all the technologies available for biomass thermochemical conversion (e.g. gasification, dry pyrolysis, combustion), we particularly deal with hydrothermal processes: supercritical water gasification and, especially, hydrothermal carbonization.
We have also high-level expertise in the food engineering sector. In this field, our research principally concerns the extraction of nutraceuticals (omega-3, antioxidants, food oils) contained in food residues by using supercritical CO2 or alternatively, classical chemical solvents or mechanical pressure.
HydroThermal Carbonization
HydroThermal Carbonization (HTC) is a thermochemical process for organic waste conversion into valuable products. During HTC, the organic matter in an aqueous suspension is transformed in a short time (1-3 h) at moderate temperatures (180-250 °C) and pressures (10-50 bar) in a solid carbonaceous material, named hydrochar.
Application
Hydrochar has different applications:
- Sustainable biofuel with a high heating value (25-30 MJ/kg). It can be used in the form of pellets in domestic stoves or in district heating boilers;
- Soil improver;
- Precursor for activated carbon;
- Precursor of catalyst;
- Carbonaceous material for fuel cell electrodes.
Treated biomass
The HTC process is suitable for high moisture residues (>50 wt. %):
- Organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW);
- Agro-industrial residues (e.g. vine and oil processing by-products, manure, orange pomace…);
- Pruning residues;
- Sewage sludge;
- Digestate (from anaerobic plant).
Advantages of HTC
- It is a CO2-neutral process;
- It is adaptable to a small-scale industry context;
- It could be implemented easily in existing plants (composting and anaerobic digestion plants);
- The biomass can be used as it is, without pre-drying;
- It is a simple and fast technology.
Supercritical CO2 Extraction
Concerning the food engineering field, we use supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) as a solvent for the extraction of biochemical products for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic sectors.
Substrates utilized
- Grape marc;
- Seeds;
- Agro-industrial waste;
- Fish processing by-products;
- Medicinal herbs.
Extracted bio-based substances
- Natural antioxidants (e.g. polyphenols);
- Grape seeds oil;
- Omega-3 enriched oil;
- Caffeine (in the case of decaffeinated coffee).
Advantages of SC-CO2
- CO2 is not toxic
- CO2 is not flammable;
- CO2 is ecologically sustainable;
- For the highest quality of extracts obtained with respect to the other extraction technologies, SC-CO2 extraction is used especially for high added-value extracts.
Moreover, we are specialized in SC-CO2 fractionation. We apply this technique for obtaining omega-3-enriched concentrates starting from fish oil.
Laboratory equipment
Our lab is equipped with:
- Lab scale HTC reactor (Working volume: 50 mL; design pressure: 140 bar; design temperature: 300 °C; material: AISI316).
- Bench scale HTC reactor (Working volume: 2.5 L; design pressure: 140 bar; design temperature: 300 °C; material: AISI316). The reactor is monitored and controlled by software developed in LABView programming language.
- Calorimeter for HHV measurement.
- Elemental analyzer for elemental composition (C, H, O, N, S) determination.
- Supercritical CO2 extractor (Working volume: 500 mL; design pressure: 600 bar), equipped to work also with organic co-solvent (e.g. ethanol).
- Soxhlet extractor, used with organic solvent (ethanol, hexane…).
- Mechanical extractor;
- Vacuum rotary evaporator;
- Ovens, thermos-balance, grinders, vibrating screen.
Publication:
https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=0FxUZEIAAAAJ&hl=it&oi=ao