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Repurposing lignin rich biorefinery waste streams into the next generation of sustainable solid fuels (2024)
Journal Article
Taylor, M. J., Hornsby, K., Cheah, K. W., Hurst, P., Walker, S., & Skoulou, V. (2024). Repurposing lignin rich biorefinery waste streams into the next generation of sustainable solid fuels. Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment, 7, Article 100123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scenv.2024.100123

Value added lignin rich waste sludges from biorefinery processes are, as yet untapped valuable feedstocks that can be reformed into clean, high quality solid fuels. By water washing sludges produced from base hydrolyzed waste, a material stripped of... Read More about Repurposing lignin rich biorefinery waste streams into the next generation of sustainable solid fuels.

Woody biomass waste derivatives in decarbonised blast furnace ironmaking process (2024)
Journal Article
Wang, R. Q., Jiang, L., Wang, Y. D., Font-Palma, C., Skoulou, V., & Roskilly, A. P. (2024). Woody biomass waste derivatives in decarbonised blast furnace ironmaking process. Renewable & sustainable energy reviews, 199, Article 114465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2024.114465

Modern ironmaking process relies significantly on fossil-related fuels, which ultimately results in the enormous CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. Biomass of plant origin, as a carbon-neutral energy source, has been considered as an alternative to fos... Read More about Woody biomass waste derivatives in decarbonised blast furnace ironmaking process.

Synthesis of graphene-encapsulated Fe3C/Fe catalyst supported on Sporopollenin exine capsules, and its use for the reverse water gas shift reaction (2023)
Journal Article
Malik, W., Tafoya, J. . P. V., Doszczeczko, S., Jorge Sobrido, A. B., Skoulou, V., Boa, A. N., …Volpe, R. (in press). Synthesis of graphene-encapsulated Fe3C/Fe catalyst supported on Sporopollenin exine capsules, and its use for the reverse water gas shift reaction. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering,

Bioderived materials have emerged as sustainable catalyst supports for several heterogeneous reactions owing to their naturally occurring hierarchal pore size distribution, high surface area, and thermal and chemical stability. We utilize sporopollen... Read More about Synthesis of graphene-encapsulated Fe3C/Fe catalyst supported on Sporopollenin exine capsules, and its use for the reverse water gas shift reaction.

Residues pre-treatment for a better performance as feedstock in advanced thermal treatments under a circular bioeconomy scenario (2022)
Thesis
Alabdrabalameer, H. A. (2022). Residues pre-treatment for a better performance as feedstock in advanced thermal treatments under a circular bioeconomy scenario. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4909028

Defluidisation as a result of reactor bed agglomeration is a global challenge associated with the gasification of lignocellulosic biomass waste, specifically its high inorganic content. This problem occurred as a result of interaction between ash fro... Read More about Residues pre-treatment for a better performance as feedstock in advanced thermal treatments under a circular bioeconomy scenario.

Airborne transmission of biological agents within the indoor built environment: a multidisciplinary review (2022)
Journal Article
Argyropoulos, C. D., Skoulou, V., Efthimiou, G., & Michopoulos, A. K. (2022). Airborne transmission of biological agents within the indoor built environment: a multidisciplinary review. Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-022-01286-w

The nature and airborne dispersion of the underestimated biological agents, monitoring, analysis and transmission among the human occupants into building environment is a major challenge of today. Those agents play a crucial role in ensuring comforta... Read More about Airborne transmission of biological agents within the indoor built environment: a multidisciplinary review.

A Multidisciplinary Approach for an Effective and Rational Energy Transition in Crete Island, Greece (2022)
Journal Article
Katsaprakakis, D., Michopoulos, A., Skoulou, V., Dakanali, I., Maragkaki, A., Pappa, S., …Contaxakis, C. (2022). A Multidisciplinary Approach for an Effective and Rational Energy Transition in Crete Island, Greece. Energies, 15(9), Article 3010. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15093010

This article proposes a mixture of actions for the development of an effective and rational energy transition plan for all sectors and for all types of onshore final energy use in Crete. Energy transition is initiated with an appropriate capacity bui... Read More about A Multidisciplinary Approach for an Effective and Rational Energy Transition in Crete Island, Greece.

Overview of biomass conversion to biofuels (2021)
Book Chapter
Cheah, K. W., Taylor, M. J., Evans, G., Samson, A., & Skoulou, V. (2022). Overview of biomass conversion to biofuels. In S. Yusup, & N. A. Rashidi (Eds.), Value chain of Biofuels (1-48). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-824388-6.00007-5

This chapter introduces the main biomass conversion routes to biofuels currently available in industry. It begins with a general comparison between first- and second-generation lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks, and the lessons learned by utilizing... Read More about Overview of biomass conversion to biofuels.

