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Current status of microwave-assisted extraction of pectin (2023)
Journal Article
Mao, Y., Robinson, J. P., & Binner, E. R. (2023). Current status of microwave-assisted extraction of pectin. Chemical Engineering Journal, 473, Article 145261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.145261

There is an urgent need to develop new pectin extraction processes, as the established commercial extraction process damages the pectin (limiting the potential product applications) and is harmful to the environment. Microwave-Assisted Extraction cou... Read More about Current status of microwave-assisted extraction of pectin.

Correction to: Comparison of bio-oils derived from crop digestate treated through conventional and microwave pyrolysis as an alternative route for further waste valorization (2023)
Journal Article
Perez, N. D., Lindfors, C., van den Broek, L. A., van der Putten, J., Meredith, W., & Robinson, J. (2023). Correction to: Comparison of bio-oils derived from crop digestate treated through conventional and microwave pyrolysis as an alternative route for further waste valorization. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-023-03868-9

In this article the Table 3 with SD± was not properly adjusted. The original article has been corrected.

Comparison of bio-oils derived from crop digestate treated through conventional and microwave pyrolysis as an alternative route for further waste valorization (2023)
Journal Article
Diaz Perez, N., Lindfors, C., van den Broek, L. A., van der Putten, J., Meredith, W., & Robinson, J. (2023). Comparison of bio-oils derived from crop digestate treated through conventional and microwave pyrolysis as an alternative route for further waste valorization. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-03712-6

A total of 120,000 tonnes per year of crop waste from contaminated land has been used as a feedstock for anaerobic digestion (AD). This produces only around 20% of biogas from the total crop and results in a large amount of digestate with heavy metal... Read More about Comparison of bio-oils derived from crop digestate treated through conventional and microwave pyrolysis as an alternative route for further waste valorization.

Field performance and numerical simulation study on the toe to heel air injection (THAI) process in a heavy oil reservoir with bottom water (2022)
Journal Article
Anbari, H., Robinson, J. P., Greaves, M., & Rigby, S. P. (2023). Field performance and numerical simulation study on the toe to heel air injection (THAI) process in a heavy oil reservoir with bottom water. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 220(Part B), Article 111202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2022.111202

Extra-heavy oil and bitumen (EHOB) comprise 30 percent of the remaining recoverable fossil fuel resources on Earth. This means EHOB could play an important role in a secure transition towards net zero emissions (NZE) by 2050. Technological developmen... Read More about Field performance and numerical simulation study on the toe to heel air injection (THAI) process in a heavy oil reservoir with bottom water.

Unravelling the mechanisms of microwave pyrolysis of biomass (2021)
Journal Article
Robinson, J., Binner, E., Vallejo, D. B., Perez, N. D., Al Mughairi, K., Ryan, J., …Peneranda-Foix, F. (2022). Unravelling the mechanisms of microwave pyrolysis of biomass. Chemical Engineering Journal, 430(Part 3), Article 132975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.132975

This study uses empirical observations and mass transfer simulations to establish a new mechanism for microwave pyrolysis of biomass. Experiments were conducted on cellulose and hemicellulose, using microwave equipment that could vary the observed he... Read More about Unravelling the mechanisms of microwave pyrolysis of biomass.

Mathematical modelling of dielectric properties of food with respect to moisture content using adapted water activity equations (2021)
Journal Article
Renshaw, R. C., Dimitrakis, G. A., & Robinson, J. P. (2021). Mathematical modelling of dielectric properties of food with respect to moisture content using adapted water activity equations. Journal of Food Engineering, 300, Article 110538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2021.110538

There is currently no recognised equation, or set of equations, that can be used to adequately describe moisture dependant dielectrics. This study addresses this issue so that moisture dependant dielectric properties can be directly input into drying... Read More about Mathematical modelling of dielectric properties of food with respect to moisture content using adapted water activity equations.

Understanding heat and mass transfer processes during microwave-assisted and conventional solvent extraction (2021)
Journal Article
Mao, Y., Robinson, J., & Binner, E. (2021). Understanding heat and mass transfer processes during microwave-assisted and conventional solvent extraction. Chemical Engineering Science, 233, Article 116418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2020.116418

Solvent extraction is a mass transfer process. In this paper, we investigate the role of heat transfer in solvent extraction: in particular, how the heat transfer properties of the solid and the heating method (conventional heating and microwave heat... Read More about Understanding heat and mass transfer processes during microwave-assisted and conventional solvent extraction.

