CEPIMA - Center for Process and Environment Engineering
Des de la seva creació el 1977, el Grup TQG-LCMA (2001-SGR00248) ha desenvolupat una tasca innovadora en l'àmbit de la simulació i l'optimització de processos químics, i actualment ocupa un lloc d'avantguarda entre els centres de recerca que internacionalment treballen en temes d'enginyeria de processos (PSE, process systems engineering) i medi ambient (atmosfera).
El grup de recerca CEPIMA és el resultat de la integració plena del grup actual TQG-LCMA per consolidar i potenciar la seva tasca en l'àmbit de: millores en la concepció i la gestió òptima dels recursos productius a la indústria de procés conduents a la minimització de l'impacte ambiental i a situacions ecològicament acceptables.
Consegüentment, el camp d'actuació i els objectius del CEPIMA es concreten en un triple vessant:
a) Integració i intensificació de processos per a un desenvolupament sostenible que preveu el disseny i l¿operació òptims de la cadena completa de subministrament durant el cicle sencer de vida del producte sota criteris multiobjectius (productivitat, impacte ambiental, seguretat, optimització de recursos), tot considerant diversos nivells de detall (estratègic, tàctic i operacional) i diverses tècniques d'optimització (programació matemàtica, mètodes estocàstics, anàlisi de cicle de vida, etc.). També es desenvolupen sistemes de suport a la decisió intel·ligent (DSS) per a una actuació en línia i temps real (gestió, coordinació, supervisió i diagnosi i control). Es desenvolupen aplicacions informàtiques que faciliten la implementació d'aquestes metodologies i tècniques i la seva transferència a l'entorn industrial.
b) Gestió i valoració de residus mitjançant tractaments tèrmics i aprofitament energètic (combustió, gasificació i piròlisi), que permeten un bon control mediambiental. Es complementa amb estudis de sistemes de neteja dels gasos calents mitjançant sorbents sòlids que permeten l'aprofitament dels gasos en un cicle combinat de potència i energia. També es preveu la cogasificació de residus d'origen divers (biomassa, residus sòlids urbans -RSU-, pneumÓtics usats, fangs de depuradora) per a la producció sostenible i neta de gas de síntesi o, alternativament, de H2 pur per a la seva utilització en cel·les de combustible d'alta eficiència. Es desenvolupen equips (reactors de llit fluïditzat) i suport informàtic de disseny propi per a aplicacions a escala industrial.
c) Control de la contaminació atmosfèrica que preveu el desenvolupament de noves metodologies, tècniques i eines per a l'avaluació d'emissions industrials (olors, compostos orgànics volàtils -COV-, etc.). Es desenvolupen sistemes de control d'episodis d'olor i qualitat ambiental en àrees urbanes amb la integració d'anàlisi meteorològica, anàlisi química, modelització i control social. El sistema permet l'estudi d'identificació de les fonts d'origen i la seva contribució als episodis. Es desenvolupen equips de disseny propi que permeten l'automatització de la captació de mostres i aplicacions informàtiques per al desenvolupament de mapes i predicció d'origen (retrodispersió).
The TQG-LCMA (2001-SGR00248) research group was created in 1977. Since then, the group has carried out innovative tasks and has taken a leading role in chemical process simulation and optimisation. Today, it is considered an international centre of excellence in the field of process systems engineering (PSE) and environmental engineering (focusing on air pollution control). The new CEPIMA research group presented here is the result of the integration of the TQG-LCMA group, which will consolidate and enhance its work in the area of the "advancement in the design of the process industry and the optimum management of its resources, leading to environmental impact minimisation and an ecologically acceptable scenario".
The research activities and objectives of the CEPIMA are therefore focused on three main areas:
(a) Process integration and intensification for sustainable development, which includes the optimum design and operation of supply chains through products¿ entire life-cycles under multi-objective criteria (productivity, environmental impact, safety and resource optimisation). Various approaches (strategic, tactical and operational) and optimisation techniques (mathematical programming, stochastic methods, life-cycle analysis, etc.) are also considered. All of the above requires the development of intelligent decision support systems (DSS) for online and real-time initiatives (management, coordination, supervision, diagnosis and control). In the course of this research, new software applications are envisaged to facilitate the implementation of these methods and techniques, and the transfer of this technology to industry.
(b) Waste management and upgrading by thermal conversion processes (combustion, gasification, pyrolysis) that enable excellent environmental control. As a complement, the group studies hot gas clean-up systems that use dry sorbents, which permit the use of the resulting gas in a high-performance, combined heat and power cycle system. Special consideration is given to studies of co-gasification of residues from various sources (biomass, RSU, used tyres, water treatment waste, etc.) for the sustainable and clean production of synthesis gas or, alternatively, high-purity hydrogen for use in highly efficient fuel cells. The group designs equipment (fluidised bed reactors) and provides proprietary software support for applications on an industrial scale.
(c) Air pollution control and monitoring, including the development of new methodologies, techniques and tools for the evaluation of industrial emissions (odours, VOCs, etc.). Here, the development of new systems for the study and control of odour episodes and environmental quality is considered for urban areas, integrating meteorological and chemical analyses and modelling and social control approaches. The system envisaged enables odour sources and their contribution to episodes to be identified. Complementary, proprietary equipment design is carried out, including fully automated sampling and support software for contour map generation and the prediction of contamination sources (backscattering). 2. As indicators of the research group¿s activities, please find, in the Catalan version, a short list detailing the most relevant papers published over the last three years, international and national projects, and the agreements signed in the last five years (in that order).
The TQG-LCMA (2001-SGR00248) research group was created in 1977. Since then, the group has carried out innovative tasks and has taken a leading role in chemical process simulation and optimisation. Today, it is considered an international centre of excellence in the field of process systems engineering (PSE) and environmental engineering (focusing on air pollution control). The new CEPIMA research group presented here is the result of the integration of the TQG-LCMA group, which will consolidate and enhance its work in the area of the "advancement in the design of the process industry and the optimum management of its resources, leading to environmental impact minimisation and an ecologically acceptable scenario".
The research activities and objectives of the CEPIMA are therefore focused on three main areas:
(a) Process integration and intensification for sustainable development, which includes the optimum design and operation of supply chains through products¿ entire life-cycles under multi-objective criteria (productivity, environmental impact, safety and resource optimisation). Various approaches (strategic, tactical and operational) and optimisation techniques (mathematical programming, stochastic methods, life-cycle analysis, etc.) are also considered. All of the above requires the development of intelligent decision support systems (DSS) for online and real-time initiatives (management, coordination, supervision, diagnosis and control). In the course of this research, new software applications are envisaged to facilitate the implementation of these methods and techniques, and the transfer of this technology to industry.
(b) Waste management and upgrading by thermal conversion processes (combustion, gasification, pyrolysis) that enable excellent environmental control. As a complement, the group studies hot gas clean-up systems that use dry sorbents, which permit the use of the resulting gas in a high-performance, combined heat and power cycle system. Special consideration is given to studies of co-gasification of residues from various sources (biomass, RSU, used tyres, water treatment waste, etc.) for the sustainable and clean production of synthesis gas or, alternatively, high-purity hydrogen for use in highly efficient fuel cells. The group designs equipment (fluidised bed reactors) and provides proprietary software support for applications on an industrial scale.
(c) Air pollution control and monitoring, including the development of new methodologies, techniques and tools for the evaluation of industrial emissions (odours, VOCs, etc.). Here, the development of new systems for the study and control of odour episodes and environmental quality is considered for urban areas, integrating meteorological and chemical analyses and modelling and social control approaches. The system envisaged enables odour sources and their contribution to episodes to be identified. Complementary, proprietary equipment design is carried out, including fully automated sampling and support software for contour map generation and the prediction of contamination sources (backscattering). 2. As indicators of the research group¿s activities, please find, in the Catalan version, a short list detailing the most relevant papers published over the last three years, international and national projects, and the agreements signed in the last five years (in that order).
Collections in this community
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Articles de revista [128]
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Recent Submissions
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Integrated synthesis, modeling, and assessment of waste-to-resource alternatives
(2022)
Conference report
Restricted access - publisher's policyTo address the urgent need to transform the current economic paradigm towards a more circular one, this contribution proposes a framework for assisting the selection of the most promising waste-to-resource alternatives. ... -
Information retrieval from scientific abstract and citation databases: A query-by-documents approach based on Monte-Carlo sampling
(2022-08-01)
Article
Open AccessThe rapidly increasing amount of information and entries in abstract and citation databases steadily complicates the information retrieval task. In this study, a novel query-by-document approach using Monte-Carlo sampling ... -
Towards automated information retrieval of process data and knowledge from academic databases
(2021)
Conference lecture
Restricted access - publisher's policyProcess modeling requires both data (chemical reaction yields, kinetic constants, cost estimates, environmental indicators, etc.) and knowledge (operation models and formulations, alternative processes and technologies, ... -
Towards an efficient generalization of the online dosage of hydrogen peroxide in photo-fenton process to treat industrial wastewater
(2021-12-17)
Article
Open AccessThis work addresses the dosage of H2O2 in photo-Fenton processes and the monitoring of Dissolved oxygen (DO) that can be used to drive the dosage of H2O2. The objective of this work is to show that a smarter monitoring of ... -
A machine learning-based methodology for multi-parametric solution of chemical processes operation optimization under uncertainty
(Elsevier, 2021-12-01)
Article
Open AccessChemical process operation optimization aims at obtaining the optimal operating set-points by real-time solution of an optimization problem that embeds a steady-state model of the process. This task is challenged by ... -
Targeting economic and environmental benefits associated with the integration of regeneration units in water systems
(2021-11-10)
Article
Open AccessWater treatment is traditionally seen as an "end-of-pipe" solution to deal with contaminated water satisfying discharge regulations at a minimum expense. However, the reuse of treated water as regenerated water is a promising ... -
Application of industrial symbiosis principles to the management of utility networks
(2022-01-01)
Article
Open AccessUtility exchanges between different plants have shown to produce large energy savings, extending the potential advantages of Energy/Process Integration through Industrial Symbiosis principles. Systematic approaches to ... -
Manufacturing and application of 3D printed photo fenton reactors for wastewater treatment
(2021-05-04)
Article
Open AccessAdditive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing offers a new paradigm for designing and developing chemical reactors, in particular, prototypes. The use of 3D printers has been increasing, their performance has been improving, ... -
Synthesis and assessment of waste-to-resource routes for circular economy
(Pergamon Press, 2021-07-30)
Article
Open AccessThe benefits of the circular economy have been proven during the past two decades, but its application poses some challenges. In particular, the increasing number of potential waste-to-resource processing alternatives ... -
A CFD study of an annular pilot plant reactor for Paracetamol photo-Fenton degradation
(Elsevier, 2021-04-15)
Article
Open AccessThis work studies in detail the photo-Fenton degradation process of Paracetamol (PCT) on an annular pilot-plant reactor using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). A cylindrical lamp emission model was originally implemented ... -
Economic and environmental assessment of plastic waste pyrolysis products and biofuels as substitutes for fossil-based fuels
(2021-06-24)
Article
Open AccessThe global economy is shifting toward more sustainable sources of energy. The transportation sector is a remarkable example of this fact, where biofuels have emerged as promising alternatives to traditional fossil fuels. ... -
Advanced Integration Methods for the Efficient Symbiosis of Process Networks – AIMS
(2017-01-01 / 2021-06-30)
Website
Open AccessThe AIMS project proposal addresses the challenges associated to the "efficient use of resources and raw materials" and to the use of "clean, efficient and safe energy systems" in the Process Industries from a holistic, ...