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Recovering value from organic waste materials: Supercritical fluid extraction of oil from industrial grape seeds

Publication . Coelho, Jose; Filipe, Rui; Robalo, Maria Paula; Stateva, Roumiana P.

Supercritical extraction of oil from grape seed samples obtained from a Portuguese industry was carried out at temperatures from (313-333) K, pressures up to 40.0 MPa and different scCO(2) flow rates. The qualitative analysis of the crude oil was carried out by NMR. The fatty acids were analyzed by GC-Fid with reference to the parameters in Annex I to European Commission Regulation. The results show similar content of TAGs and DAGs both in the n-hexane and scCO(2) extraction methods, but the latter have higher PUPA and lower saturated fatty acids content. A dynamic model was used to simulate the extraction curves in gPROMS ModelBuilder. The grape seed oil was represented as either a one or a three component mixture of triacylglycerols, and the deviation between the experimental and calculated extraction yields was in the range (2-9) % for the first, and (4-11) % for the second case.

2018-11Journal article

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Computer aided control projects as main assessment component of master's advanced control courses

Publication . Pinheiro, Carla I. C.; Filipe, Rui

This paper addresses the assessment methodology used in the advanced process control courses of the Chemical Engineering master degrees at the departments where the authors are affiliated. The details of the assessment methodology used are presented, and two examples of case study processes used in the computer aided control projects assessment are presented. The advantages and drawbacks of this approach, students feedback and success rates are discussed.

2017Conference object

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Influence of co-solvents on the supercritical extraction kinetics of spent coffee grounds: experimental and modelling studies

Publication . Coelho, Jose; Filipe, Rui; Robalo, Maria Paula; Boyadzieva, Stanislava S.; Cholakov, Georgi; Stateva, Roumiana P.

Coffee is one of the most widely used beverages. An estimated 3.5 billion cups of coffee are drunk worldwide every day. In EU alone, for the period 2011-2013, 2.5 Mt of coffee were consumed. Taking into consideration that the production of coffee in 2015 was approximately 9 Mt and that from each kg of coffee 0.91 kg of solid waste is produced, the importance of a further valorization of this residue becomes obvious. In recent years, the biorefinery concept has been identified as the most promising route for employment of the full potential of a biomass by maximizing its conversion into high value products. Its main bottleneck, however, is how to extract the energy and non- energy compounds from the biomass without damaging one or more of the components, e.g. those which are heat sensitive. Spent coffee grounds (SCGs) contain large amounts of fatty acids, lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, etc. and can be exploited as an excellent source of value-added energy and non-energy related products (e.g, antioxidants and other functional additives).

2019Conference object

Open access

Application of a novel approach to modelling the supercritical extraction kinetics of oil from two sets of chia seeds

Publication . Villanueva Bermejo, David; Fornari, Tiziana; Calvo, Maria V.; FONTECHA, JAVIER; Coelho, Jose; Filipe, Rui; Stateva, Roumiana P.

The kinetics of the supercritical fluid extraction of edible and discarded chia seeds was studied and modelled for the first time. The total oil was removed at 45 MPa and 60 degrees C after 240 min. The extraction kinetics was simulated using a dynamic model in gPROMS ModelBuilder environment and the kinetic parameters estimated. Triolein was chosen as a model compound of the chia oil. The agreement between the experimental yields and those calculated by the model was good with deviations in the range (1.2-6.6) %, except at 25 MPa and 60 degrees C (AARD = 9.5%). (C) 2019 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry.

2020-02-25Journal article

Open access

Synthesis and bactericide activity of nanofiltration composite membranes - Cellulose acetate/silver nanoparticles and cellulose acetate/silver ion exchanged zeolites

Publication . Beisl, Stefan; Monteiro, Silvia; Santos, Ricardo; Figueiredo, Ana Sofia; SANCHEZ-LOREDO, MARIA GUADALUPE; Lemos, Maria Amélia; Lemos, Francisco; Minhalma, Miguel; De Pinho, Maria Norberta

The present work addresses the synthesis of nanofiltration composite membranes with bactericide properties. The cellulose acetate based membranes with polyvinylpyrrolidone coated silver nano particles, silver ion-exchanged beta-zeolite and beta-zeolite are casted by the phase inversion technique and subjected to an annealing post-treatment. They are characterized in terms of the nanofiltration permeation performance and antibacterial properties. The incorporation of silver nanoparticles produces a threefold increase in the membrane hydraulic permeability when compared to the silver-free membranes and the incorporation of silver ion loaded zeolite resulted in a 56.3% increase in hydraulic permeability. In contrast to the influence of silver presence, either in nanometric or in the ionic form, the presence of zeolite does not significantly influence the hydraulic permeability. The rejection coefficients to salts range from 83% to 93% for the silver ion-exchanged zeolite membrane and from 84% to 97% for the polyvinylpyrrolidone coated silver nanoparticles membrane. They are higher for sulfate salts than for chloride salts. The antibacterial properties of the membranes were evaluated against Escherichia coli. The results have shown that the silver ion-exchanged beta-zeolite membrane was effective in inactivating Escherichia coli after just 210 min of contact time. No bacterial activity was detected following 24 h of contact time with the membrane containing polyvinylpyrrolidone coated silver nanoparticles. A reduction of more than 6-log, in the number of Escherichia coli, was achieved for both membranes. The different patterns of bactericide activity are associated to the silver speciation in metallic or ionic form. The high flux nanofiltration composite membranes with bactericidal properties represent a strong asset in water treatment biofouling control.

2019-02-01Journal article

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