Two IQS Engineers Recognized at the Avelino Corma National Awards

On 2 March, the 1st Avelino Corma Awards were presented by the Official Chemical Engineering Association of Spain to recognize and celebrate excellence and talent in Master Theses in Chemical Engineering throughout Spain. In this first edition, 57 papers from a total of 19 Spanish universities were presented.

The inaugural awards were presented to talent in five notable categories in the areas of chemical engineering: environmental applications, new materials, green chemistry, circular economy, and bioeconomy and for renewable energies and energy transition, catalysis, petrochemicals, and industrial process optimization. Two chemical engineers from IQS – URL received one of the five awards and one of the two distinctions that were awarded in this first edition:

• Daniel Clijnk González received the award in the category “Green Chemistry, Circular Economy, and Bioeconomy” for his Master Thesis “New separation of F-gases from a circular economy perspective.”
• Guillermo Gonzálbez Biosca received the special “Sustainable Innovation” distinction for his paper “Simulation of a renewable diesel hydrotreater.”

Daniel Clijnk completed his Master Thesis under the supervision of Dr Rafael González Olmos and Dr Javier Fernández García, professors in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the IQS School of Engineering. His thesis consisted of studying a new system for the separation and reuse of fluorinated gases (F-gases), products widely used in the refrigeration industry that have a large environmental impact due to their negative effects on adding to global warming. His work has provided more knowledge on the thermodynamic behaviour of an eco-technological process focused on the separation of fluorinated gases using green solvents such as deep eutectic solvents (DES) and their reuse in new formulations.

The results obtained in this work show the great potential of the creation of new technologies to recover fluorinated gases with these solvents, reducing the consequences of their environmental impact (these gases have high global warming potential) within the context of a circular and sustainable economy.

“I am proud to see how the work, effort, and energy dedicated to the research and development of my Master Thesis has been rewarded in this way,” said Daniel. “I would also like to thank my supervisors. Without them and without their support, not to mention support from IQS, I would not have been able to conduct the work or earn this award.”

For his part, Guillermo Gonzálbez completed his Master Thesis with the company KBC Advanced Technologies, under the supervision of Dr Mª Jesús Guerra de Rozas, Simulation Support Team Lead EMEA at KBC, and Dr Julià Sempere Cebrián with IQS. His thesis consisted of developing a simulation model of a real renewable diesel hydrotreating reactor, a sustainable biofuel obtained from vegetable oils or animal fats. Renewable diesel is a carbon-neutral fuel that is co-processed in refineries in hydrotreatment reactors to convert triglycerides into paraffins. Hydrotreating is currently one of the most important chemical processes in refineries, where reactions with hydrogen are induced to remove elements such as sulphur, nitrogen, and oxygen.

Developed with plant data, this simulation model makes it possible to predict the behaviour of the treatment unit and optimize the working conditions in the different situations that require a “bio” feed to the reactor.

“I’m really happy with this recognition. It’s an excellent reward for constant work and, therefore, the perfect way to close a special stage at IQS,” said Guillermo. “An award like this pushes you to continue striving and to confirm that the direction you are going is the right one. Hopefully these awards will gain importance in the future and promote chemical engineering for a long time to come!” He concluded, “I can’t forget to thank IQS and KBC, their help has been essential in earning this award.”