Biorefinery: from biomass transformation to biobased products

Course content

keywordsAgro-residues as sources of bioactive compounds Forest derived products for new advanced biomaterials: nanocellulose, bio-screens, recyclable plasticsMunicipal waste biomass- development of biobased economy/processes and circular economy Pretreatment for bioresources- strategies to enhance valueBiomass, conversion routes and products: enzymology and microbiologyBiologically active compounds form seafood, microbial stains and biocosmeticsNatural functional food -probiotics and prebioticsIsolation and charetirization of marine biomaterials – downstream processingBiological activities and application of marine biomaterialsEnvironmental protection- biological waste treatment connected to biorefinery

Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)

Intended learning outcomesOn completion of the course, students should: • Understand the need for sustainable innovation and how biobased production can contribute to this;• understand the global context of biobased production;• Understand elements of consumer behavior theories and methods of developing biobased products;• Learn the meaning of sustainability and how it is linked to human and biobased activities;• Understand specific process technologies to purify the compound;• Learn the state of the art in downstream processing of biobased products;• Explain the main differences between a biobased and fossil based economy;• Learn research and applications of pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of raw lignocellulosic biomass;• Be able to practically transform a given biomass into potential products: biofuel, biomaterial, bio-chemical;

Teaching methods and learning activities

36 hours Oral lessons, scientific paper critical reading and presentation by students (optional), lab activities 24 hours. In occasional circumstances of time schedule conflict, the Lab practice could be followed also partially and/or substituted with literature research and presentation of papers (either oral or written personal report) in substitution of the lab practical report. Any of these option must be agreed with the coordinator, and most probably applicable only in case of schedule conlfict for otional courses.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Av. A depage 30, biblio des sciences et techniques:biorefinery

Contribution to the teaching profile

The aim of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the basic and practical function of a Biorefinery: a modern multidisciplinary practice/concept based on transform of bio-resources to better pursue the circular economy for the future BioBased Industry and Society. Bio-resources are nowadays transformed into several forms of bioenergy (ethanol, gas, oil and fire), platform bio-chemicals and biomaterials and more. Thus the course will be multidisciplinary touching arguments of catalysis and bio-catalysis, green chemistry, enzymology, microbiology and downstream technologies. Land-based raw materials mainly residues from agriculture, forestry and municipal waste, and also marine based biomass from dedicated culture (algae), or sea-food derived waste will be the main focus of the course. In addition, students will be introduced to the enormous potential from the conversion of biomass to high-cost biochemicals, such as pharmaceuticals compounds (antibiotics, small peptides), antioxidants, pigments, active food ingredients, exopolysaccharides and biosurfactants.

Other information

Contacts

david.cannella@ulb.be

Campus

Plaine, Solbosch

Evaluation

Method(s) of evaluation

written examination
Oral examination
Other
Written report

written examination

Closed question with multiple choices (MCQ)
Open question with short answer
Visual question

Oral examination

Other

Written report

The exam is written with the possibility of a oral exam (optional to the solely choice of the student). The oral exam is optional for the student that desire to score better marks, and usually organized within 7 days from the written exam. The topic of the oral examination are the same of the written exam plus all other topics contained in the course slides.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

The mark is composed by:
80% written (+optional oral) exam
20% report relative to the lab TP.
The report of the lab TP is a prefilled format with specific questions relative to the lab manipulation that the students must fill and give to the teacher 1 week before the written exam (if not agreed differently during the course).

Language(s) of evaluation

french
english