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Prof. Carlo Pastore
Water Research, Institute-Italian National Research Council (IRSA-CNR)

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Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Biorefinery
0 circular economy, reuse of materials, low carbon materials, cement, ceramics, glass, waste management, materials processing , ash, energy from waste
0 Green and Sustainable Supply Chain
0 sewage sludge treatment
0 valorization of waste

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Biorefinery
valorization of waste

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Review
Published: 12 July 2021 in Biomass
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The growing demand for energy and materials in modern society pushes scientific research to finding new alternative sources to traditional fossil feedstocks. The exploitation of biomass promises to be among the viable alternatives with a lower environmental impact. Making biomass exploitation technologies applicable at an industrial level represents one of the main goals for our society. In this work, the most recent scientific studies concerning the enhancement of lignocellulosic biomasses through the use of deep eutectic solvent (DES) systems have been examined and reported. DESs have an excellent potential for the fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass: the high H-bond capacity and polarity allow the lignin to be deconvolved, making it easier to break down the lignocellulosic complex, producing a free crystallite of cellulose capable of being exploited and valorised. DESs offer valid alternatives of using the potential of lignin (producing aromatics), hemicellulose (achieving furfural) and cellulose (delivering freely degradable substrates through enzymatic transformation into glucose). In this review, the mechanism of DES in the fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass and the main possible uses for the valorisation of lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose were reported, with a critical discussion of the perspectives and limits for industrial application.

ACS Style

Enrico Scelsi; Antonella Angelini; Carlo Pastore. Deep Eutectic Solvents for the Valorisation of Lignocellulosic Biomasses towards Fine Chemicals. Biomass 2021, 1, 29 -59.

AMA Style

Enrico Scelsi, Antonella Angelini, Carlo Pastore. Deep Eutectic Solvents for the Valorisation of Lignocellulosic Biomasses towards Fine Chemicals. Biomass. 2021; 1 (1):29-59.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Enrico Scelsi; Antonella Angelini; Carlo Pastore. 2021. "Deep Eutectic Solvents for the Valorisation of Lignocellulosic Biomasses towards Fine Chemicals." Biomass 1, no. 1: 29-59.

Journal article
Published: 23 May 2021 in Catalysts
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In this work, the transesterification of methyl estolides (ME) extracted from the lipid component present in the sewage scum was investigated. Methyl 10-(R)-hydroxystearate (Me-10-HSA) and Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAMEs) were obtained in a single step. A three-level and four factorial Box–Behnken experimental design were used to study the effects of methanol amounts, catalyst, temperature, and reaction time on the transesterification reaction using aluminum chloride hexahydrate (AlCl3·6H2O) or hydrochloric acid (HCl) as catalysts. AlCl3·6H2O was found quite active as well as conventional homogeneous acid catalysts as HCl. In both cases, a complete conversion of ME into Me-10-HSA and FAMEs was observed. The products were isolated, quantified, and fully characterized. At the end of the process, Me-10-HSA (32.3%wt) was purified through a chromatographic separation and analyzed by NMR. The high enantiomeric excess (ee > 92%) of the R-enantiomer isomer opens a new scenario for the valorization of sewage scum.

ACS Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Valeria D’Ambrosio; Carlo Pastore. A Novel and Efficient Method for the Synthesis of Methyl (R)-10-Hydroxystearate and FAMEs from Sewage Scum. Catalysts 2021, 11, 663 .

AMA Style

Luigi di Bitonto, Valeria D’Ambrosio, Carlo Pastore. A Novel and Efficient Method for the Synthesis of Methyl (R)-10-Hydroxystearate and FAMEs from Sewage Scum. Catalysts. 2021; 11 (6):663.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Valeria D’Ambrosio; Carlo Pastore. 2021. "A Novel and Efficient Method for the Synthesis of Methyl (R)-10-Hydroxystearate and FAMEs from Sewage Scum." Catalysts 11, no. 6: 663.

Journal article
Published: 21 March 2021 in Fuel
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This work focuses on the recovery of resources from urban sewage sludge. Sewage sludge is generated by water treatment plants and contains a significant amount of lipids that can be used in a number of applications in fine chemistry. This study reports the extraction of lipids from sewage sludge using ethyl esters of volatile fatty acids as solvents. A thermodynamic study was first performed using synthetic primary sludge in order to identify the best operating conditions to apply on real samples of urban primary sludge. Ethyl butyrate showed the best separation performance. It was capable of efficiently recovering the lipid component from primary sewage sludge, which typically resulted in 13–23% of total solids. Highly pure calcium soaps can be extracted in high amounts (yield up to 93%), while the exhausted residual aqueous phase resulted as not significantly contaminated by the solvent and could be anaerobically digested easily. Finally, calcium soaps can be directly used as biolubricant or efficiently converted into biodiesel using aluminum chloride hexahydrate as a catalyst (yield 85%).

ACS Style

Felipe J. Villalobos-Delgado; Luigi di Bitonto; Hilda E. Reynel-Ávila; Didilia I. Mendoza-Castillo; Adrián Bonilla-Petriciolet; Carlo Pastore. Efficient and sustainable recovery of lipids from sewage sludge using ethyl esters of volatile fatty acids as sustainable extracting solvent. Fuel 2021, 295, 120630 .

