The Environmental Engineering Research Group (GI2AM) from the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Valencia began its research in the field of Environmental Biotechnology in 2002. Throughout these years the GI2AM group has focused its work on research, analysis, design and application of Sustainable Processes for the treatment of industrial emissions to air and water, and in the valorization of effluents and waste for the production of bioenergy and biofuels.
We are a consolidated and internationally recognized team, which has excellently equipped laboratories and we have extensive experience in coordinating and managing both National and International R&D Projects, and with a wide network of contacts and collaborations with groups national and international benchmarks.
The scientific and technical objectives of the GI2AM group are:
- Production of biofuels and high-valuable products by valorization of waste.
- Bioenergy production by valorization of effluents.
- Development of sustainable processes for the treatment of industrial air emissions.
- Development of sustainable processes for the treatment of industrial emissions to water.
The research lines of the GI2AM group are:
- Production of 2G and 3G biofuels from the valorization of lignocellulosic waste and algal biomass. Study and optimization of all the stages of the process: pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation with different configurations and in-situ recovery by stripping gas and/or pervaporation.
- Production of high-valuable products from the valorization of waste and lignocellulosic waste. Study and optimization of the stages of the process: pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation and recovery.
- Recycling of volatile organic compounds emissions in bioenergy. Development, optimization and scale-up of the novelty treatment technology: Anaerobic BioScrubber for the recovery of gaseous effluents containing volatile organic compounds in biomethane. This technology has been developed from TRL2 to TRL8.Removal of volatile organic compound and odor air emissions. Design, analysis and optimization of treatment processes at laboratory scale and subsequent transfer to industrial scale. Special mention to the research line with the emerging biotechnologies Biofilters and Biotrickling Filters and, also, their combination with other physicochemical technologies. The Biotrickling Filter technology has been developed from TRL3 to TRL9.
- Removal of volatile organic compound from air emissions and from indoor air. Design and optimization of Photocatalytic Oxidation technology at laboratory scale and industrial scale tests.
- Biosorption of heavy metals from water. Design and optimization of the heavy metal adsorption process from water using biological materials.
- Recovery of methane from liquid effluents. Development, analysis and optimization of membrane contactors for the recovery of dissolved methane in liquid effluents.
- Mathematical modeling and process simulation. Development of mathematical models and their integration in commercial industrial simulators for the design and prediction of the studied treatment technologies.
- Microbiological analysis. Study of the monitoring of microbial populations developed in the different biological processes through the application of molecular biology tools (massive sequencing, quantitative PCR, DGGE, FISH, among others)
Group Composition:
Dra. Gabaldón García, Carmen (Director)
Dr. Álvarez-Hornos, Javier
Dra. Marzal Domenech, Paula
Dr. Peñarrocha Oltra, Josep Manuel
Dra. San-Valero Tornero, Pau
Arcís Carayol, Adrián
García Puchol, Mario
Lindo Donet, Fabio
Ortega Camino, Alejandro
Silvestre López, Carlos
Poquet Teruel, Marcos
More details: www.uv.es/giam
