Descripción del proyecto
Producción de biodiésel a partir de aceite usado
Las emisiones de los vehículos contribuyen significativamente al cambio climático y al calentamiento global. El biodiésel (producido a partir de aceite vegetal) se ha considerado un sustituto del diésel,pero, el uso de aceites comestibles, necesarios para poder producirlo, genera conflictos en la producción de cultivos alimentarios, lo que disminuye su atractivo. Se están desarrollando tecnologías novedosas para tratar los aceites no comestibles de menor calidad, como el aceite usado, y esta nueva materia prima se ha probado de manera experimental con resultados prometedores. No obstante, todavía hay una falta de conocimiento sobre este método. El equipo del proyecto UNPRECEDENTED, financiado con fondos europeos, combinará datos experimentales y modelos teóricos para estudiar y comprender los pasos reactivos que intervienen y evaluar la conversión del aceite usado en la producción de biodiésel.
Objetivo
40% reduction on emissions should be achieved by 2030 within EU with the outstanding goal for Europe to become the first climate neutral continent by 2050. These goals need to be reached without jeopardizing economic development and growth, and simultaneously fulfilling the UN goals for sustainability.
One of the main contributors to climate change and global warming is emissions from our vehicles as these mainly use petroleum-based fuels. To address this, new approaches, methodologies, and technologies must be developed.
Biodiesel is one option to substitute diesel; however, its production has been controversial since it requires the use of edible oils and thus creates conflicts with the production of food crops, making it less attractive. Because of this problem, newer technologies are being developed to treat lower quality nonedible oils. However, as yet, these are not economically viable.
To address these problems, UNPRECEDENTED will focus on the use of waste oil. This new raw material has been tested experimentally with promising results. However, how the reaction is taking place and the steps involved is far from being understood. This lack of knowledge has a negative effect when selecting new technologies or testing new feedstocks.
UNPRECEDENTED will use a combine methodology of experimental data and theoretical modelling (DFT based calculations) to study and fully comprehend the biodiesel production reaction. This methodology will permit a full understanding of the reactive steps involved, the reaction pathway that is followed as well as the energies involved in each reactive step. This methodology will assess for the conversion of waste oil in the presence of renewable alcohols to produce biodiesel when using new catalytic materials that are biobased, produce from renewable sources, and enriched with glycerol.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipids
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryalcohols
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterialsbiofuels
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-AG-UN - HORIZON Unit GrantCoordinador
1433 As
Noruega