Publications related to Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment of a biorefinery utilizing reductive catalytic fractionation

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

Gamma noise to non-invasively monitor nuclear research reactors

Pavel Frajtag, Andreas Pautz, Oskari Ville Pakari, Vincent Pierre Lamirand, Tom Mager

Autonomous nuclear reactor monitoring is a key aspect of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s strategy to ensure nonproliferation treaty compliance. From the rise of small modular reactor technology, decentralized nuclear reactor fleets may strain the ...

Nature Research2024

Neutron-Gamma Noise Measurements in a Zero-Power Reactor Using Organic Scintillators

Andreas Pautz, Oskari Ville Pakari, Vincent Pierre Lamirand

Noise measurements in light water reactor systems aid in generating validation data for integral point kinetic parameter predictions and generating monitoring parameters for reactor safety and safeguards. The CROCUS zero-power reactor has been used to supp ...

Ieee-Inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc2024

Green hydrogen production using Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 bioanode and cuprous oxide-based photocathode

Michele Morgante

In recent years, many efforts have been made to find alternative renewable energy sources that can ideally replace the use of fossil fuels in all aspects. One of the new emerging energy technologies is the bioelectrochemical system, of which two types are ...

EPFL2024

Experimental study and interpretative modelling of the Power Exhaust in Configurations with Multiple X-Points in TCV

Sophie Danielle Angelica Gorno

Nuclear fusion presents a promising clean energy source to mitigate future energy crises, with magnetic confinement fusion well-positioned to provide a baseload scenario to power future reactors. The unmitigated power exhaust of such reactors threatens its ...

EPFL2024

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

Anastasiia Komarova

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

Heterogeneous catalysis via light-heat dual activation: A path to the breakthrough in C1 chemistry

Bingqiao Xie

A hybrid photothermal catalytic system, which combines both the photochemical (light) and thermal (heat) activation pathways over a bifunctional catalyst, has demonstrated remarkable levels of reaction activity and selectivity when compared with individual ...

Cell Press2024

Demonstration of a sparse sensor placement technique to the limited diagnostic set in a fusion power plant

Lorenzo Martinelli, Artur Perek

DEMO will have a limited diagnostic set for optimization of reactor performance, and limited diagnostic coverage due to challenging reactor conditions. This poses challenges for control, especially for detachment control which is planned to be performed wi ...

Elsevier Science Sa2024

Engineering Frustrated Lewis Pair Active Sites in Porous Organic Scaffolds for Catalytic CO2 Hydrogenation

Anne-Clémence Corminboeuf, Jacob Terence Blaskovits, Shubhajit Das, Rubén Laplaza Solanas

Frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs), featuring reactive combinations of Lewis acids and Lewis bases, have been utilized for myriad metal-free homogeneous catalytic processes. Immobilizing the active Lewis sites to a solid support, especially to porous scaffolds, ...

Amer Chemical Soc2024

Design and assessment of an evaporating water-cooled methanation reactor for a SOE-based power-to-methane system

Philippe Aubin

The transition towards clean renewable energy sources, where wind and solar are prone to variation, requires adequate energy storage. Power-to-methane (PtM) systems can be part of the solution. Specifically, solid-oxide-electrolyser (SOE) based PtM systems ...

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

Tailoring nanocatalysts and reaction interfaces for water- and CO2-electrolysis

Thi Ha My Pham

Renewable energy sources offer a promising solution for mitigating sustainability and CO2 emissions-related issues due to their vast energy generation capacity. They enable hydrogen production via water electrolysis, as well as carbon capture and utilizati ...

EPFL2024

A diversity-driven discovery of potential nanoporous materials for energy-related applications

Sauradeep Majumdar

The design and discovery of potential novel materials is critical for the advancement of climate change mitigation technologies. In this respect, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have received considerable attention over the last two decades. The combinatio ...

EPFL2024

'Fraternal-twin' ferroelectricity: competing polar states in hydrogen-doped samarium nickelate from first principles

Michele Kotiuga

In ferroelectric switching, an applied electric field switches the system between two polar symmetry-equivalent states. In this work, we use first-principles calculations to explore the polar states of hydrogen-doped samarium nickelate (SNO) at a concentra ...

Iop Publishing Ltd2024

Gamma-ray Spectroscopy in Low-Power Nuclear Research Reactors

Andreas Pautz, Oskari Ville Pakari, Vincent Pierre Lamirand

Gamma-ray spectroscopy is an effective technique for radioactive material characterization, routine inventory verification, nuclear safeguards, health physics, and source search scenarios. Gamma-ray spectrometers typically cannot be operated in the immedia ...

MDPI2024

Impact of anthropogenic emission control in reducing future PM2.5 concentrations and the related oxidative potential across different regions of China

Yuan Yuan, Athanasios Nenes

Affected by both future anthropogenic emissions and climate change, future prediction of PM2.5 and its Oxidative Potential (OP) distribution is a significant challenge, especially in developing countries like China. To overcome this challenge, we estimated ...

Elsevier2024

Quantifying functional group compositions of household fuel-burning emissions

Satoshi Takahama, Amir Yazdani

Globally, billions of people burn fuels indoors for cooking and heating, which contributes to millions of chronic illnesses and premature deaths annually. Additionally, residential burning contributes significantly to black carbon emissions, which have the ...

Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh2024

Decarbonizing the fertilizers sector: an alternative pathway for urea and nitric acid production

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

In order to alleviate the environmental impact that nitrogen fertilizers production is responsible for, several efforts have been addressed to incentivize the partial or total decarbonization of the supply chains of ammonia and its derivatives. The decarbo ...

2024

Identification of typical district configurations: A two-step global sensitivity analysis framework

François Maréchal, Jonas Schnidrig, Cédric Terrier

The recent geopolitical conflicts in Europe have underscored the vulnerability of the current energy system to the volatility of energy carrier prices. In the prospect of defining robust energy systems ensuring sustainable energy supply in the future, the ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2024

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