AMA Style

Felipe J. Villalobos-Delgado, Luigi di Bitonto, Hilda E. Reynel-Ávila, Didilia I. Mendoza-Castillo, Adrián Bonilla-Petriciolet, Carlo Pastore. Efficient and sustainable recovery of lipids from sewage sludge using ethyl esters of volatile fatty acids as sustainable extracting solvent. Fuel. 2021; 295 ():120630.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Felipe J. Villalobos-Delgado; Luigi di Bitonto; Hilda E. Reynel-Ávila; Didilia I. Mendoza-Castillo; Adrián Bonilla-Petriciolet; Carlo Pastore. 2021. "Efficient and sustainable recovery of lipids from sewage sludge using ethyl esters of volatile fatty acids as sustainable extracting solvent." Fuel 295, no. : 120630.

Journal article
Published: 25 February 2021 in Energies
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A process for obtaining ethyl levulinate through the direct esterification of levulinic acid and ethanol using AlCl3·6H2O as a catalyst was investigated. AlCl3·6H2O was very active in promoting the reaction and, the correspondent kinetic and thermodynamic data were determined. The reaction followed a homogeneous second-order reversible reaction model: in the temperature range of 318–348 K, Ea was 56.3 kJ·K−1·mol−1, whereas Keq was in the field 2.37–3.31. The activity of AlCl3·6H2O was comparable to that of conventional mineral acids. Besides, AlCl3·6H2O also induced a separation of phases in which ethyl levulinate resulted mainly (>98 wt%) dissolved into the organic upper layer, well separated by most of the co-formed water, which decanted in the bottom. The catalyst resulted wholly dissolved into the aqueous phase (>95 wt%), allowing at the end of a reaction cycle, complete recovery, and possible reuse for several runs. With the increase of the AlCl3·6H2O content (from 1 to 5 mol%), the reaction proceeded fast, and the phases’ separation improved. Such a behavior eventually results in an intensification of processes of reaction and separation of products and catalyst in a single step. The use of AlCl3·6H2O leads to a significant reduction of energy consumed for the final achievement of ethyl levulinate, and a simplification of line-processes can be achieved.

ACS Style

Carlo Pastore; Valeria D’Ambrosio. Intensification of Processes for the Production of Ethyl Levulinate Using AlCl3·6H2O. Energies 2021, 14, 1273 .

AMA Style

Carlo Pastore, Valeria D’Ambrosio. Intensification of Processes for the Production of Ethyl Levulinate Using AlCl3·6H2O. Energies. 2021; 14 (5):1273.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Carlo Pastore; Valeria D’Ambrosio. 2021. "Intensification of Processes for the Production of Ethyl Levulinate Using AlCl3·6H2O." Energies 14, no. 5: 1273.

Journal article
Published: 25 June 2020 in Renewable Energy
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Nanostructured calcium oxides supported onto biochar obtained by pyrolysis of avocado seeds were prepared, characterized and successfully used as catalysts to produce biodiesel from waste oils. The effect of increasing calcium load (5, 10 and 20 wt%) was investigated. Elemental analysis, FTIR, XRD, SEM, BET, acid and basic sites were used to characterize the resulting carbon-based calcium oxides. Supported systems efficiently promoted the transesterification of oil with methanol, but differently from calcium oxide, they were easily recoverable and reusable for three cycles without any loss of activity. Kinetic data were better fitted by a pseudo-second order model with an activation energy of 39.9 kJ mol−1. Thermodynamic parameters of activation energy were also determined for the transesterification reaction (Δ‡ G: 98.68-106.08 kJ mol−1, Δ‡ H: 37.05 kJ mol−1 and Δ‡S: 0.185 kJ mol−1 K). Finally, reaction conditions were optimized using the desirability function applied on the response surface methodology analysis of a Box–Behnken factorial design of experiments. By carrying out the reaction at 99.5 °C for 5 h with 7.3 wt% of catalyst and a molar ratio of methanol to oil of 15.6, a FAME content over 96% was achieved. Even starting from waste cooking oil, final biodiesel was conform to the main EN14214 specifications.

ACS Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Hilda Elizabeth Reynel-Ávila; Didilia Ileana Mendoza-Castillo; Adrián Bonilla-Petriciolet; Carlos J. Durán-Valle; Carlo Pastore. Synthesis and characterization of nanostructured calcium oxides supported onto biochar and their application as catalysts for biodiesel production. Renewable Energy 2020, 160, 52 -66.

AMA Style

Luigi di Bitonto, Hilda Elizabeth Reynel-Ávila, Didilia Ileana Mendoza-Castillo, Adrián Bonilla-Petriciolet, Carlos J. Durán-Valle, Carlo Pastore. Synthesis and characterization of nanostructured calcium oxides supported onto biochar and their application as catalysts for biodiesel production. Renewable Energy. 2020; 160 ():52-66.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Hilda Elizabeth Reynel-Ávila; Didilia Ileana Mendoza-Castillo; Adrián Bonilla-Petriciolet; Carlos J. Durán-Valle; Carlo Pastore. 2020. "Synthesis and characterization of nanostructured calcium oxides supported onto biochar and their application as catalysts for biodiesel production." Renewable Energy 160, no. : 52-66.

