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Applied Sciences
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Sustainable Energy and Fuels from Biomass and Plastic Waste
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Sustainable Energy and Fuels from Biomass and Plastic Waste

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 March 2025) | Viewed by 6068

Special Issue Editors

Dr. María Ángeles Martín-Lara

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: biomass gasification, pyrolysis and torrefaction; adsorption of contaminants (mainly heavy metals) by porous solids; advances in mineral processing and management of mining waste; plastic waste management; life cycle assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Rafael Rodríguez Solís

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Granada, 18010 Granada, Spain
Interests: ozone; advanced oxidation processes (AOPs); photocatalysis; photocatalytic ozonation; sulfate radical; heterogeneous catalysis; metal organic frameworks (MOFs); graphene-base materials; environmental applications; water treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Energy demand has been rising remarkably due to increasing population and urbanization. The global economy and society are significantly dependent on energy availability because it is involved in almost every facet of human life and activity. Natural resources for energy are being depleted while continuing to be a source of pollution that threatens vegetation and human and animal health. Therefore, appropriate waste-to-value-added product technologies offer benefits of avoiding fossil fuels for energy generation, utilization, and development of industrial products. Since energy growth is linked to the comfort of man, reliable and affordable energy is very important for the sustainable existence of humans on planet Earth.

In the area of the valorization of biomass and plastic waste into value-added products, comprehensive and dependable information on characterization, pretreatment/fractionation, and valorization is essential. This Special Issue will provide information on these areas/aspects, thereby bridging the gap in the knowledge in these areas in the field, and providing an overview of alternatives to the traditional sources of fuels and chemical production.

Dr. María Ángeles Martín-Lara
Dr. Rafael Rodríguez Solís
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plastic waste
  • pyrolysis
  • gasification
  • hydrothermal treatment
  • biomass
  • fuels
  • conversion technologies

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 4095 KiB  
Article
Density and Viscosity in Biodiesel + Diesel Mixtures from Recycled Feedstocks
by Gabriela Sánchez-Rodríguez, José Domenzaín-González, Francisco Javier Verónico-Sánchez, Hugo Isidro Pérez-López, Abel Zúñiga-Moreno and Octavio Elizalde-Solis
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(7), 3812; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15073812 - 31 Mar 2025
Viewed by 337
Abstract
The objective of this work was to study the volumetric and transport properties of mixtures made up of biodiesel and diesel, in order to meet the desirable properties of these formulations for their practical applications. The volumetric and transport properties were analyzed for [...] Read more.
The objective of this work was to study the volumetric and transport properties of mixtures made up of biodiesel and diesel, in order to meet the desirable properties of these formulations for their practical applications. The volumetric and transport properties were analyzed for two pseudobinary mixtures constituted of diesel + beef tallow butyl ester biodiesel and diesel + waste cooking oil methyl ester biodiesel in the whole range of composition at 0.078 MPa. The study of butyl ester biodiesel was motivated by the scarcity of these properties’ data for butyl esters and the improvement of some of its physicochemical properties. The biofuels were previously transesterified from waste materials and alcohols, beef tallow with 1-butanol and cooking oil with methanol. Density measurements were performed in a vibrating tube densimeter from 293.15 to 363.15 K; the kinematic viscosity experiments were carried out in Cannon-Fenske viscometers from 293.15 to 343.15 K. The derived thermophysical properties evaluated were the excess molar volume, the partial molar volume, the thermal expansion coefficient, the dynamic viscosity and the viscosity deviation. The excess molar volumes presented positive and negative values. The Redlich–Kister correlation and the theoretical ERAS (Extended Real Association Solution) model were applied for modelling the excess molar volume. Both approaches resulted in good agreement. For viscosity, the McAllister model was implemented and yielded lower deviations for the butyl ester biodiesel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy and Fuels from Biomass and Plastic Waste)
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16 pages, 2039 KiB  
Article
Thermochemical and Kinetic Analysis of Combustion of Plastic Wastes and Their Blends with Lignite
by Agapi Vasileiadou and Costas Tsioptsias
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(14), 8141; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13148141 - 13 Jul 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1806
Abstract
The management of plastic waste is considered to be among the major environmental problems that must be urgently addressed. For various reasons, recycling of plastic waste is not always feasible. In this study, a comprehensive evaluation of a mixture of plastic wastes (of [...] Read more.
The management of plastic waste is considered to be among the major environmental problems that must be urgently addressed. For various reasons, recycling of plastic waste is not always feasible. In this study, a comprehensive evaluation of a mixture of plastic wastes (of the municipal solid wastes, MSW) as potential fuel is performed. Precisely, the combustion of plastic waste and the co-combustion of plastic waste-lignite blends are studied. Thermochemical characteristics, chemical composition, and kinetic parameters are measured/estimated. The environmental impact of these samples is also evaluated in terms of CO2 maximum potential emissions and ash production. In addition, the ash quality and its risk for slagging problems are explored. The random mixture of plastic waste revealed extremely high energy content (34 MJ/kg), which is higher than some well-established liquid fuels, e.g., ethanol and lower ash content (~5 wt.%), with lower activation energy and a higher maximum rate of mass loss (~9%/min) than lignite. Besides the much lower amount of produced ash, plastic waste, despite its higher carbon content, exhibits lower CO2 maximum potential emissions (~75 g CO2/MJ). The composition of the ash produced by plastic waste and lignite is different quantitatively but qualitatively is of the same type (similar medium risk ash). The superior characteristics of plastic waste are also evident in the blends. Provided that toxic emissions are captured, the utilization of plastic waste through combustion seems to be an attractive approach for simultaneous waste management and energy production, especially for plastic waste of limited recycling potential. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy and Fuels from Biomass and Plastic Waste)
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Review

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29 pages, 4653 KiB  
Review
Management of Used COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment: A Bibliometric Analysis and Literature Review
by Juan Jesús de la Torre Bayo, María Ángeles Martín-Lara, Mónica Calero Hoces, Pedro Miguel Sánchez Castillo, Héctor J. Pula and Montserrat Zamorano
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 2377; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042377 - 13 Feb 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3042
Abstract
Using a science mapping approach, we analyzed the exponential increase in the number of scientific documents about the negative environmental impacts produced by waste from personal protective equipment (PPE), especially face masks, used to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission worldwide. Our results revealed that India, [...] Read more.
Using a science mapping approach, we analyzed the exponential increase in the number of scientific documents about the negative environmental impacts produced by waste from personal protective equipment (PPE), especially face masks, used to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission worldwide. Our results revealed that India, China, and Canada are leaders in this research field, which is clearly related to environmental issues, but also the solutions developed from an engineering point of view. Our analysis of the most-relevant documents in the field uncovered the considerable negative effects of PPE waste in aquatic media, its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, effects on wildlife, etc. To reduce the negative environmental impacts of PPE waste, we need to implement innovative ecodesign strategies for their green production, including their re-use as and the use of recycling materials, but also a collaboration with the population to reduce PPE waste at its source. Both action lines could be materialized by establishing a collective, extended producer responsibility system for PPE to ensure their sustainable production and consumption. These well-implemented strategies will contribute to maintaining progress towards achieving sustainable development goals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy and Fuels from Biomass and Plastic Waste)
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