In-situ Microwave-assisted Catalytic Upgrading of Heavy Oil: Experimental Validation and Effect of Catalyst Pore Structure on Activity (2020)
Journal Article
Adam, M., Anbari, H., Hart, A., Wood, J., Robinson, J. P., & Rigby, S. P. (2021). In-situ Microwave-assisted Catalytic Upgrading of Heavy Oil: Experimental Validation and Effect of Catalyst Pore Structure on Activity. Chemical Engineering Journal, 413, Article 127420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.127420

In-situ combustion alone may not provide sufficient heating for downhole, catalytic upgrading of heavy oil in the Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI) process. In this study, a new microwave heating technique has been proposed as a strategy to provide th... Read More about In-situ Microwave-assisted Catalytic Upgrading of Heavy Oil: Experimental Validation and Effect of Catalyst Pore Structure on Activity.

Understanding Microwave Heating in Biomass-Solvent Systems (2020)
Journal Article
Taqi, A., Farcot, E., Robinson, J. P., & Binner, E. R. (2020). Understanding Microwave Heating in Biomass-Solvent Systems. Chemical Engineering Journal, 124741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.124741

A new mechanism is proposed to provide a viable physical explanation for the action of microwaves in solvent extraction processes. The key innovation is Temperature-Induced Diffusion, a recently-demonstrated phenomenon that results from selective hea... Read More about Understanding Microwave Heating in Biomass-Solvent Systems.

Microwave pyrolysis of olive pomace for bio-oil and bio-char production (2019)
Journal Article
Williams, O. S., Kostas, E. T., Durán-Jiménez, G., Shepherd, B. J., Meredith, W., Stevens, L. A., …Lye, G. J. (2020). Microwave pyrolysis of olive pomace for bio-oil and bio-char production. Chemical Engineering Journal, 387, Article 123404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.123404

Olive pomace is a widely available agro-industrial waste residue in Europe that has the potential to contribute towards a circular, low carbon bio-economy. This study demonstrated, for the first time, the ability to successfully pyrolyse olive pomace... Read More about Microwave pyrolysis of olive pomace for bio-oil and bio-char production.

Fast regeneration of activated carbons saturated with textile dyes: Textural, thermal and dielectric characterization (2019)
Journal Article
Durán-Jiménez, G., Stevens, L. A., Hodgins, G. R., Uguna, J., Ryan, J., Binner, E. R., & Robinson, J. P. (2019). Fast regeneration of activated carbons saturated with textile dyes: Textural, thermal and dielectric characterization. Chemical Engineering Journal, 378, Article 121774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.05.135

This study presents an investigation for comparing the regeneration process of two activated carbons saturated with Basic Blue 9 (BB9) and Acid Blue 93 (AB93) using conventional (250–500 °C) and microwave heating (100–300 W). The effect of the textil... Read More about Fast regeneration of activated carbons saturated with textile dyes: Textural, thermal and dielectric characterization.

Water desalination using a temperature gradient (2019)
Journal Article
Robinson, J., Meehan, J., Taqi, A., Binner, E., & Tokay, B. (2019). Water desalination using a temperature gradient. Desalination, 464, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2019.04.013

A new concept for reverse osmosis is identified based on the use of a temperature gradient instead of pressure. When the temperature of the permeate-side of the membrane is higher than the feed-side then a significant driving force exists for water t... Read More about Water desalination using a temperature gradient.

Microwave pyrolysis of Laminaria digitata to produce unique seaweed-derived bio-oils (2019)
Journal Article
Kostas, E. T., Williams, O. S., Duran-Jimenez, G., Tapper, A. J., Cooper, M., Meehan, R., & Robinson, J. P. (2019). Microwave pyrolysis of Laminaria digitata to produce unique seaweed-derived bio-oils. Biomass and Bioenergy, 125, 41-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2019.04.006

Microwave pyrolysis has become an attractive form of processing technology to generate bio-oil, bio-char and syngas from different biomass feedstocks. In this study, microwave pyrolysis was performed on the UK native seaweed Laminaria digitata and it... Read More about Microwave pyrolysis of Laminaria digitata to produce unique seaweed-derived bio-oils.