Recent advances in the catalytic deoxygenation of plant oils and prototypical fatty acid models compounds: Catalysis, process, and kinetics (2021)
Journal Article
Cheah, K. W., Yusup, S., Loy, A. C. M., How, B. S., Skoulou, V., & Taylor, M. J. (2021). Recent advances in the catalytic deoxygenation of plant oils and prototypical fatty acid models compounds: Catalysis, process, and kinetics. Molecular Catalysis, Article 111469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcat.2021.111469

With the inevitable human innate aspirations for better urban mobility and sustainable economic development, bio-based transportation fuels are projected to play an essential role in the foreseeable automotive transportation sector. Agricultural-base... Read More about Recent advances in the catalytic deoxygenation of plant oils and prototypical fatty acid models compounds: Catalysis, process, and kinetics.

Kinetic modelling of hydrogen transfer deoxygenation of a prototypical fatty acid over a bimetallic Pd60Cu40 catalyst: an investigation of the surface reaction mechanism and rate limiting step (2020)
Journal Article
Cheah, K. W., Yusup, S., Taylor, M. J., How, B. S., Osatiashtiani, A., Nowakowski, D. J., Bridgwater, A. V., Skoulou, V., Kyriakou, G., & Uemura, Y. (2020). Kinetic modelling of hydrogen transfer deoxygenation of a prototypical fatty acid over a bimetallic Pd60Cu40 catalyst: an investigation of the surface reaction mechanism and rate limiting step. Reaction Chemistry and Engineering, 5(9), 1682-1693. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0re00214c

Herein, for the first time, we demonstrate a novel continuous flow process involving the application of tetralin as a hydrogen
donor solvent for the catalytic conversion of oleic acid to diesel-like hydrocarbons, using an efficient and stable carbon... Read More about Kinetic modelling of hydrogen transfer deoxygenation of a prototypical fatty acid over a bimetallic Pd60Cu40 catalyst: an investigation of the surface reaction mechanism and rate limiting step.

Big problem, little answer: overcoming bed agglomeration and reactor slagging during the gasification of barley straw under continuous operation (2020)
Journal Article
Aladbrabalameer, H., Taylor, M. J., Kauppinen, J., Soini, T., Pikkarainen, T., & Skoulou, V. (2020). Big problem, little answer: overcoming bed agglomeration and reactor slagging during the gasification of barley straw under continuous operation. Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 4(7), 3764-3772. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0se00155d

Defluidisation as a result of reactor bed agglomeration is a global challenge associated with the gasification of lignocellulosic biomass waste, specifically its high inorganic content. The use of conventional water leaching has been scrutanised for... Read More about Big problem, little answer: overcoming bed agglomeration and reactor slagging during the gasification of barley straw under continuous operation.

Probing synergies between lignin-rich and cellulose compounds for gasification (2020)
Journal Article
Taylor, M. J., Michopoulos, A. K., Zabaniotou, A. A., & Skoulou, V. (2020). Probing synergies between lignin-rich and cellulose compounds for gasification. Energies, 13(10), Article 2590. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13102590

The fixed bed gasification of lignin rich and deficient mixtures was carried out to probe the synergistic effects between two model compounds, Lignin Pink (LP) rich in Na and Cellulose Microcrystalline (CM). Reaction conditions utilized the most comm... Read More about Probing synergies between lignin-rich and cellulose compounds for gasification.

Augmented Leaching Pretreatments for Forest Wood Waste and Their Effect on Ash Composition and the Lignocellulosic Network (2020)
Journal Article
Taylor, M. J., Alabdrabalameer, H. A., Michopoulos, A. K., Volpe, R., & Skoulou, V. (2020). Augmented Leaching Pretreatments for Forest Wood Waste and Their Effect on Ash Composition and the Lignocellulosic Network. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 8(14), 5674-5682. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c00351

© 2020 American Chemical Society. By augmenting conventional leaching technologies for the removal of ash constituents from lignocellulosic waste residues, a cleaner and energy efficient solution can be provided for critical industrial problems such... Read More about Augmented Leaching Pretreatments for Forest Wood Waste and Their Effect on Ash Composition and the Lignocellulosic Network.

Towards circular economy solutions for the management of rice processing residues to bioenergy via gasification (2019)
Journal Article
Vaskalis, I., Skoulou, V., Stavropoulos, G., & Zabaniotou, A. (2019). Towards circular economy solutions for the management of rice processing residues to bioenergy via gasification. Sustainability, 11(22), Article 6433. https://doi.org/10.3390/su1122643

An economic assessment of two circular economy scenarios of fluidized bed gasification-based systems for combined heat and power (CHP) generation, fueled with rice processing wastes, was conducted. In the first scenario, the gasification plant with a... Read More about Towards circular economy solutions for the management of rice processing residues to bioenergy via gasification.

Choosing physical, physicochemical and chemical methods of pre-treating lignocellulosic wastes to repurpose into solid fuels (2019)
Journal Article
Taylor, M. J., Alabdrabalameer, H. A., & Skoulou, V. (2019). Choosing physical, physicochemical and chemical methods of pre-treating lignocellulosic wastes to repurpose into solid fuels. Sustainability, 11(13), Article 3604. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133604

Various methods of physical, chemical and combined physicochemical pre-treatments for biomass waste valorization to value added feedstock for downstream processes in Chemical Industries have been reviewed. Where relevant literature was scrutinized fo... Read More about Choosing physical, physicochemical and chemical methods of pre-treating lignocellulosic wastes to repurpose into solid fuels.

Synergistic effects of lignin and cellulose during pyrolysis of agricultural waste. (2018)
Journal Article
Volpe, R., Zabaniotou, A. A., & Skoulou, V. (2018). Synergistic effects of lignin and cellulose during pyrolysis of agricultural waste. Energy and Fuels, 32(8), 8420-8430. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b00767

© 2018 American Chemical Society. Varying lignin and cellulose contents in agro-waste cause feed-stock to respond differently during their thermochemical conversion. The effect of pyrolysis temperature (400, 500, 600oC) and feedstock composition on p... Read More about Synergistic effects of lignin and cellulose during pyrolysis of agricultural waste..

Investigation and simulation of the transport of gas containing mercury in microporous silica membranes (2018)
Journal Article
Ji, G., George, A., Skoulou, V., Reed, G., Millan, M., Hooman, K., Bhatia, S. K., & Diniz da Costa, J. C. (2018). Investigation and simulation of the transport of gas containing mercury in microporous silica membranes. Chemical engineering science, 190, 286-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2018.06.006

This work investigates the effect of condensable Hg vapour on the transport of N2 gas across cobalt oxide silica (CoOxSi) membranes. Experimental results suggest that Hg significantly affects N2 permeation at 100 and 200°C, though this effect is negl... Read More about Investigation and simulation of the transport of gas containing mercury in microporous silica membranes.

Wheat straw bio-refining. Part II: Optimization of the microwave radiation with sulphuric acid pre-treatment and its enzymatic hydrolysis for fermentable sugars (2017)
Journal Article
Festus, O., Skoulou, V. K., & Zein, S. H. (2017). Wheat straw bio-refining. Part II: Optimization of the microwave radiation with sulphuric acid pre-treatment and its enzymatic hydrolysis for fermentable sugars. Current Microwave Chemistry, 4(4), 306-316. https://doi.org/10.2174/2213335604666171103123459

Background: The potential of microwave-assisted heating for enhancing the alkaline pretreatment of lignocellulosic waste is highlighted in this work.

Objective: To maximize separation of fermentable sugars from wheat straw.

Methods: Wheat straw... Read More about Wheat straw bio-refining. Part II: Optimization of the microwave radiation with sulphuric acid pre-treatment and its enzymatic hydrolysis for fermentable sugars.

Wheat Straw Bio-refining. Part I: Optimization of the Microwave Radiation Process with Sulphuric Acid Pre-treatment (2017)
Journal Article
Demirhan, H., Fauzi, A., Skoulou, V., Haywood, S., & Zein, S. H. (2017). Wheat Straw Bio-refining. Part I: Optimization of the Microwave Radiation Process with Sulphuric Acid Pre-treatment. Current Microwave Chemistry, 4(3), 205-218. https://doi.org/10.2174/2213335604666170719113659

Background: This study investigates the microwave-assisted acid extraction of lignin from wheat straw.

Methods: Two experimental design methods, the Central Composite Design (CCD) and the Response Surface Method (RSM) methods were used to select c... Read More about Wheat Straw Bio-refining. Part I: Optimization of the Microwave Radiation Process with Sulphuric Acid Pre-treatment.

Nanocarbons from acid pretreated waste coffee grounds using microwave radiation (2017)
Journal Article
Zein, S. H., Gyamera, B. A., & Skoulou, V. K. (2017). Nanocarbons from acid pretreated waste coffee grounds using microwave radiation. Materials letters, 193, 46-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2017.01.100

This study investigates the use of microwave radiation to produce nanocarbons from Waste Coffee Grounds (WCG). It is first step to demonstrate the potential of integrating the microwave power to conventional methods of carbonaceous materials and nano... Read More about Nanocarbons from acid pretreated waste coffee grounds using microwave radiation.