HUmins as Green and Sustainable precursors of eco-friendly building blocks and materials (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2015-675325).
HUGS aims to provide an innovative, highly multidisciplinary and top educational program focusing on the valorisation of these two key side products from lignocellulosic biorefineries by implementing an international network of excellence able to provide both scientific innovation and training in environmentally sound alternatives to produce chemicals, fuels and materials from Humins and Levulinics. Three different innovative strategies have been identified from the processing of 2nd generation and waste feedstocks such as agricultural residues and waste paper streams.
General Objectives
- To establish a highly innovative as well as integrated PhD training network with EID’s actively involved in education and training programmes.
- To integrate the knowledge and experience of the MSC fellows into the Avantium R&D environment and to disseminate Avantium’s world class high-through-put technologies and biorefinery development to the fellows.
- To increase the fundamental knowledge on raw humins formation (depending on sugar source) and evaluate the structure/properties relationships of raw humins.
- To evaluate the physical chemical safety aspects of humins and furanics in general and the potential of humins and levulinates for being converted into fine chemicals, polymers and biofuels
- Exploration and development of designed optimised multifunctional advanced catalysts based on humins derived nanostructured carbons by integrating UCORDOBA expertise on carbonaceous supports, catalysis and materials engineering with the high throughput capabilities of AVT
- To minimize the environmental impacts of these new materials and related processes by controlling the atmospheric emissions, effluents, recyclability and biodegradability.
Role of the University of Cordoba
- Derivatization/carbonization of humins: a methodology will be developed towards humins deconstruction into valuable chemicals (e.g. furfural and HMF) as well as oligomers for various purposes
- Conversion of methyl levulinate into methyl pentenoate The scientific challenge is to find the best catalysts system, that will favour the hydrogenation of the ketone in Methyl Levulinate to t Methyl 4-hydroxypropanoate over the hydrogenation of the product unsaturated pentenoic acid.
Supervisor: Rafael Luque Álvarez de Sotomayor e-mail: q62alsor@uco.es