Biorefinery: from biomass transformation to biobased products

keywords Agro-residues as sources of biofuels, paltform chemicals, lignin-nano molecules, lignols and green-commodieties. Forest derived products for new advanced materials productions: nanocellulose, biobioplastics, wearable woods. Municipal waste biomass- development of biobased economy/processes and circular economy Pretreatment for bioresources- strategies to enhance their value. Biomass, conversion routes and products: enzymology and microbiology. Biotechnology and charetirization of algal cultures for biobased industry. Environmental protection- biological waste treatment connected to biorefinery. new emerging frontiers of biorefinery: Bioplastic (PLA, PHA, PHB) microbial synthesis, fabrication and biodegradation. PhotoBiocatalyzed processes for catalitytic conversion of bioresources into biofuels and drop-in fuels.

• Understand the need for sustainable innovation and how biobased production can contribute to this;
• Master the biorefinery concepts, practice in the lab, and at industrial scale:
• Define each fundamental bioresources available from microalgae to higher plants, make connections with most suitable bio-transformation routes for biobased products
• Master applied enzymology and biochemistry for biodegradation and biosynthesis of biomass, biopolymers and bioresources.
• Environmental ecology of biomass degradation: terrestial, marine and gut microbial ecology:
• understand the global context of biobased production; biofermantation, transition from nanoscales reaction to industrial plant design
• Application of advanced fermentations strategies with synthetic/genetically modified organisms
• Learn the state of the art in pretreatment and downstream processing of biobased productions
• Explain the main differences between a biobased and fossil based economy, green-washing awarness, and carbon footprint definitions
• Practical activity in the lab: be able to transform and/or design an industrial installation for biorefinery of a given biomass into potential products: biofuel, bioplastic, biomaterial, or platform-biochemicals; 

Connaissances et compétences pré-requises ou co-requises

• Biochemistry,
• Applied Biochemistry,
• Enzymology,
• Microbiology
• Organic chemistry

36 hours Oral lessons (D. Cannella), 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.

Support(s) de cours

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

David.cannella@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch, Plaine

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Autre

Autre

Oral Lab report

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

70% oral exams (or written if desired by all the students) based on content of oral lessons 30% marks given to the written report relative to the practical lab. The report must be provided at the deadline agreed with the students during the class, if the deadline will not be respected the marks will be affected negatively. If the lab practice wasn't followed, then a personal written report based on literature can substitute the Lab Practice report, having the same value of marks.

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais
• (éventuellement français )