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© IDRIC 2022 | Website: Tangent & Duncan Weddell & Co
Principal Investigator
Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), University of South Wales
Team:
University of South Wales:
Dr R.J. Jones
Dr J. Massanet-Nicolau
University of Bath:
Prof M. McManus
Dr L.J. McDonald
Dr A.S.S. Pinto
There is a large market for VFAs valued at over €1.5 billion growing at 15% p.a. The Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC) at The University of South Wales (USW) has developed several microbial conversion technologies which convert waste carbon in gas streams and biomass to VFA. SERC has demonstrated the feasibility of these processes, but challenges remain concerning intensification and scaleup to accommodate large carbon emissions from industries within SWIC; for example, Tata Steel produces 146,878 m3/h of CO and CO2 at its South Wales site alone. Alongside technical challenges, resistance to change must be addressed by showing how these processes can be incorporated into industries that typically have long development and investment cycles. This will involve producing detailed lifecycle analyses (LCA), and technoeconomic assessments (TEA) of the processes being developed.