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Dr Vicky Skoulou's Recognition (160)

Scientific Committee of the 12th National Confererene for the Renewable Enegry Sources of the Institute of Solar Technology Thematic session: Biomass (In Greek)
2021 - 2021

Description Member of the Scientific Committee of the
Institute of Solar Technology
Expert Sub-section: 2. Biomass and waste as energy sources
Affiliated Organisations Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
University of Hull
Research Themes Energy, Environment and Sustainability
Projects Microwave assisted Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic residues for better performance as solid fuels in fluidised bed technologies
THYME: Reclaiming lignin rich sludge after enzymatic hydrolysis for repurposing and pelletizing into a secondary fuel source for thermochemical transformation
Org Units Chemical Engineering
URL https://solarinstitute.gr/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Conference-Proceedings-IHT12-2021.pdf

CA17128 LignoCOST Workshop :‘Current status of lignin valorisation in Europe’ in Stockholm, Sweden
2020 - 2020

Description The main objective of LignoCOST is to establish a sound network covering the entire value chain in which relevant information can be produced with a focus on lignin valorisation towards sustainable industrial applications. Only when working together this information can be gathered to cover the technical, non-technical, environmental and socio-economic implications of the most promising lignin value chains.
Affiliated Organisations No Partners
Projects Microwave assisted Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic residues for better performance as solid fuels in fluidised bed technologies
Org Units Chemical Engineering
URL https://lignocost.eu/events/ca17128-lignocost-workshop-current-status-of-lignin-valorisation-in-europe-in-stockholm-sweden/

Women's Higher Education Network (WHEN)
2020

Description The WHEN network enables members to connect with colleagues beyond their own institution and city, and draw on the power of women from across the HE sector. Women can learn from one another in an empowering and supportive environment, whether on or offline. Members will have access to a vibrant online community in addition to offline networking opportunities, tailored training events and an annual conference. WHEN offers the first and only national network dedicated to the development and advancement of all women working in higher education. The WHEN network explicitly recognises and addresses the unique differences and challenges faced by professional services women, as well as academic women.
Affiliated Organisations University of Hull
URL http://www.whenequality.org/

Sustainability and Resilience to Climate Change Hazards and Gender Equality _ Sustainability (MDPI)
2020 - 2021

Description Dear Colleagues,

Gender equality and inclusion are of growing importance and focus in many sectors, including education, research, business, and governance. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is envisaging building peaceful, resilient, equitable, and inclusive societies. Sustainable development implies constant evolutionary and adaptive change, while gender equality is a prerequisite to this. Gender equality is a critical goal because its implementation can foster positive cascading effects on the achievement of all SDGs, and it is directly connected to the nexus of education-sustainability. In terms of climate change-based disasters, the transition towards socio-ecological resilience should be aligned with the fundamental aspect of gender equality. Women are the victims of climate change disasters and gender equality is another parameter that must be considered in climate-based resilience. Vulnerabilities and gender inequality can impede the effectiveness and sustainability of climate change responses. Increasing gender equality has a positive impact on productivity, boosts problem-solving, and increases innovation, all of which are essential outcomes for tackling the great challenges we are facing, from health to food security, from climate change to sustainable communities. Women’s greater participation would not only be a social policy but would also enhance sustainability, resilience, and democracy. Policy planning should integrate natural and social capitals, ethics, and values, as agencies towards the acceleration of the fundamental changes for a sustainable and resilient life.

This Special Issue comprises papers that explore the multifaceted dimensions of gender equality in relation to sustainability and resilience to climate change hazards. Through a series of papers, it explores promising approaches for transforming higher education, research, leadership, policy making, and institutions towards gender equality. Gender equality is a wicked problem interconnected with overlapping complexities inherent in our society that create symbiotic relationships that connect issues to one another. Therefore, gender equality is interconnected with the global challenges of climate change, health, security of food, water, waste, energy, and biodiversity. Vulnerabilities and gender inequality can impede the effectiveness and sustainability of climate change responses. Increasing gender equality has a positive impact on productivity, boosts problem-solving and increases innovation, and creates sustainable and inclusive communities. Women’s greater participation and empowerment would enhance sustainability, resilience, and democracy. Policy planning should integrate natural and social capitals, ethics, and values, as agencies towards the acceleration of the fundamental changes for a sustainable and resilient life. The purpose of the Special Issue is to contribute responding to climate change (mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and financing) by including a gender lens and arguing that gender be horizontally integrated into climate change response efforts.