Original article
Published: 01 February 2020 in Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
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The conversion of renewable biomasses into biofuels and chemicals represents a strategic way to reduce the use of fossil feedstock, by contributing in switching to a more sustainable society. The use of agro-industrial wastes does not subtract resources destined for food consumption. In addition, waste utilization would result in a reduction of its accumulation, with a consequent decrease of environmental impact and financial losses due to the relevant disposal. In this context, a wide variety of exploitable agricultural resources can be used to support this sustainable growth. However, the characterization represents the first step towards a targeted and proficient exploitation of the chemical and energetic potential of a residual biomass. In this work, some representative residual (Mexican) biomasses were investigated: pepper residues (Hungarian yellow and red variety), coconut shells (Cocos nucifera), flamboyant pods (Delonix regia), seeds of avocado (Persea Americana), palm (Palma de Coroco) and nance (Byrsonima crassifolia) were chemically characterized and the relevant potential applications for the synthesis of biofuels and fine chemicals were specifically evaluated. Lipids, structural carbohydrates, and lignin were specifically valorized in a proficient cascade of technologies, which aim to exploit the correspondent potential, according to the principles of biorefinery and circular economy.

ACS Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Hilda Elizabeth Reynel-Ávila; Didilia Ileana Mendoza Castillo; Adrián Bonilla-Petriciolet; Carlo Pastore. Residual Mexican biomasses for bioenergy and fine chemical production: correlation between composition and specific applications. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery 2020, 11, 619 -631.

AMA Style

Luigi di Bitonto, Hilda Elizabeth Reynel-Ávila, Didilia Ileana Mendoza Castillo, Adrián Bonilla-Petriciolet, Carlo Pastore. Residual Mexican biomasses for bioenergy and fine chemical production: correlation between composition and specific applications. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery. 2020; 11 (2):619-631.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Hilda Elizabeth Reynel-Ávila; Didilia Ileana Mendoza Castillo; Adrián Bonilla-Petriciolet; Carlo Pastore. 2020. "Residual Mexican biomasses for bioenergy and fine chemical production: correlation between composition and specific applications." Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery 11, no. 2: 619-631.

Journal article
Published: 15 January 2020 in Bioresource Technology Reports
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Lipids of sewage scum and primary sludge taken from several wastewater treatment plants were quantified and characterised. In sewage scum, lipids represented 36–50% of total solids and were primarily composed of free fatty acids (45–60%) and calcium soaps (27–35%). In primary sludge, total lipids were 20–24% of total solids, and 71–82% of these were calcium soaps. Estolides and 10-hydroxystearic acid (prevalently present as R enantiomer, with an enantiomeric excess >92%) were also identified and quantified. A scheme of valorisation was then specifically designed and positively tested for both the sludge. Lipids were first recovered (92–99%), activated and finally reacted with methanol and AlCl3∙6H2O (343 K, 2 h, yield >96%). Besides biodiesel, methyl estolides and methyl 10-hydroxystearate were efficiently isolated and purely separated in different fractions. A preliminary feasibility study was finally conducted and a possible integration of processes into a wastewater treatment plant was proposed and positively evaluated.

ACS Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Stefano Todisco; Vito Gallo; Carlo Pastore. Urban sewage scum and primary sludge as profitable sources of biodiesel and biolubricants of new generation. Bioresource Technology Reports 2020, 9, 100382 .

AMA Style

Luigi di Bitonto, Stefano Todisco, Vito Gallo, Carlo Pastore. Urban sewage scum and primary sludge as profitable sources of biodiesel and biolubricants of new generation. Bioresource Technology Reports. 2020; 9 ():100382.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Stefano Todisco; Vito Gallo; Carlo Pastore. 2020. "Urban sewage scum and primary sludge as profitable sources of biodiesel and biolubricants of new generation." Bioresource Technology Reports 9, no. : 100382.

Journal article
Published: 22 November 2019 in Applied Energy
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Ethanolysis carried out under Lewis-Brønsted acid catalysis was investigated as a possible process to valorize the organic fraction of urban sewage sludge, with the aim of selectively obtaining liquid biofuels. In a single reactive step, the conversion of lipids into fatty acid ethyl esters, of carbohydrates into ethyl levulinate, furanic compounds and ethyl glycosides and of proteins into ethyl ester of amino acids was achieved. The optimization of reactive conditions was conducted using pure chemicals as model compounds. The effect of the co-presence of water was also considered. Then, real samples of sewage sludge (as dried and wet centrifuged samples) were reacted in ethanol in the presence of the appropriate combination of homogeneous Lewis-Brønsted acid catalysts, namely 1 %wt aluminium chloride hexahydrate and sulfuric acid respect to ethanol. After 6 h at 453 K, 99% of lipids and almost 60% of initial complex sugars were effectively converted into the abovementioned target products. Conversions and yields were quite similar to those obtained by reacting pure compounds singularly, confirming the robustness of the process and its applicability to differently composed sludge. At the end of the reaction, products were easily recovered and purified from the alcoholic phase, whereas only a very limited amount of solids remain as inert materials. Final refined biofuels have high calorific values (37 and 40 MJ kg−1) and actually represent the 68.5 and 59.2% of the initial energy content of starting sludge, respectively. This strategy combines valorization of the starting organic fraction of sewage sludge and a considerable reduction of final solid waste (in a stabilised form) to be disposed of. Finally, through a preliminary feasibility study, this acid ethanolysis resulted in a competitive alternative to the anaerobic digestion of mixed sewage sludge to obtain biofuels.

ACS Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Vito Locaputo; Valeria D'Ambrosio; Carlo Pastore. Direct Lewis-Brønsted acid ethanolysis of sewage sludge for production of liquid fuels. Applied Energy 2019, 259, 114163 .

AMA Style

Luigi di Bitonto, Vito Locaputo, Valeria D'Ambrosio, Carlo Pastore. Direct Lewis-Brønsted acid ethanolysis of sewage sludge for production of liquid fuels. Applied Energy. 2019; 259 ():114163.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Vito Locaputo; Valeria D'Ambrosio; Carlo Pastore. 2019. "Direct Lewis-Brønsted acid ethanolysis of sewage sludge for production of liquid fuels." Applied Energy 259, no. : 114163.

Journal article
Published: 20 September 2019 in Waste Management
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The recovery of cellulose in toilet paper from municipal wastewater is one of the most innovative actions in the circular economy context. In fact, fibres could address possible new uses in the building sector as reinforcing components in binder-based materials. In this paper, rotating belt filters were tested to enhance the recovery of sludge rich in cellulose fibres for possible valorisation in construction applications. Recovered cellulosic material reached value up to 26.6 gm−3 with maximum solids removal of 74%. Content of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin was found averagely equal to 87% of the total composition. Predictive equation of cellulosic material was further obtained. The addition of recovered cellulose fibres in mortars bring benefits in terms of lightness, microstructure and moisture buffering value (0.17 g/m2%UR). Concerning mechanical properties, flexural strength was improved with the addition of 20% of recovered cellulose fibres. In addition, a simplified economic assessment was reported for two possible pre-mixed blends with 5% and 20% of recovered fibres content.

ACS Style

Silvia Palmieri; Giulia Cipolletta; Carlo Pastore; Chiara Giosuè; Çağrı Akyol; Anna Laura Eusebi; Nicola Frison; Francesca Tittarelli; Francesco Fatone. Pilot scale cellulose recovery from sewage sludge and reuse in building and construction material. Waste Management 2019, 100, 208 -218.

AMA Style

Silvia Palmieri, Giulia Cipolletta, Carlo Pastore, Chiara Giosuè, Çağrı Akyol, Anna Laura Eusebi, Nicola Frison, Francesca Tittarelli, Francesco Fatone. Pilot scale cellulose recovery from sewage sludge and reuse in building and construction material. Waste Management. 2019; 100 ():208-218.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Silvia Palmieri; Giulia Cipolletta; Carlo Pastore; Chiara Giosuè; Çağrı Akyol; Anna Laura Eusebi; Nicola Frison; Francesca Tittarelli; Francesco Fatone. 2019. "Pilot scale cellulose recovery from sewage sludge and reuse in building and construction material." Waste Management 100, no. : 208-218.

Journal article
Published: 21 August 2019 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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A new process for obtaining the ethyl esters of volatile fatty acids with ethanol by using aluminium chloride hexahydrate as a catalyst is proposed. Aluminium chloride not only exhibits good activity, composition equilibrium is achieved within 3–4 h at 343 K, but also induces a phase separation with a convenient distribution of the components. In fact, more than 99 %wt of the ethyl esters, together with most of the unreacted acid and ethanol, were found in the upper layer, which was well separated from the bottom phase, which contained the co-formed water and over 97.8 %wt of the catalyst. The intensification of this reaction and separation was thoroughly investigated and the operational conditions optimised. The effects of this separation on the purification of the final ethyl esters is fully investigated. A new configuration of unit operations is designed for the specific production of ethyl acetate, simulated through Aspen Plus V9® and compared with the current industrial process based on sulfuric acid catalysis. The overall production and purification of ethyl acetate is economically competitive, reduces the energy requirements by more than 50%, and is potentially a zero-waste process, resulting in cleaner production.

ACS Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Sandro Menegatti; Carlo Pastore. Process intensification for the production of the ethyl esters of volatile fatty acids using aluminium chloride hexahydrate as a catalyst. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 239, 118122 .

AMA Style

Luigi di Bitonto, Sandro Menegatti, Carlo Pastore. Process intensification for the production of the ethyl esters of volatile fatty acids using aluminium chloride hexahydrate as a catalyst. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 239 ():118122.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Sandro Menegatti; Carlo Pastore. 2019. "Process intensification for the production of the ethyl esters of volatile fatty acids using aluminium chloride hexahydrate as a catalyst." Journal of Cleaner Production 239, no. : 118122.

Conference paper
Published: 30 July 2019 in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
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ACS Style

G Cipolletta; A L Eusebi; S Palmieri; Chiara Giosuè; F Tittarelli; N Frison; Carlo Pastore; A Foglia; Francesco Fatone. Toilet paper recovery from municipal wastewater and application in building sector. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 2019, 296, 1 .

