3^rd International Conference on Chemical Engineering October 2-4, 2017
Chicago, Illinois ,USA

M A Martin-Luengo has studied Chemistry in the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. At Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientifi cas (CSIC), Spain; she presented her Masters work on Oxidation Catalysts and her PhD on Hydrogenation Catalysts. As a Postdoctoral grant holder of the CSIC she has worked in Brunel University, UK and in the University of Louvain la Neuve, Belgium. She has worked as a Fellowship IA with the Scientifi c Engineering Research Council, UK, on Fischer-Tropsch and from 1992 she is permanent Scientifi c Staff of CSIC, Spain. She has participated in more than 25 research projects, 100 scientifi c papers and chapters of books, 120 congresses and several patents. She is a Chartered Chemist of RSC and Member of ACS and the Spanish Societies of Catalysis and Clays. Presently she carries out studies on sustainable issues, searching for the use of renewable materials, energies and chemical processes, especially giving priority to countries with deprived economies.

Sustainable chemical engineering of renewable resources

M. Angeles Martin Luengo¹, V.G.Y. Martin² and V.T.Y. Martin³.

 

The use of agro-industrial wastes is a prime target of utmost importance nowadays, because solutions to environmental pollution problems are crucial to achieving sustainable development and this approach can have a signifi cant contribution towards the so called Renewable Raw Materials (RRM). Th is topic is considered today as one of the main scientifi c goals at international level, given its social, economic and environmental interest. Using waste to obtain useful materials avoids the expense of others often non-renewable materials, among many other benefi ts. Research groups are working on the application of the philosophy called cradle to grave in which companies may be able to convert their wastes into useful materials for themselves or others, thus closing a cycle of obvious benefi ts. Furthermore, the developed processes are based also on avoiding the use of toxic substances to the environment and achieve maximum economy and reduction of energy expenditure, i.e., by using renewable vs. conventional energy demanding ways of activation. Given their origin, the materials derived can be considered Ecomaterials. Some of the processes that have been implemented in our research group are: (1) Immobilization of enzymes and their use in biocatalytic processes (biodiesel and nutraceuticals production). (2) Renewable biomaterials are being used as matrices for regenerative medicine, based on analysis of their toxicities and their ability as scaff olds for cell growth. (3) Conversion of liquid wastes to fi ne chemicals and biohydrogen, avoiding the need to use petroleum derivatives. (4) Catalysts for environmental protection and (5) Multivalorization of agriwastes.

Dr. Won Bae Jeon, PhD, is the Director of the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Cellular Engineering and an Adjunct professor of the Department of New Biology. He got his BSc from Seoul National University and MSc and PhD from South Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and performed postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

With the astonishing increase in the fi elds of regenerative medicine, biomaterial engineering has become a critical approach to generate biocompatible carriers for cell transplantation. Native ECM materials derived from animal tissues have been considered to be the best choices for cell culture or tissue engineering. However, possible pathogen contamination by cellular remnants from foreign animal tissues is an unavoidable issue that has limited the use of native ECM for human benefi t. Elastin-like proteins (ELPs) are genetically engineered biopolymers consist of the VPGXG pentapeptide, where the guest position X accepts any amino acid except for proline. ELPs are responsible to temperature change; solubilized ELPs associate with each other above a certain transition temperature and form self-assembled coacervates comprising β-spiral structures. ELP are non-toxic to the cells and tissues and are easily biodegradable, and can be processed into various types of formulations such as in situ aggregates, microfi bers, cell sheets, hydrogels, and fusion with growth factors to support diff erent cell types, and thus, their contribution to the repair of cartilage, blood vessels, neurons, and heart is beginning to emerge. Th is presentation highlights the development of the ELP-based recombinant proteins that are being increasingly used for the delivery of chemotherapeutics and, in particular, to provide a cell-friendly ECM environment for cell transplantation.

Denis S Kuprin is the Head of Laboratory of Fire and Explosion Prevention, graduate of the Saint Petersburg State University. He is the coauthor of invention concerning generation and application of fast-hardening foam based on the structured silica particles. He is also the author of publications concerning main concept of the sol-gel transition for creation of fi re-extinguishing foams which are intended for fi re and explosion  revention, heat protection, screening in the case of accidents with radiation and hazardous chemicals and others.

Accidents and catastrophes with fi res and explosions including accidents at facilities with hazardous chemicals are getting global problem. These problems are getting more dangerous because of the high probability of the terroristic attacks connected with hazardous chemicals application. New technology of the accelerated accident liquidation in the case of chemical and radiation dangerous materials opened appearance risk is presented by the manuscript authors.

              

Experience of application of the new patented binary mixtures sol-gel transition technology is described as applied for fire and explosion prevention, solid combustible materials and explosives fire-extinguishing, chemical protection and others.

Anderson Jose Beber has over 17 years of experience in industrial water treatment, especially clarifi cation, demineralization, reverse osmosis, low and high pressure boiler water treatment and cooling water treatment. He has worked for different multinational water treatment companies, servicing several industries: Pulp and paper, power, steel, manufacturing, food and beverage, automotive and many others. Over the past 6 years he has dedicated his expertise on special projects and technical assistance to Solenis sales team, being responsible for new product launch, technical training, project development, consultancy for boiler and cooling water treatment for industries in Latin America.

Microbiological control is essential in any cooling water system. A cooling system such as a large cooling tower is an excellent environment for microbiological growth: Water, warm temperature, oxygen, dust and debris from air, nutrients and others are some of the variables that contribute largely to the growth of microbiology colonies. The main negative consequence is that the biofilm (sludge) formed is highly insulating. It is known that biofi lm is more insulating than CaCO₃ or SiO₂ scales. The best and less expensive way to control MB is by using large amounts of oxidizing biocides like chlorine gas, hypochlorite, bromine, chlorine dioxide. The goal is to maintain an oxidizing environment which is not friendly for biocells. However, strong oxidizer may cause high chloride content, lower concentration cycles, higher cost among others. Also, a high oxidant environment may lead to higher corrosion rates. And finally the strong oxidizers are not selective, reacting to any contamination not only MB. This paper shows the results of the application of a novel mild oxidizer on a large cooling tower at a power plant. This specifi c cooling tower utilizes grey water (tertiary treated domestic sewage) as makeup water. After the application of this mild oxidizer, the concentration cycles were enhanced from an average of 4 up to 6.5, resulting in large savings to the plant. Also, stainless steel corrosion rates dropped significantly due to the reduction of chlorides and sulfates residuals.

Kuk Ro Yoon is a Professor of Chemistry, Hannam University, South Korea. He has contributed to developing of surface-initiated polymerization (SIP) has plenty of uses to make functional organic surfaces by chain radical reaction of organic monomers.

Hydrogels, distinct from solid materials are composed of a hydrophilic polymer network and large amount of water. Hydrogels can undergo signifi cant changes in their physicochemical properties with variation of temperature, pH, light, biomolecules, salts, electric fi eld, pressure, and so on. Th is special soft wet structure of hydrogels has enabled them to be used as biocompatible materials for a variety of applications, such as biosensors, bioseparation, drug release vehicles and tissue engineering scaff olds and hence being paid a lot of attention for several decades by researchers from material science, biomedical science and polymer science. We present a novel approach to the fabrication of advanced polymeric nanocomposite hydrogels from polyacrylamide (PAAm) by incorporation of graphene-silver-polyethylenedioxythiophene-polystyrene sulfonate (rGO-Ag-PEDOT/PSS) by photopolymerization method. Infrared spectroscopy was employed to characterize the structure of the hydrogels. Th e internal network structure of nanocomposite hydrogels was investigated by scanning electron microscope. Swelling, deswelling and mechanical properties of the hydrogels were investigated.

 

           

 

The compressive strength of nanocomposite hydrogels reaches maximum of 1.71 MPa when the ratio of rGO-Ag-PEDOT/PSS to PAAm was 0.3 wt%, which is 1.57 times higher than that of PAAm hydrogels (1.09 MPa). For the fi rst time, PAAm and its series of nanocomposite hydrogels have been successfully synthesized by in situ photopolymerization method. Graphene oxide was fully exfoliated into individual sheets. Th e tensile strength of PAAm hydrogel improved with the addition of rGO-Ag-PEDOT/PSS nanocomposite. Th e electrical conductivity of the PAAm-rGO-Ag-PEDOT/PSS nanocomposite hydrogel was found to be 3.91×10-5 S cm-1. With the improved mechanical, thermal and electrical properties, may broaden the applicability of the nanocomposite hydrogels in various fi elds including drug release, bio-sensors, actuators, enzyme immobilization and molecular separation.

Prof. Jong-Soo Lee has been an associate professor of Department of Energy Science & Engineering since January 2017. He joined DGIST in July 2012 as an assistant professor. The research interestings of his group are design of new type of nanomaterials for nanomaterial-based electronic, optoelectronic, and catalytic applications.

In recent years, hybrid nanocrystals (HNs) have emerged as an important class of materials to tune the optical, electrical, magnetic and catalytic properties of nanocrystals. In HNs, two disparate functional material systems (i.e., metal/magnet, metal/semiconductor and magnet/semiconductor) are combined through their crystal facets, which results in the nontrivial synergetic effects including extinction enhancement due to the coupling of surface plasmon resonance and electronic doping by the intraparticle charge transfer. Among diff erent types of HNs, metal-semiconductor HNs are of particular interest in photocatalysis because it can provide a very good light absorbing semiconductor properties and catalytically active metal nanostructure properties. In the previous report, Pt-CdS/Se NCs exhibited high photocatalytic activity as well as stability. However, the toxicity associated with cadmium based semiconductors has driven research into possible alternative materials. Copper (I) sulfi de (Cu2S), a p-type semiconductor with a narrow bandgap of 1.2 eV, has been explored as a light absorber in photovoltaics and optoelectronic devices due to its nontoxic and earth-abundant constituents.

             

Also, Cu₂S nanostructures have also shown high catalytic activity for polysulfi de redox systems in quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells. Cu₂S nanocrystals with diverse shapes have been synthesized and employed in various applications. However, the synthesis and application of metal-Cu2S HNs have rarely been reported. In this presentation, we introduce a new synthesis method for the fabrication of hybrid metal-Cu2S (M=Pt, FePt) nanocrystals (HNs). Th e metal-Cu₂S HNs were investigated in photocatalytic hydrogen generation as eff ective co-catalysts on TiO₂. Th e Pt-Cu₂S/TiO₂ catalyst showed higher hydrogen generation rate compared with a pure TiO₂ catalyst. This enhancement is attributed to the synergetic eff ects between the Cu₂S and Pt, which signifi cantly improves the light absorption ability and the charge separation activity.

Anuchaya Devi has her expertise in biodiesel production from different non-edible oil sources. Her research is primarily focused on biodiesel fuel quality enhancement in terms of improving its oxidation stability by different methods. She has developed designer biodiesel by blending different non-edible oils in different volumetric ratios with improved fuel quality. In recent times she focused on searching some alternative natural antioxidant sources which can be applied to biodiesel in place of synthetic antioxidants for protecting biodiesel from oxidation. She has identifi ed the application of Ginger extract in biodiesel as a novel additive antioxidant source which is tremendously capable in protecting biodiesel from oxidation.

Renewable fuels are one of the technological issues that became more fascinating due to the environmental benefits. In this context, biodiesel deserve highlight because of its biodegradability and low pollutant emission compared to petro diesel. The key problem associated with the use of biodiesel is its low oxidation stability which affects its storage and makes it unsuitable for engine. The oxidation of the biodiesel primarily increases the peroxide value and then a decrease as primary products degrades to form secondary products. The increase in peroxide value can impart the rise in cetane number, which reduces ignition delay and can cause various engine problems. As an option to stop or slowing down the oxidation process, antioxidants are added to inhibit the initiation and propagation of free radicals, reducing the formulation of secondary degradation compounds. Synthetic antioxidants have phenolic compounds therefore they are added to biodiesel to inhibit the radical formation. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), butylated hydroxyanisol (BHA), tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) and propyl gallate (PG) are commonly used synthetic antioxidants in biodiesel. These synthetic antioxidants are made from non-renewable sources and has carcinogenic health constrains for the living organisms directly exposed to them, because of these negative attributes renewable antioxidant sources containing phenolic compounds are more desirable than the synthetic antioxidants. In this context, Bio-active compounds like polyphenols which are present in various natural plant based materials and they are very important constituents and plays a crucial role in protecting lipid oxidation.

                                                              

Ginger extract contains phenolic compounds naming gingerol and shoagol which are effective agents for stopping radical propagation. Ginger extract presented greater protection for biodiesel during the oxidation stability test by Rancimat method. A higher percentage of added nature based robust ginger extracts results in the enhancement of the oxidation stability due to the presence of more antioxidant compounds in it.

Sowjanya have expertise in indentifying and solving the problem using new techniques. Her solving technique based on reducing the errors obtain by the parameters in PID Controller when compared with the other techniques her technique obtain better results. The technique is based on Multiple Dominant Ploeplacement where the Controller is tuned with a compensator. Their results are useful to all Chemical Industries because there is no Chemical Industry without a Controller. Her technique reduces the maintaining cost of the equipment and increases the purity of the product. Her approach is responsive to all Chemical Industries.