Prof. Dr. Anastasia Zabaniotou
and
Prof. Paola Rizzi
Prof. Dr. Khaled A. Al-Sahili
Dr. Vasiliki Skoulou
Ms. Maria Cristina Marolda
Guest Editors
Affiliated Organisations University of Hull
URL https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/climate_change_global_food_security

The Carbon Online Conference & Exhibition, 2020
2020 - 2020

Description The Carbon Conference focused on Ireland's 2030 Climate Action Agenda. The primary goal of this conference will be to unify government bodies, academics, and Industry leaders in taking action on achieving our 2030 Agenda. We will tackle these issues head-on by providing cost-effective solutions to the inevitable carbon pricing & changes in legislation.

We will introduce new technologies and advancements across various sectors highlighting the latest trends and opportunities available to businesses and landowners across the country.

Companies can save up to 70% of their energy usage alone through new smart technologies. This conference is for high-level professionals seeking innovative ways to ensure they are on target
to meet Ireland’s climate action plan and reduce our carbon footprint.
Affiliated Organisations University of Hull
Org Units Chemical Engineering
URL https://hopin.to/events/the-carbon-conference#sponsors

Impact of Refuel and Refuel2 projects : Next generation solid fuels
2020 - 2022

Description Dr Skoulou as the PI of the ReFuel and ReFuel 2 projects lead to their impact by

a) catalyzing 2 research partnerships
b) Winner of the LECO Analytical Applications Poster Competition/LA2PC 2020/2021
and her PDRA Dr M. Taylor's establishment of an independed academic career via the BECCS Innovation funding secured for the Bluegen Project. Dr. V.Skoulou them served the role of CoI by submitting 2 industrial reports corresponding the the Deliverables of the Bluegen Project.
Affiliated Organisations 00 Partner to be confirmed
Research Themes Energy, Environment and Sustainability
Projects THYME: REclaiming lignin rich waste for next generation solid bioFuel2 source for thermochemical conversion to bioenergy via pyrolysis and gasification (Re-Fuel2)
THYME: Reclaiming lignin rich sludge after enzymatic hydrolysis for repurposing and pelletizing into a secondary fuel source for thermochemical transformation
Org Units Chemical Engineering
URL https://www.biorenewables.org/case-studies/refuel-next-generation-soild-fuels/

University Award for Outstanding External Grant Capture 2019
2019 - 2019

Description The outstanding contributions made by academics, professional service staff and students to learning, teaching and research in the Faculty of Science and Engineering have been recognised at an awards ceremony.

The aim of the awards is to recognise the hard work done by individuals and groups across the faculty over the last 12 months. The categories recognise established and early-career researchers, people in leadership roles, students and colleagues from other areas of the university who make a contribution to the faculty.

The winners were nominated by colleagues and presented with their awards by Professor Graham Scott, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Dr David Richards, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise, and Professor Becky Huxley-Binns, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education, attended the ceremony.

The Award for Outstanding External Grant Capture

The Circular Plastics Economy team (from 12 Departments across campus, led by FSE staff: Professor Carl Redshaw, Dr Chadra Kambhampati, Dr Pauline Deutz, Dr Sharif Zein, Dr Vicky Skoulou, Dr Will Mayes).
Affiliated Organisations 00 Partner to be confirmed
Research Themes Energy, Environment and Sustainability
Projects Evolving a Circular Plastics Economy
Org Units Chemical Engineering
URL Outstanding External Grant Capture

Optimized solid fuels by alternative pretreatments
2019 - 2020

Description Dr Vicky Skoulou leads the way to innovative biomass waste pretreatments such as ultrasound pretreatment and pelletization of biomass waste for optimized solid fuels production.
The work kick started under her leadership by the EP/P034667/1 grant and expanded with her international academic collaborators from the University of Cyprus (Dr Apostolos Michopoulos) , Queen University London (Dr Roberto Volpe)
as well as the B3 Challenge Group members (PGRs and PDRAs) under her supervision:
PhD Candidate Hassan Alabdrabalameer (Chem. Engineering Department UoH)
PDRA Dr Martin Taylor (Thyme Fellow, EEI)
and co-funding from a sludge waste repurposing as an optimized fuels Thyme PoC project sunder her Principal Investigator leadership. (https://thyme.biovale.org/thyme-proof-of-concept-funded-projects/)
Affiliated Organisations University of Hull
Projects Microwave assisted Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic residues for better performance as solid fuels in fluidised bed technologies
Org Units Chemical Engineering
URL https://hullisthis.news/cutting-edge-research-into-biomass-energy-production-led-by-university-of-hull-team

