Publications related to Comparative techno-economic assessment and LCA of selected integrated sugarcane-based biorefineries

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

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

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

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

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

Tandem effect of Ag@C@Cu catalysts enhances ethanol selectivity for electrochemical CO2 reduction in flow reactors

Thi Ha My Pham, Andreas Züttel, Wen Luo, Jie Zhang, Mo Li, Youngdon Ko, Cedric David Koolen, Liping Zhong

CO-selective metals (e.g., Ag) on Cu catalysts improve the selec-tivity of multi-carbon (C2+) products in electrochemical CO2 reduc-tion. However, the origin of the improvement remains unclear due to the convolution of tandem and interface effects. Here, A ...

ELSEVIER2022

Active sites on copper-based catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction selectively to C2+ products

Jie Zhang

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (eCO2RR) towards value-added chemicals, powered by renewable electricity, is a promising technology for storing the intermittent renewable energy in the form of chemical bonds. Among the various products of eCO2RR, multi-carbo ...

EPFL2022

Model-based scale-up of a continuously operated consolidated bioprocess based on a microbial consortium for the production of ethanol

David Beat Dempfle

This work demonstrated that consolidated bioprocessing is a promising concept for conversion of lignocellulose to ethanol at industrial scale. CBP offers great cost saving potential, is feasible to be operated continuously and may be scaled up due to exten ...

EPFL2022

Techno-economic assessment of bioethanol production from lignocellulose by consortium-based consolidated bioprocessing at industrial scale

Oliver Kröcher

Lignocellulose-based biofuels are of major importance to mitigate the impact of international traffic and transport on climate change while sustaining agricultural land for food supply. Highly integrated systems like consolidated bioprocessing (CBP), where ...

ELSEVIER2021

Developing structure-oriented models for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

Jessica Charlène Rohrbach

With the unsustainable use of fossil fuels increasing strains on human institutions and ecosystems, the development of a renewable energy alternative is of paramount importance. Second generation biorefineries, based on the production of fuels and chemical ...

EPFL2021

A study on synergies of combined pulp and fuel production

François Maréchal, Tuong-Van Nguyen, Erina Clare Mcdonald, Julia Granacher

To limit climate change by reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, a transition away from fossil fuels is required. Biofuels represent a promising low carbon alternative for sectors that are hard to electrify, such as aviation. The integration of bio ref ...

2021

Simulation and experimental validation of pulsating heat pipes

John Richard Thome, Jackson Braz Marcinichen, Filippo Cataldo, Philippe Aubin

The one-dimensional transient numerical code of JJ Cooling Innovation has been significantly improved to simulate the thermal/hydraulic performance of pulsating heat pipes (PHPs). Using a mechanistic approach, the liquid slug and vapor plug flows and their ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2021

Exergy assessment and techno-economic optimization of bioethanol production routes

François Maréchal

Currently, electricity generation and second-generation ethanol production from lignocellulosic feedstocks represent technological alternatives in the bioenergy sector. Nevertheless, the introduction of new production processes denotes a real challenge due ...

2020

On the economics of social innovation - a conceptual framework and its policy implications

Dominique Foray

Social innovation addressing social, economic and environmental challenges are increasingly recognized as crucial drivers of social changes. However, the concept of social innovation remains vague. This paper builds a conceptual framework from an economic ...

2020

Using agricultural residues for sustainable transportation biofuels in 2050: Case of West Africa

Edgard Gnansounou, Elia Mercedes Ruiz Pachon

This article focuses on the use of biomass to produce transportation fuels such as synthetic natural gas, bioethanol and electricity under a sustainable scenario in West Africa in 2050. The aim of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of producing such ...

Elsevier2020

Aldehyde-Assisted Lignocellulose Fractionation Provides Unique Lignin Oligomers for the Design of Tunable Polyurethane Bioresins

Jeremy Luterbacher, Raymond Gérard Buser, Florent Emmanuel Héroguel, Jean Thierry C Behaghel de Bueren, Chloé Wegmann

Thanks to chemical stabilization, aldehyde-assisted fractionation (AAF) of lignocellulosic biomass has recently emerged as a powerful tool for the production of largely uncondensed lignin. Depolymerization of AAF lignin via ether deavage provides aromatic ...

American Chemical Society2020

Biomass logistics and environmental impact modelling for sugar-ethanol production

François Maréchal

The goal of this paper is to evaluate the supply of sugarcane to mills and also the supply of green harvesting residues to second-generation ethanol plants under three different strategies: chopping, baling and integral harvesting. A dynamic model was deve ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2019

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

François Maréchal, Daniel Alexander Florez Orrego

First generation ethanol (1G) contributes to the majority of the ethanol produced worldwide, predominantly centered on corn and sugarcane. Nevertheless, several issues are regularly highlighted concerning the long-term sustainability of this technology, in ...

2019

Catalytic Upgrading of Biomass-Derived Carboxylic Acids to Fuels and Chemicals

Jher Hau Yeap

Our reliance on fossil fuels, which is unsustainable due to dwindling reserves, has led to various environmental issues. Lignocellulosic biomass could serve as a renewable source of carbon and energy for the production of fuels and chemicals. While several ...

EPFL2019

Labor division in engineered cross-kingdom consortia: Consolidated bioprocessing of lignocellulosic biomass to carboxylic acids

Robert Lawrence Shahab

Lignocellulose is a renewable source of fixed carbon and a promising substrate for the production of chemicals and fuels in second generation biorefineries. In this thesis, we engineered artificial microbial consortia for consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) o ...

EPFL2019