Technologies

Bivalve mollusc shells are made mainly of CaCO₃ (ca 95%), with a small fraction of organic material. If from these shells this mineral is retrieved, they could become a renewable and sustainable “mine” of a “blue” CaCO₃. Bivalve mollusc shells, also after the removal of the animal flesh, maintain a certain quantity of organic substances, part in the muscle and part in the shell.

A virtuous multi-step biorefinery platform to convert urban biowaste into valuable molecules, not disregarding renewable energy and digestate production. The strategy is based on the integration of a thermal pretreatment capable of significantly increasing the fraction of fermentable organic carbon, in order to furthermore change the status of the feedstock to become more suitable for production of a) high-value bio-based molecules, b) biomethane and c) hygienized digestate to be recycled as biofertilizer.

Nowadays, to properly design and develop advanced materials capable to preserve for long times their performance under aggressive environments such as power generation plants, renewables, nuclear reactors and electronics of new generation, transport on ground and on space, aeronautics, catalysis, biomedical implants, the optimization of metallurgical processes involved is crucial.

In the last years, hop culture has spread throughout Italy, and the vegetative biomass disposal, after harvesting of cones, used for beer production, became a serious problem for hop growers. Hop plant contains in all parts, cones, shoots, leaves and roots, bioactive compounds, with proven and important antiviral, antibacterial and antioxidant properties.

Lifeshell is an anti-seismic furniture construction concept, which can be used for making wardrobes, tables, desktops, beds. It’s made by timber based panels: highly resistant and flexible, relatively lightweight and inexpensive. Lifeshell benefits from the natural wood elasticity and from smart connections for dissipating the great impact energies occurring during an earthquake. Lifeshell has been designed for resisting partial building collapses, and to provide a safe shell where inhabitants can find refuge.

The object of the technology is the development of a transferable methodology from the laboratory scale to the pilot scale to be validated in the industrial setting for the treatment of basic waste of natural polymers of agro-food or manufacturing industry.

Geopolymers belong to the class of chemically bonded ceramics: they are synthesized at low temperatures and are eco-friendly, as besides the low consolidation temperature required by the process they can be produced from secondary raw materials and industrial waste of various kinds, thus reducing the energy demand and the environmental impact of the entire production cycle. Materials such as fly ash, steel mill slag, biomass ash, sludge and silt, extractive residues, mineral and ceramic powders, organic or inorganic waste fibers, plastics, etc.