Descripción del proyecto
Aumento del valor de los subproductos de residuos industriales
La transformación de biomasa en materiales y energía valiosos (un proceso conocido como valorización de la biomasa) constituye una parte esencial de la estrategia de la Unión Europea para la transición hacia una economía circular y climáticamente neutra de aquí a 2050. Las industrias tienen cada vez más problemas para introducir sistemas de fraccionamiento eficientes y desarrollar productos comerciales para realizar su potencial de biomasa. En este contexto, el proyecto SUBLUBE, financiado con fondos europeos, se propone optimizar un proceso de fraccionamiento e hidrólisis para recuperar suberina pura de subproductos del corcho. El proceso utilizará agua supercrítica para convertir la suberina en componentes básicos altamente funcionales para lubricantes. Los hallazgos del proyecto proporcionarán un conocimiento valioso sobre la transformación catalítica de subproductos de residuos agroindustriales en productos de valor añadido mediante el empleo de microrreactores de flujo continuo a gran escala.
Objetivo
Biomass valorization through biorefineries is integral towards the transition to a circular and climate neutral economy by 2050, as envisioned in the European Union Circular Economy Action Plan and in support of the European and Spanish Bioeconomy Strategy and the RIS3 Castilla y Leon Regional Strategy. To realize this, two important challenges need to be addressed: an efficient biomass fractionation system and the development of products close to market.
In response to these challenges, the SUBLUBE project aims to recover pristine suberin from cork industry byproducts through a cascaded fractionation-hydrolysis process with supercritical water as reaction media and to convert pristine suberin into highly functionalized biolubricant building block through subcritical water hydrolysis. The research will focus on evaluating the process conditions that would achieve high pristine suberin yields and highly functionalized building blocks in a laboratory scale and pilot scale continuous microreactors. Based from the results obtained, a techno-economic model will be prepared through process modeling and simulation. SUBLUBE is founded upon the integration of applied chemistry, chemical engineering, process fundamentals and materials science as a strategy for forestry products valorization. The findings of this research will benefit the society as a model for scalable biorefineries in continuous microreactors (innovation) that utilizes agro-industrial waste byproducts as resources for the sustainable generation of value added products (pristine suberin, biolubricants). It will lead to additional income streams for the cork processing industry (job creation) while reducing our dependence on vegetable oils and synthetic esters and greenhouse gas emissions. As a whole, this fellowship will support a female foreign researcher in demonstrating ability to work on a project that advances natural product valorization through green and sustainable technologies.
Ámbito científico
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticulturevegetable growing
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsbioeconomy
- engineering and technologychemical engineering
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy
- agricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
47002 VALLADOLID
España