Faculty of Science and Engineering Ethics Committee - Member
2019 - 2022

External Examiner European Biomass Reseacrh Institute (EBRI) Aston University, UK
2019 - 2019

Description External: Dr Vasiliki Skoulou

Dr Joe Socci “Mesoporous Solid Acid Catalysts for the Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Biomass”, Chemical Engineering Dep. EBRI -Aston University, UK
(27th June 2019)

Supervisor: Prof AV Bridgwater
( https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=kAh6_E8AAAAJ&hl=en)
Internal: Dr Marta Granollers-Mesa
( https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=polLQxgAAAAJ&hl=en)
Affiliated Organisations University of Hull
URL https://www2.aston.ac.uk/eas/research/groups/ebri

Travel Award BRISK2 Biofuels Research Infrastructure for Sharing Knowledge Travel Grant - VTT Research Institute , Finland
2019 - 2019

Description BRISK2 Biofuels Research Infrastructure for Sharing Knowledge EU Horizon 2020 program awarded a Transnational Research Facilities Access Grant (max 1,200 E) to PhD Candidate H. Alabdrabalameer and Dr Skoulou, on February 2019.

His First Supervisor Dr V. Skoulou built the research idea/application and awarded a small fund for Mr H.A.Alabdrabalameer for accessing and using the Research Facilities of VTT Technical Research Centre , Finland , in order to test the thermochemical behavior of pre-treated lignocellulosic biomass waste in a fluidized bed (FB) thermochemical reactor system.

Max 1,200 €

Project Completed and resulted in the following publication:
https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SE00155D

Project Participants Results : https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/731101/results
Affiliated Organisations University of Hull
Org Units Chemical Engineering
URL https://brisk2.eu/publications-2

Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass waste for enhanced thermochemical decomposition for bioenergy production- Chemical Engineering Day 2019
2019 - 2019

Description Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass waste for enhanced thermochemical decomposition for bioenergy production.

by H.A. Alabdrabalameer, M.J. Taylor and V.Skoulou*


The pre-treatment of woody and herbaceous lignocellulosic biomass waste has been explored to enhance its properties as a solid fuel source and control the inherent parameters such as moisture and ash content (inorganic residues that remain after combustion), as well as oxygen content, low calorific value, high volatilIly and low bulk density. Various chemical and physicochemical methods of leaching such as; hotplate, microwave and mechano-acoustic technologies have been used to combat the issues mentioned above, as well as determining an optimum substrate particle size via milling techniques. Facilitating pre-treatments under mild conditions have been found to not only be beneficial in the reduction of inorganic components such as P, S, Na, K and Ca (as determined by ICP-OES). They have been found to cause no detrimental effect to the complex organic matrix, where lignin and hemicellulose content of the substrate when measured by FTIR. Pre-treatment studies have been found to reduce the overall cellulosic crystallinity (calculated by Segal’s equation in PXRD) which is beneficial for thermochemical upgrading when using pyrolysis and gasification. Thermochemical studies have been conducted via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) under N2 at varying temperatures to model pyrolysis conditions to calculate the biomass reactivity and heating value. It has been found that microwave based leaching is the most effective at reducing inorganic species and therefore lowering the ash content while maintaining the lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose content, as determined by ultimate analysis.
Affiliated Organisations University of Hull
Projects Microwave assisted Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic residues for better performance as solid fuels in fluidised bed technologies
Org Units Energy and Environment Institute
Chemical Engineering
URL https://ichemeblog.org/2019/04/12/chemengday-2019-highlights/#more-11467

Travel Award BRISK2 Biofuels Research Infrastructure for Sharing Knowledge Travel Grant - Bioenergy 2020+ , Graz University, Austria
2019 - 2019

Description BRISK2 Biofuels Research Infrastructure for Sharing Knowledge program awarded a small Transnational Research Facilities Access Grant (up to max 1,200 E) to PhD Candidate H. Alabdrabalameer and Dr V.Skoulou, on September 2019.