Identification of Bio-oil Compound Utilizing Yeasts Through Phenotypic Microarray Screening (2019)
Journal Article
Kostas, E. T., Cooper, M., Shepherd, B. J., & Robinson, J. P. (2020). Identification of Bio-oil Compound Utilizing Yeasts Through Phenotypic Microarray Screening. Waste and Biomass Valorization, 11, 2507-2519. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-019-00636-7

© 2019, The Author(s). Abstract: Biomass pyrolysis bio-oil contains a plethora of carbon sources with the potential to be utilized by microorganisms and converted into high value products. However, the majority of these compounds are either highly to... Read More about Identification of Bio-oil Compound Utilizing Yeasts Through Phenotypic Microarray Screening.

Predicting the Behaviour of Near-Critical and Supercritical Alcohols at Microwave Frequencies: Validation of Molecular Dynamic Simulations as a Tool that can Substitute for Measurements under Extreme Experimental Conditions (2019)
Journal Article
Robinson, D., Irvine, D. J., Robinson, J. P., Lester, E. H., Kingman, S. W., & Dimitrakis, G. (2019). Predicting the Behaviour of Near-Critical and Supercritical Alcohols at Microwave Frequencies: Validation of Molecular Dynamic Simulations as a Tool that can Substitute for Measurements under Extreme Experimental Conditions. Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 146, 165-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supflu.2019.01.018

Equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular dynamic simulations, predicting the dielectric properties of near-critical and supercritical methanol and ethanol at microwave frequencies have been carried out. The autocorrelation functions of the dielectri... Read More about Predicting the Behaviour of Near-Critical and Supercritical Alcohols at Microwave Frequencies: Validation of Molecular Dynamic Simulations as a Tool that can Substitute for Measurements under Extreme Experimental Conditions.

The relationship of dielectric response and water activity in food (2018)
Journal Article
Renshaw, R. C., Dimitrakis, G. A., Robinson, J. P., & Kingman, S. W. (2019). The relationship of dielectric response and water activity in food. Journal of Food Engineering, 244, 80-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2018.08.037

This study has deduced a correlation between points of inflection of water activity and loss factor with respect to moisture content. A point of inflection in loss factor with respect to moisture content was found to coincide with the sorption isothe... Read More about The relationship of dielectric response and water activity in food.

Microwave synthesis of carbon onions in fractal aggregates using heavy oil as a precursor (2018)
Journal Article
Adam, M., Hart, A., Stevens, L. A., Wood, J., Robinson, J. P., & Rigby, S. P. (2018). Microwave synthesis of carbon onions in fractal aggregates using heavy oil as a precursor. Carbon, 138, 427-435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2018.07.066

In this work we report a method for preparing carbon onions through microwave heating of heavy oil. It was shown that microwave heating of heavy oil mixed with a carbon catalyst at 300 W leads to the growth of a several-centimetre long fractal carbon... Read More about Microwave synthesis of carbon onions in fractal aggregates using heavy oil as a precursor.

Microwave pyrolysis of biomass within a liquid medium (2018)
Journal Article
Shepherd, B. J., Ryan, J., Adam, M., Beneroso Vallejo, D., Castaño, P., Kostas, E. T., & Robinson, J. P. (2018). Microwave pyrolysis of biomass within a liquid medium. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 134, 381-388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2018.07.004

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. A new approach to pyrolysis is demonstrated that uses microwave heating combined with an external liquid media at atmospheric pressure. The liquid acts as the inerting medium instead of the traditional inert gas, and also acts as... Read More about Microwave pyrolysis of biomass within a liquid medium.

Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock (2018)
Journal Article
Lee, C. S., Chong, M. F., Binner, E., Gomes, R. L., & Robinson, J. P. (2018). Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 132, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2018.01.050

This paper reports a techno-economic assessment for industrial scale bio-flocculant production with okra as biomass feedstock. The sludge dewatering ability of the bio-flocculant was evaluated prior to economic analysis. Several optimisation strategi... Read More about Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock.