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EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Bioenergy
Fernando Climent Barba
I am studying for an interdisciplinary MSc/PhD in the Doctoral Training Centre for Bioenergy
E: pmfcb@leeds.ac.uk
Background
BSc in Environmental Sciences at 'Universitat de Girona' (Spain), specialising in Environmental Technology and Management. During the last year, I participated as Erasmus student at Prague (Czech Republic), where a dissertation was submitted: Research on two types of olive pits from Spain as biomass. Moreover, I hold an MSc in Renewable Energy Technology at Cranfield University (UK) where published an article in the Journal of Cleaner Production (doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.189). To conclude, a Thesis on anaerobic digestion (AD) where food/garden wastes were characterised and digested for a 20-day period including a BioMethane Potential (BMP) test.
Research Interests
My PhD projects works in the transition from batch to continuous stirred tank reactors for the enzymatic hydrolysis of a waste pulp into fermentable sugars. This work expands across areas such as rheology of non-Newtonian fluids, reactor design, on-line monitoring and analytical techniques. Other aspects (enzymatic deactivation/activity mechanisms, deconstruction of lignocellulosic structure as well as inhibition control) are also of my interest. Some computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in order to validate experimental data and using the lab-scale reactor characteristics has potential to be included as well.
Why I chose the CDT in Bioenergy
From the last stage of my BSc, I was becoming more interested in waste management and valorisation technologies and sustainability techniques (e.g. LCA). Then, in Prague and Cranfield, I had the opportunity to research on biomass and AD where my “taste” for Bioenergy was accentuated. Thought that was the natural path afterwards, thus, I applied for it.
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