His First Supervisor Dr V. Skoulou built the research idea/application and awarded a small fund for Mr H.A.Alabdrabalameer for accessing and using the Research Facilities of Bioenergy 2020+ ,Graz, Austria , in order to test the thermal behavior of pre-treated lignocellulosic biomass waste and thermogravimetric analysis.

Max 1200 €

Project Completed
Affiliated Organisations University of Hull
Org Units Chemical Engineering
URL https://brisk2.eu/

FoSE (Chemical Engineering) and EEI (Thyme) Seminar Prof.Zabaniotou ( Aristotle University of Thessaloniki):Awareness of Sustainability: Sustainable use of Bioresources
2019 - 2019

Description Awareness of Sustainability: Sustainable use of Bioresources


Dr Skoulou, Director of Research of Chemical Engineering the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Energy and Environment Institute (EEI) were delighted to welcome visiting Researcher Professor Anastasia Zabaniotou from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, where she is Director of the new Circular Economy Institute (ICE) and Biomass & Waste group leader in the Chemical Engineering Department, A.U.Th, Greece.
Professor Zabaniotou is also Chair of Biomass and Biogas at the World Renewable Energy Network and is a renowned leader in the field of renewable energy with a focus on bioenergy and biofuels, circular economy and sustainability.
On Wednesday 10th July, Professor Zabaniotou was speaking on sustainability and the bioeconomy. The subject of the seminars map to the THYME Project, a collaboration between the Universities of Teeside, Hull and York, which is looking to boost the bioeconomy across Yorkshire, the Humber region and the Tees Valley.

11.00-12.00, Wednesday 10 July 2019, Allam Medical Building Lecture Theatre 2
Affiliated Organisations University of Hull
Projects THYME: CCF BIO ECONOMY
Org Units Chemical Engineering
Energy and Environment Institute

FoSE (Chemical Engineering) and EEI (Thyme) Guest Lecture Prof.Zabaniotou ( Aristotle University of Thessaloniki): Biomass and Waste to Energy in the context of Sustainability and Circular Economy: Latest advancements, innovations and strategic objectiv
2019 - 2019

Description GUEST LECTURES FROM VISITING PROFESSOR ANASTASIA ZABANIOTOU

Biomass and Waste to Energy in the context of Sustainability and Circular Economy: Latest advancements, innovations and strategic objectives

Dr V. Skoulou, the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Energy and Environment Institute were delighted to welcome visiting Professor Anastasia Zabaniotou from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, where she is Director of the new Circular Economy Institute (ICE) and Biomass & Waste group leader in the Chemical Engineering Department.
Professor Zabaniotou is also Chair of Biomass and Biogas at the World Renewable Energy Network and is a renowned leader in the field of renewable energy with a focus on bioenergy and biofuels, circular economy and sustainability.
On Tuesday 9th of July, Professor Zabaniotou was speaking on sustainability and the bioeconomy. The subject of the seminars mapped also to the THYME Project, a collaboration between the Universities of Teeside, Hull and York, which is looking to boost the bioeconomy across Yorkshire, the Humber region and the Tees Valley.
Please do join us in hearing from Professor Zabaniotou by signing up using the links below, which redirect to eventbrite:
12.00-13.00, Tuesday 9 July 2019, Allam Medical Building Lecture Theatre 2
Affiliated Organisations Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
University of Hull
Projects Microwave assisted Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic residues for better performance as solid fuels in fluidised bed technologies
Org Units Energy and Environment Institute
Chemical Engineering

The Plastics Collaboratory Forum Presentation : Energy production from plastic waste via the thermochemical route
2019 - 2019

Description Oral presentantion under the frames of the Plastics Collaboratory Forum
Kingsley Suite , 3rd October 2019 :

Skoulou, V. Energy production from plastic waste via the thermochemical route. The Plastics Collaborative Forum, 3rd October 2019, Kingsley Suite, University of Hull, 3rd October 2019
Affiliated Organisations University of Hull
Projects Microwave assisted Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic residues for better performance as solid fuels in fluidised bed technologies
Org Units Chemical Engineering
URL https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/research/institutes/energy-and-environment-institute/our-work/plastics-collaboratory