UC3M project among 12 grantees of the MIT-Spain “la Caixa” Foundation Seed Fund
Aimed at collaborative, cutting-edge research
4/24/20
A Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) scientific project has been selected as one of 12 grantees in the third edition of the MIT-Spain “la Caixa” Foundation Seed Fund call for proposals, an initiative whose objective is to foster knowledge and cutting-edge research to take on the major challenges of the 21st century.
The UC3M project chosen focuses on improving the quality of biomass fuel and is led by professor Antonio Soria, from the UC3M Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering, and by Ahmed F. Ghoniem, from MIT.
Biomass encompasses, in general, residues and waste from agriculture, forestry, livestock and industry that have energy generating potential, as well as the organic matter in water treatment sewage sludge and municipal solid waste. The project’s proposal is to carry out the biomass torrefaction process in a low oxygen-content atmosphere, using air instead of nitrogen, reducing the cost and partially burning the gasses released during torrefaction in order to get the energy necessary to reach the desired temperature and to significantly reduce the air’s oxygen content.
The main objective is to enable the technology to be used at the local level, which will allow the biomass torrefaction process to be undertaken in areas close to those of production, with subsequent savings in transport.
At the same time, locating the combustion process closer to where the biomass is produced would allow farmers and livestock owners to transform their residuals and waste into quality fuel, and thus help to boost the economy for these sectors.
The MIT-Spain“la Caixa” Foundation Seed Fund program was established with the objective of fostering partnerships between research groups of excellence in Spain and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Collaboration with MIT is highly valued as it is one of the top research institutes worldwide.
For the third edition of the program’s call for proposals, which opened in 2019, a total of 25 projects from 23 public institutions were presented. After evaluation by a committee of experts, 12 of these projects were selected in the fields of health, global economy and energy. The call is endowed with a total amount of over 300,000 euros to cover travel expenses and stays in Spain and in Boston for starting up the research projects.
This initiative is aimed at research that represents an important contribution to the corresponding area of study, demonstrates complementarity between the MIT team and the Spanish institution, involves significant participation by undergraduate and graduate students, and is likely to be sustainable beyond the funding period.
