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The Energy and Environment Laboratory (LEA) includes, among its main objectives, the commitment to be a valid tool for daily teaching, research and consultancy activities towards third parties (public and private entities) in the field of problems/opportunities inherent to territorial energy planning, rationalization of consumption and energy efficiency in the various energy production and management systems. In this field, particular attention has been paid in recent years, through various national/international collaborations and funded research projects, to new thermochemical and biochemical technologies for the conversion of residual biomass for the production of bio-fuels and advanced carbon materials. For its purposes, the LEA Laboratory uses modern technologies and measurement instruments, capable of ensuring the implementation of experimental and environmental monitoring activities, as well as energy analyses on biomass and biofuel samples. The LEA equipment for the energy valorization of residual biomass, together with other available analytical-instrumental equipment, includes a fixed-bed horizontal torrefaction and pyrolysis reactor, borrowed from the British standard for the determination of the quality of coals (Gray King apparatus); a laboratory-scale stainless steel down-draft (drop-tube) gasification reactor; a 500 ml hydrothermal carbonization reactor (HTC, wet pyrolysis), stirred and cooled, capable of treating wet biomass at temperatures and pressures of up to 300 °C and 150 bar respectively; an unstirred HTC reactor with a volume of 50 ml and three hydrothermal liquefaction reactors (HTL) with a volume of 25 ml each, with operating temperatures and pressures of up to 350 °C and 180 bar. The LEA Laboratory is located within the “KORE Platform” of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Enna “Kore”. Currently, the team research unit at the LEA collaborates with several national (within a Project of Relevant National Interest – PRIN) and international (Imperial College of London (UK), Queen Mary University of London (UK), Cornell University of Ithaca (NY), USA, etc.) universities/research institutes in the thermochemical valorization of residual biomass through innovative and environmentally sustainable processes.
The research carried out by team of researchers affiliated with the LEA Laboratory focuses on the development of technologies for energy saving and the production of energy from renewable sources, with particular attention to the valorization of residual biomass, with a view to the circular economy of resources and the mitigation of the environmental impact of energy production systems.
Specifically, particular attention has been paid in recent years to thermochemical technologies for the conversion of residual organic waste such as forestry, agricultural, agro-industrial waste, civil treatment sludge, etc., for the production of solid (pyrolysis, hydrothermal carbonization), liquid (pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction) and gaseous (gasification) fuels.
The LEA Laboratory has the following equipment:
The LEA Laboratory offers specific services on behalf of third parties (consulting in the field of territorial energy planning, energy production and conversion systems and their impact) and applies the rates approved and published by the Sicilian Region in relation to certification tests. Any percentage reductions in unit prices for individual analyses or services can be applied in relation to the number of tests requested through specific agreements. In the case of tests and/or services not included in the price list, items from a list specifically defined by the Laboratory Manager will be formulated.
