Multi-scale modeling and optimization for industries with formulated products

[ES] La tesis titulada "Multi-scale Modeling and optimization for Industries with Formulated Products" se centra en el desarrollo de modelos matemáticos y técnicas de optimización para este tipo de productos. Por un lado la tesis se focaliza en modelado de secadores con diferentes metodologías. Primero, se desarrolla un modelo cinético de secado de una una única gota. Luego, se desarrolla un modelo basado en mecánica de fluidos computacional (CFD) para los secadores y el cuál se ha validado a escala industrial. Finalmente, se desarrollan modelos basados en "data-driven" y modelos subrogados para reducir el coste computacional del modelo en CFD sin perder su nivel de detalle. Por otro lado, la tesis tiene una segunda parte donde se focaliza en el desarrollo de modelos de optimización matemática para el tratamiento de residuos y la revalorización del biogás

Laboratorio Virtual en Ingeniería Química

Memoria ID-127. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2020-2021

Healthcare workers hospitalized due to COVID-19 have no higher risk of death than general population. Data from the Spanish SEMI-COVID-19 Registry

Aim To determine whether healthcare workers (HCW) hospitalized in Spain due to COVID-19 have a worse prognosis than non-healthcare workers (NHCW). Methods Observational cohort study based on the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, a nationwide registry that collects sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data on patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Spain. Patients aged 20-65 years were selected. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to identify factors associated with mortality. Results As of 22 May 2020, 4393 patients were included, of whom 419 (9.5%) were HCW. Median (interquartile range) age of HCW was 52 (15) years and 62.4% were women. Prevalence of comorbidities and severe radiological findings upon admission were less frequent in HCW. There were no difference in need of respiratory support and admission to intensive care unit, but occurrence of sepsis and in-hospital mortality was lower in HCW (1.7% vs. 3.9%; p = 0.024 and 0.7% vs. 4.8%; p<0.001 respectively). Age, male sex and comorbidity, were independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality and healthcare working with lower mortality (OR 0.211, 95%CI 0.067-0.667, p = 0.008). 30-days survival was higher in HCW (0.968 vs. 0.851 p<0.001). Conclusions Hospitalized COVID-19 HCW had fewer comorbidities and a better prognosis than NHCW. Our results suggest that professional exposure to COVID-19 in HCW does not carry more clinical severity nor mortality

Optimization for biogas to chemicals via tri-reforming. Analysis of Fischer-Tropsch fuels from biogas

[EN]This paper presents an optimization approach for the production of syngas from biogas via tri-reforming. The optimization, formulated as a NLP problem, is performed for three syngas ratios according to the desired product: methanol, ethanol or Fischer-Tropsch (FT) fuels. As a result, the optimal operating conditions and biogas composition are defined. For the production of ethanol, a biogas composed by a CH4:CO2 ratio of 0.52:0.48 is desired, requiring 0.035 mol of O2 per mol of Biogas in the reformer. For the production of methanol and FT, biogas with the largest content of methane is suggested to be reformed with 0.275 molO2/mol biogas. The largest H2:CO ratio required for methanol is achieved by feeding steam in a WGS reactor after the reformer. The syngas optimization study is completed by evaluating tri-reforming for the production of FT fuels from biogas via high and low temperature FT synthesis. The production cost for a plant fed with 12 MMm3/y of biogas results in $3/ gal for biodiesel via HTFT and$1.7/gal via LTFT. A scale-up study is also carried out for plants with both modes of operation, showing a cut point for profitability at 450MMm3/y.Junta castilla y Léon, SA026G18

Optimal production of syngas via super-dry reforming. analysis for natural gas and biogas under different CO2 taxes.

[EN]This work presents a mathematical optimization approach that evaluates the use of super-dry reforming (SDR) together other reforming technologies, water-gas-shift and hydrogen from electrolysis. The aim is to produce syngas with different H2:CO ratios, taking into account two methane sources: natural gas and biogas. A superstructure is developed and optimized using an economic objective function that considers carbon taxes as parameter to determine the most profitable technology or the combination of them. As a result from this analysis, the single use of SDR is less profitable than the single use of tri-reforming for all the range of carbon taxes studied. SDR is only selected when it operates in parallel with a tri-reformer to produce syngas with a H2:CO ratio of 1 for any of the raw materials used. For a ratio of 1.7, SDR is only selected in parallel to tri-reforming to process biogas and with CO2 taxes of at least $60/t. Meanwhile for a H2:CO ratio of 2.5 it is never selected. In the case that the reformers do not generate enough H2, WGS is selected to adjust the H2:CO ratio for all the carbon taxes studied

Production of H2 and methanol via dark fermentation. A process optimization study

[EN]This work presents a process optimization study of the production of H2 and methanol via dark fermentation. A kinetic model is developed for dark fermentation and it is implemented in the process optimization by means of orthogonal collocation. As a result from the entire process optimization, the optimal operating conditions of the process are determined. The investment in the process is estimated to be $18.2 M and has a production cost of$37.6 per kg of H2 produced when 1 kg/s of biomass is treated. The second process optimization study is developed for the production of methanol via hydrogenation of CO2. This process is estimated to require an investment of $16.4 M and the production cost is$6.9/kg of methanol when 1kg/s of biomass is treated. In both cases, the amounts of H2, 8 g/s, and methanol produced, 38 g/s, are very low in comparison with the resource treated.Junta Castilla y León Universidad de Salamanca. Contratos predoctorales Santande

Comprehensive identification of SWI/SNF complex subunits underpins deep eukaryotic ancestry and reveals new plant components

Over millions of years, eukaryotes evolved from unicellular to multicellular organisms with increasingly complex genomes and sophisticated gene expression networks. Consequently, chromatin regulators evolved to support this increased complexity. The ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers of the SWI/SNF family are multiprotein complexes that modulate nucleosome positioning and appear under different configurations, which perform distinct functions. While the composition, architecture, and activity of these subclasses are well understood in a limited number of fungal and animal model organisms, the lack of comprehensive information in other eukaryotic organisms precludes the identification of a reliable evolutionary model of SWI/SNF complexes. Here, we performed a systematic analysis using 36 species from animal, fungal, and plant lineages to assess the conservation of known SWI/SNF subunits across eukaryotes. We identified evolutionary relationships that allowed us to propose the composition of a hypothetical ancestral SWI/SNF complex in the last eukaryotic common ancestor. This last common ancestor appears to have undergone several rounds of lineage-specific subunit gains and losses, shaping the current conformation of the known subclasses in animals and fungi. In addition, our results unravel a plant SWI/SNF complex, reminiscent of the animal BAF subclass, which incorporates a set of plant-specific subunits of still unknown function