An academician from the Universidade Federal de Sergipe in Brazil visited UDT with the aim of conducting a joint work between both institutions, seeking to complement the analytical capacities of her Department with the scaling infrastructure of UDT pilot plants in the study of biomass pyrolysis.

Professor Lisiane dos Santos Freitas from the Department of Chemistry of the Universidade Federal de Sergipe in Brazil visited UDT thanks to the contact she made with Dr. Romina Romero, researcher of the Bioenergy Department of UDT, at COLACRO, Latin American Symposium on Chromatography and Related Techniques, held in Aracaju, Brazil in July 2019.

Lisiane dos Santos is a Doctor in Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, and has worked in pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass, mainly in the characterization of the compounds resulting from pyrolysis. She comes to UDT thanks to a project of the Brazilian Government and her objective is to see the work carried out by our center to seek joint lines of research and complement what each institution does “here they work more in the field of engineering, on a larger scale, with pilot pyrolysis plants, and we work on a laboratory scale in the chemical characterization of pyrolysis products”, says the academician.

Regarding the issues that could link UDT and the Universidad Federal de Sergipe, Lisiane dos Santos indicates that she is interested in “working with lignin products, aromatic products, aviation fuels, among others.” She mentions that in Brazil she works with companies that produce juice, and also with Petrobras, a company that is interested in converting biomass into aromatic compounds through pyrolysis to develop biofuels.

“The next steps are the exchange of ideas and proposals and then start an articulated work, send samples from UDT for characterization as to micropyrolize or pyrolyze biomass samples on a larger scale with the objective to produce a joint scientific publication, also to seek forms of financing in Chile and Brazil for a network project and to send students to research internships, among other activities”, concludes Dr. Romina Romero from the Bioenergy Department of UDT.