Chemical Engineering April 2023 - 8

meat alternative, called Millow.
Millow is a mixture of mycelium
(fungus) and oats, and is also
the name of the company planning
to launch first products on
the Nordic market next year.
The fungus grows on material
such as grain or vegetables,
but also on various residual
material, and forms a fungal
biomass. From that biomass
the researchers can then make
new products, in this case a
healthy and planet-friendly alternative
to meat. The product
is said to have an advanced
texture without any food binders,
thanks to the natural properties
of the mushrooms.
For more on alternative proteins,
see pp. 12-16.
REDUCING CO2
The Lapwing Estate Ltd.
(Doncaster, U.K.; www. www.
thelapwingestate.co.uk) has
commissioned Bilfinger SE
(Mannheim, Germany; www.
bilfinger.com) to build a pilot
plant for its " reverse-coal approach "
(www.reversecoal.
co.uk)
to reduce CO2 in the
atmosphere. Bilfinger will be
responsible for the technical
planning, procurement and installation
of the plant. Completion
of the high-temperature
pyrolysis plant in the English
county of Nottinghamshire is
planned for late 2023.
The pilot plant is part of the " reverse
coal process " developed
by The Lapwing Estate. The
aim of this process is to convert
CO2 emissions back into
solid carbon, while producing
food with measurable positive
environmental and social impact.
To do this, peatlands are
first rewetted and planted with
willow coppice, allowing the
peat to slowly rebuild, abating
CO2 emissions from the land,
and capturing atmospheric
CO2 through photosynthesis.
Biomass is then rotationally
harvested, chipped and fed
into a high-temperature pyrolysis
plant, which produces
renewable heat, electricity and
biochar. When the biochar is
buried underground (reverse
coal), the raised land remains
productive, and the heat and
electricity are supplied to controlled
environment (indoor)
agriculture (CEA), which replaces
land transferred to
(Continues on p. 9)
8
Patented technology captures
real-time 'hyperspectral' images
he Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
(UC3M; Spain; www.uc3m.
es) has patented a new system for
capturing hyperspectral images
- those capable of collecting information
across a broad frequency range of the
electromagnetic spectrum (near-infrared,
mid-infrared and terahertz). The system
can operate in real time and provides a
higher resolution than any other existing
technology, according to UC3M. The development
could mean a breakthrough
for chemical analysis in scientific and industrial
applications.
Developed and patented by UC3M's
Sensors and Instrumentation Techniques
group, this system is made up of a light
source that transforms a normal camera
into what is known as a hyperspectral
camera, which can measure the absorption
spectra of a sample and not only
identify the components, but also determine
concentrations, temperature and
pressure. To do this, an advanced analytical
technique, known as dual-comb
spectroscopy, is used.
Dual-comb systems work by interfering
light from two optical sources, called optical
frequency combs. This mixing process
generates an interferogram at a speed
T
UC3M
that, until very recently, was too fast to be
captured even by very high-speed cameras.
The patented system is based on a
dual-comb electro-optical source made
with
fiber-optic components. The main
part is a dual-comb illuminator capable
of generating two frequency combs that
interfere at much lower frequencies than
can be obtained with other systems. The
speed of a measurement is less than a
second, compared to several minutes required
for existing systems, making realtime
monitoring possible.
To date, the system has been tested for
the detection and analysis of gases, as well
as for studying the characteristics of different
foods and materials, such as plastic,
and for drying wood. The researchers are
now starting to develop a system for monitoring
combustion processes.
Decarbonizing cement production using
solar-thermal energy
ast month, the U.S. Dept. of Energy
(DOE; Washington, D.C.; www.energy.gov)
awarded $3.2 million in
funding for the Solar MEAD project,
which aims to decarbonize cement production.
This joint project is headed by Cemex,
S.A.B. de C.V. (Cemex; Monterrey, Mexico;
www.cemex.com), Sandia National Laboratories
(Albuquerque, N.M.; www.sandia.
gov) and Synhelion SA (Lugano, Switzerland;
www.synhelion.com).
Solar MEAD aims to replace the use of
L
fossil fuels with concentrated solar thermal
(CST) energy for the production of
clinker - a solid material used for making
Portland cement. Cemex and Synhelion
have been collaborating to introduce
CST in the cement production process,
achieving the first successful laboratoryscale
demonstrative pilot in 2022 by
producing the first-ever solar clinker (for
more details and a flowsheet of the process,
see Chem. Eng., March 2022, p.
6). Sandia Laboratories will contribute
unique research facilities as part of the
National Solar Thermal Test Facility, and
subject matter expertise to help accelerate
the adaptation of the technology to
cement manufacturing.
Synhelion's breakthrough technology
delivers high-temperature process heat
beyond 1,500°C, which can generate sufficient
heat to produce clinker without using
fossil fuels. In conventional kilns, fossil fuels
are typically used for heating and account
for approximately 40% of direct CO2 emissions
of the process.
" Few renewable technologies are capable
of generating heat at the temperatures
needed to process raw cement feedstock, "
says Nathan Schroeder, Sandia
researcher and principal investigator for
the Solar MEAD project. " This project will
advance our understanding of how to use
concentrating solar technology to gather
and deliver the heat to existing cement
production facilities and will have crosscutting
relevance to other ore processing
industries, such as refractory, ceramics
and battery production. "
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
APRIL 2023
http://www.uc3m.es http://www.uc3m.es http://thelapwingestate.co.uk http://www.bilfinger.com http://www.reversecoal.co.uk http://www.reversecoal.co.uk http://www.energy.gov http://www.energy.gov http://www.cemex.com http://www.sandia.gov http://www.sandia.gov http://www.synhelion.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering April 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering April 2023