AMA Style

G Cipolletta, A L Eusebi, S Palmieri, Chiara Giosuè, F Tittarelli, N Frison, Carlo Pastore, A Foglia, Francesco Fatone. Toilet paper recovery from municipal wastewater and application in building sector. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 2019; 296 ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

G Cipolletta; A L Eusebi; S Palmieri; Chiara Giosuè; F Tittarelli; N Frison; Carlo Pastore; A Foglia; Francesco Fatone. 2019. "Toilet paper recovery from municipal wastewater and application in building sector." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 296, no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 22 June 2019 in Applied Energy
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Posidonia oceanica is the most abundant aquatic plant of the Mediterranean Sea where it plays great ecological importance. The accumulation of residues along the shore, however, creates a littering hardship for the territory due to their bad rotting smell and introduces an obstacle to the enjoyment of the beaches and tourist swimming. Posidonia oceanica residues may be valorized producing bioenergy by anaerobic digestion. Due to its high lignin content, however, a pretreatment step is required for enhance energy recovery. In the present study the effects of acid addition in the thermal hydrolysis step were evaluated in terms of energy balance, biogas production and solids reduction. The results obtained have shown that when thermal pretreatment was enhanced by adding hydrochloric acid (0.4% w/w), an improvement in methane production of 575% was obtained compared to thermal pretreatment only with specific biogas production as high as 0.241 ± 0.065 Nm3 per kgVS of wet Posidonia or 0.138 ± 0.056 Nm3 CH4/kgVS. This result was ascribed to the defibration of lignocellulosic components operated by acidic thermal pretreatment which allowed the removal of 74%, 70% and 24% of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, respectively, during anaerobic digestion. The energy analysis carried out for treatment plants with capacity of 10 and 50 m3/d has shown that acid addition in the thermal hydrolysis step allows the energy balance to turn from extremely negative (energy demand is 8 to 10 times greater than the one produced) to positive values, with process energy efficiencies ranging from 22 to 35% with regards to the size of the plant.

ACS Style

M. De Sanctis; S. Chimienti; Carlo Pastore; V. Piergrossi; C. Di Iaconi. Energy efficiency improvement of thermal hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion of Posidonia oceanica residues. Applied Energy 2019, 252, 113457 .

AMA Style

M. De Sanctis, S. Chimienti, Carlo Pastore, V. Piergrossi, C. Di Iaconi. Energy efficiency improvement of thermal hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion of Posidonia oceanica residues. Applied Energy. 2019; 252 ():113457.

Chicago/Turabian Style

M. De Sanctis; S. Chimienti; Carlo Pastore; V. Piergrossi; C. Di Iaconi. 2019. "Energy efficiency improvement of thermal hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion of Posidonia oceanica residues." Applied Energy 252, no. : 113457.

Journal article
Published: 25 May 2019 in Renewable Energy
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A very efficient chemical pre-treatment method that uses cheap and safe hydrated-salts as catalysts for the conversion of waste cooking oils and animal fats having a high Free Fatty Acids (FFAs) content into an oily feedstock convertible into biodiesel through a conventional route (basic catalysis) was investigated. These hydrated-salts allow FFAs to be efficiently (>99%) esterified with alcohols under very mild conditions (343 K, 2 h). At the end of this treatment, a very convenient separation of products was verified. Two different phases were eventually obtained: an upper alcoholic phase, which contains most of the unreacted alcohol, water obtained by direct-esterification (>95%), and the salt that was used as catalyst (recovery >99%); and a lower oily-phase mainly composed of glycerides, methyl-esters derived from direct-esterification of FFAs (residual acidity of about 0.8 mg KOH/g), and part of unreacted alcohol (7–10%wt). Such a separation was convenient because the oily-phase could be directly trans-esterified through conventional base-catalysis, without any further pre-treatments, thus avoiding production of salty-waste. Also, the alcoholic phase could be recovered and directly re-used for new pre-treatments cycles of fresh waste-oils. A final scheme of the proposed process was discussed and the relevant advantages with respect to conventional routes were highlighted.

ACS Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Carlo Pastore. Metal hydrated-salts as efficient and reusable catalysts for pre-treating waste cooking oils and animal fats for an effective production of biodiesel. Renewable Energy 2019, 143, 1193 -1200.

AMA Style

Luigi di Bitonto, Carlo Pastore. Metal hydrated-salts as efficient and reusable catalysts for pre-treating waste cooking oils and animal fats for an effective production of biodiesel. Renewable Energy. 2019; 143 ():1193-1200.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Carlo Pastore. 2019. "Metal hydrated-salts as efficient and reusable catalysts for pre-treating waste cooking oils and animal fats for an effective production of biodiesel." Renewable Energy 143, no. : 1193-1200.

Journal article
Published: 22 March 2019 in Applied Energy
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The valorization of typical household food waste (HFW) produced at municipality level was studied for the production of electricity in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) from its extract, and methane, through anaerobic digestion of the solid extraction residue. HFW, after heat drying and shredding, was subjected to extraction using warm water, which resulted in a liquid fraction (extract) and a solid residue. The rich in soluble chemical oxygen demand extract was used for electricity production in a four air– cathodes single chamber MFC, operating under different organic loading rates, while the solid residue from the extraction process was used as substrate for methane production in biochemical methane potential experiments. On the basis of the energy outputs estimated for the optimum operational conditions of both aforementioned processes, it can be concluded that the exploitation of dried HFW is quite appealing as it leads to promising energy recovery.

ACS Style

G. Antonopoulou; I. Ntaikou; Carlo Pastore; L. di Bitonto; S. Bebelis; G. Lyberatos. An overall perspective for the energetic valorization of household food waste using microbial fuel cell technology of its extract, coupled with anaerobic digestion of the solid residue. Applied Energy 2019, 242, 1064 -1073.

AMA Style

G. Antonopoulou, I. Ntaikou, Carlo Pastore, L. di Bitonto, S. Bebelis, G. Lyberatos. An overall perspective for the energetic valorization of household food waste using microbial fuel cell technology of its extract, coupled with anaerobic digestion of the solid residue. Applied Energy. 2019; 242 ():1064-1073.

Chicago/Turabian Style

G. Antonopoulou; I. Ntaikou; Carlo Pastore; L. di Bitonto; S. Bebelis; G. Lyberatos. 2019. "An overall perspective for the energetic valorization of household food waste using microbial fuel cell technology of its extract, coupled with anaerobic digestion of the solid residue." Applied Energy 242, no. : 1064-1073.

Journal article
Published: 02 February 2019 in Journal of Environmental Management
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A comprehensive sustainable Food Waste (FW) management is globally needed in order to reduce the environmental pollution and the financial costs due to FW disposal; anaerobic digestion is considered as one of the best environmental-friendly alternatives to this aim. A deep investigation of the chemical composition of different Food waste types (cooked kitchen waste (CKW), fruit and vegetable scraps (FVS) and organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW)) is here reported, in order to evaluate their relevant substance-specific properties and their impact on anaerobic biodegradability by means of a sophisticated automatic batch test system. Suitability for a mild thermal pre-treatment (T = 134 °C and p = 3.2 bar) to enhance the biological degradation of hardly accessible compounds was investigated. The pre-treatment affected significantly the carbohydrates solubilisation, and was able in reducing part of the lignocellulosic matrix. Moreover, in mesophilic conditions, the high solubilized sugars content favoured the initial recovery of hydrogen (not consumed by hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis), allowing to newly assess the extent of prompt fermentability. Pre-treatment enhanced hydrogen yields of FVS and OFMSW, with gains up to +50%, while the successive methane production, occurring in the same reactor, resulted affected by the lack of the soluble part of carbohydrates, “subtracted” for H2 production. Only in thermophilic conditions, when no hydrogen in the biogas was detected, pre-treatment of OFMSW significantly increased methane yield (from 0.343 to 0.389 L CH4 g−1 VSfed). A thermal pre-treatment seems the recommended solution in order to reduce part of the recalcitrant lignocellulosic matrix of food waste, to improve energy recovery and to eliminate the extra cost needed for pasteurization.

ACS Style

Pamela Pagliaccia; Agata Gallipoli; Andrea Gianico; Fausto Gironi; Daniele Montecchio; Carlo Pastore; Luigi di Bitonto; Camilla M. Braguglia. Variability of food waste chemical composition: Impact of thermal pre-treatment on lignocellulosic matrix and anaerobic biodegradability. Journal of Environmental Management 2019, 236, 100 -107.

AMA Style

Pamela Pagliaccia, Agata Gallipoli, Andrea Gianico, Fausto Gironi, Daniele Montecchio, Carlo Pastore, Luigi di Bitonto, Camilla M. Braguglia. Variability of food waste chemical composition: Impact of thermal pre-treatment on lignocellulosic matrix and anaerobic biodegradability. Journal of Environmental Management. 2019; 236 ():100-107.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Pamela Pagliaccia; Agata Gallipoli; Andrea Gianico; Fausto Gironi; Daniele Montecchio; Carlo Pastore; Luigi di Bitonto; Camilla M. Braguglia. 2019. "Variability of food waste chemical composition: Impact of thermal pre-treatment on lignocellulosic matrix and anaerobic biodegradability." Journal of Environmental Management 236, no. : 100-107.

Journal article
Published: 10 January 2019 in Catalysts
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A new protocol for biodiesel production is proposed, based on a binary ZnO/TBAI (TBAI = tetrabutylammonium iodide) catalytic system. Zinc oxide acts as a heterogeneous, bifunctional Lewis acid/base catalyst, while TBAI plays the role of phase transfer agent. Being composed by the bulk form powders, the whole catalyst system proved to be easy to use, without requiring nano-structuration or tedious and costly preparation or pre-activation procedures. In addition, due to the amphoteric properties of ZnO, the catalyst can simultaneously promote transesterification and esterification processes, thus becoming applicable to common vegetable oils (e.g., soybean, jatropha, linseed, etc.) and animal fats (lard and fish oil), but also to waste lipids such as cooking oils (WCOs), highly acidic lipids from oil industry processing, and lipid fractions of municipal sewage sludge. Reusability of the catalyst system together with kinetic (Ea) and thermodynamic parameters of activation (ΔG‡ and ΔH‡) are also studied for transesterification reaction.

ACS Style

Michele Casiello; Lucia Catucci; Francesco Fracassi; Caterina Fusco; Amelita G. Laurenza; Luigi Di Bitonto; Carlo Pastore; Lucia D’Accolti; Angelo Nacci. ZnO/Ionic Liquid Catalyzed Biodiesel Production from Renewable and Waste Lipids as Feedstocks. Catalysts 2019, 9, 71 .

AMA Style

Michele Casiello, Lucia Catucci, Francesco Fracassi, Caterina Fusco, Amelita G. Laurenza, Luigi Di Bitonto, Carlo Pastore, Lucia D’Accolti, Angelo Nacci. ZnO/Ionic Liquid Catalyzed Biodiesel Production from Renewable and Waste Lipids as Feedstocks. Catalysts. 2019; 9 (1):71.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Michele Casiello; Lucia Catucci; Francesco Fracassi; Caterina Fusco; Amelita G. Laurenza; Luigi Di Bitonto; Carlo Pastore; Lucia D’Accolti; Angelo Nacci. 2019. "ZnO/Ionic Liquid Catalyzed Biodiesel Production from Renewable and Waste Lipids as Feedstocks." Catalysts 9, no. 1: 71.

Journal article
Published: 01 October 2018 in Bioresource Technology
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A combined Lewis-Brønsted acid ethanolysis of sugars was thoroughly investigated with the aim of producing ethyl levulinate (EL) in a single step. Ethanolysis carried out at 453 K for 4 h using H2SO4 (1 wt %) and AlCl3∙6H2O (30 mol % with respect to sugars) produced a yield of 60 mol % of EL respect to glucose and starch. Such optimised conditions were positively applied directly on different food waste, preliminarly characterised and found to be mainly composed by simple (10-15%) and relatively complex sugars (20-60%), besides proteins (6-10%) and lipids (4-10%), even in their wet form. The catalytic system resulted robust enough to the point that the copresence of proteins, lignin, lipids and mineral salts not only did not negatively affect the overall reactivity, but resulted efficiently converted into soluble species, and specifically, into other liquid biofuels of different nature.

ACS Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Georgia Antonopoulou; Camilla Braguglia; Claudia Campanale; Agata Gallipoli; Gerasimos Lyberatos; Ioanna Ntaikou; Carlo Pastore. Lewis-Brønsted acid catalysed ethanolysis of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste for efficient production of biofuels. Bioresource Technology 2018, 266, 297 -305.

AMA Style

Luigi di Bitonto, Georgia Antonopoulou, Camilla Braguglia, Claudia Campanale, Agata Gallipoli, Gerasimos Lyberatos, Ioanna Ntaikou, Carlo Pastore. Lewis-Brønsted acid catalysed ethanolysis of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste for efficient production of biofuels. Bioresource Technology. 2018; 266 ():297-305.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Georgia Antonopoulou; Camilla Braguglia; Claudia Campanale; Agata Gallipoli; Gerasimos Lyberatos; Ioanna Ntaikou; Carlo Pastore. 2018. "Lewis-Brønsted acid catalysed ethanolysis of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste for efficient production of biofuels." Bioresource Technology 266, no. : 297-305.

Journal article
Published: 24 April 2018 in Science of The Total Environment
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Three different chemical oxidation processes were investigated in terms of their capability to degrade organic chemical components of real mature landfill-leachate in combination with biological treatment run in a Sequencing Batch Biofilter Granular Reactor (SBBGR). H2O2, H2O2 + UV and O3 were integrated with SBBGR and respective effluents were analyzed and compared with the effluent obtained from biological SBBGR treatment alone. In agreement with their respective oxidative power, conventional bulk parameters (residual COD, TOC, Ntot, TSS) determined from the resulting effluents evidenced the following efficacy ranking for degradation: SBBGR/O3 > SBBGR/UV + H2O2 > SBBGR/H2O2 > SBBGR. A more detailed characterization of the organic compounds was subsequently carried out for the four treated streams. For this, effluents were first subjected to a sample preparation step, allowing for a classification in terms of acidic, basic, strongly acidic and strongly basic compounds, and finally to analysis by liquid chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (LC/HR-MS). This classification, combined with further data post-processing (non-target screening, Venn Diagram, tri-dimensional plot and Principal Component Analysis), evidenced that the SBBGR/H2O2 process is comparable to the pure biological oxidation. In contrast, SBBGR/O3 and SBBGR/UV + H2O2 not only resulted in a very different residual composition as compared to SBBGR and SBBGR/H2O2, but also differ significantly from each other. In fact, and despite of the SBBGR/O3 being the most efficient process, this treatment remained chemically more similar to SBBGR/H2O2 than to SBBGR/UV + H2O2. This finding may be attributable to different mechanism of degradation involved with the use of UV radiation. Apart from these treatment differences, a series of recalcitrant compounds was determined in all of the four treatments and partly identified as hetero-poly-aromatic species (humic acids-like species).

ACS Style

Carlo Pastore; Emanuele Barca; G. Del Moro; Claudio DI Iaconi; M. Loos; Heinz Singer; G. Mascolo. Comparison of different types of landfill leachate treatments by employment of nontarget screening to identify residual refractory organics and principal component analysis. Science of The Total Environment 2018, 635, 984 -994.

AMA Style

Carlo Pastore, Emanuele Barca, G. Del Moro, Claudio DI Iaconi, M. Loos, Heinz Singer, G. Mascolo. Comparison of different types of landfill leachate treatments by employment of nontarget screening to identify residual refractory organics and principal component analysis. Science of The Total Environment. 2018; 635 ():984-994.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Carlo Pastore; Emanuele Barca; G. Del Moro; Claudio DI Iaconi; M. Loos; Heinz Singer; G. Mascolo. 2018. "Comparison of different types of landfill leachate treatments by employment of nontarget screening to identify residual refractory organics and principal component analysis." Science of The Total Environment 635, no. : 984-994.

Journal article
Published: 02 April 2018 in Journal of Environmental Management
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This study proposes the evaluation of the suitability of mesophilic anaerobic digestion as a simple technology for the treatment of the citrus waste produced by small-medium agro-industrial enterprises involved in the transformation of Citrus fruits. Two different stocks of citrus peel waste were used (i.e., fresh and stored citrus peel waste), to evaluate the influence of waste composition (variability in the type of processed Citrus fruits) and of storage (potentially necessary to operate the anaerobic digester continuously over the whole year due to the seasonality of the production) on anaerobic degradation treatability. A thorough characterization of the two waste types has been performed, showing that the fresh one has a higher solid and organic content, and that, in spite of the similar values of oil fraction amounts, the two stocks are significantly different in the composition of essential oils (43% of limonene and 34% of linalyl acetate in the fresh citrus waste and 20% of limonene and 74% of linalyl acetate in the stored citrus waste). Contrarily to what observed in previous studies, anaerobic digestion was successful and no reactor acidification occurred. No inhibition by limonene and linalyl acetate even at the maximum applied organic load value (i.e., 2.72 gCODwaste/gVSinoculum) was observed in the treatment of the stored waste, with limonene and linalyl acetate concentrations of 104 mg/l and 385 mg/l, respectively. On the contrary, some inhibition was detected with fresh citrus peel waste when the organic load increased from 2.21 to 2.88 gCODwaste/gVSinoculum, ascribable to limonene at initial concentration higher than 150 mg/l. A good conversion into methane was observed with fresh peel waste, up to 0.33 lCH4/gCODremoved at the highest organic load, very close to the maximum theoretical value of 0.35 lCH4/gCODremoved, while a lower efficiency was achieved with stored peel waste, with a reduction down to 0.24 lCH4/gCODremoved at the highest organic load.

ACS Style

Adriana Maria Lotito; Marco De Sanctis; Carlo Pastore; Claudio Di Iaconi. Biomethanization of citrus waste: Effect of waste characteristics and of storage on treatability and evaluation of limonene degradation. Journal of Environmental Management 2018, 215, 366 -376.

AMA Style

Adriana Maria Lotito, Marco De Sanctis, Carlo Pastore, Claudio Di Iaconi. Biomethanization of citrus waste: Effect of waste characteristics and of storage on treatability and evaluation of limonene degradation. Journal of Environmental Management. 2018; 215 ():366-376.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Adriana Maria Lotito; Marco De Sanctis; Carlo Pastore; Claudio Di Iaconi. 2018. "Biomethanization of citrus waste: Effect of waste characteristics and of storage on treatability and evaluation of limonene degradation." Journal of Environmental Management 215, no. : 366-376.

Journal article
Published: 20 October 2016 in Journal of Hazardous Materials
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Amorphous titanium hydroxide and boron-doped (B-doped) sodium titanates hydrates were synthetized and used as adsorbents for the removal of Pb2+ from water. The use of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) and titanium(IV) isopropoxide (TTIP) as precursors permits a very easy synthesis of B-doped adsorbents at 298 K. The new adsorbent materials were first chemically characterized (XRD, XPS, SEM, DRIFT and elemental analysis) and then tested in Pb2+ adsorption batch experiments, in order to define kinetics and equilibrium studies. The nature of interaction between such sorbent materials and Pb2+ was also well defined: besides a pure adsorption due to hydroxyl interaction functionalities, there is also an ionic exchange between Pb2+ and sodium ions even working at pH 4.4. Langmuir model presented the best fitting with a maximum adsorption capacity up to 385 mg/g. The effect of solution pH and common ions (i.e. Na+, Ca2+ and Mg2+) onto Pb2+ sorption were also investigated. Finally, recovery was positively conducted using EDTA. Very efficient adsorption (>99.9%) was verified even using tap water spiked with traces of Pb2+ (50 ppb).

ACS Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Angela Volpe; Michele Pagano; Giuseppe Bagnuolo; Giuseppe Mascolo; Valeria La Parola; Paola Di Leo; Carlo Pastore. Amorphous boron-doped sodium titanates hydrates: Efficient and reusable adsorbents for the removal of Pb2+ from water. Journal of Hazardous Materials 2016, 324, 168 -177.

AMA Style

Luigi di Bitonto, Angela Volpe, Michele Pagano, Giuseppe Bagnuolo, Giuseppe Mascolo, Valeria La Parola, Paola Di Leo, Carlo Pastore. Amorphous boron-doped sodium titanates hydrates: Efficient and reusable adsorbents for the removal of Pb2+ from water. Journal of Hazardous Materials. 2016; 324 ():168-177.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luigi di Bitonto; Angela Volpe; Michele Pagano; Giuseppe Bagnuolo; Giuseppe Mascolo; Valeria La Parola; Paola Di Leo; Carlo Pastore. 2016. "Amorphous boron-doped sodium titanates hydrates: Efficient and reusable adsorbents for the removal of Pb2+ from water." Journal of Hazardous Materials 324, no. : 168-177.