The ENVIROENG unit applies sustainable engineering to environmental protection and the efficient use of resources. With a multidisciplinary team of chemical engineers, biologists, biotechnologists, and environmental science experts, it develops innovative solutions in biological and physicochemical processes for the valorization of waste, by-products, and pollutants into high-value products and energy. The unit excels in wastewater treatment, solid waste management, gaseous emission decontamination, and indoor air purification. Additionally, it employs advanced genomics and microbiology techniques to optimize bioprocesses and enhance the resilience of the productive sector without compromising its competitiveness.
Characterization of waste and by-products and biodegradability testing.
Design and optimization of sustainable processes for waste and by-product treatment and valorization.
Reactor engineering.
Scaling and validation of processes in industrial environments.
Techno-economic feasibility analysis of treatment and valorization processes.
Advanced microbiological and genomic characterization techniques for bioprocess optimization and innovation.
Techniques for inoculum selection and optimization in bioprocesses.
This project introduces an innovative flagship biorefinery designed to valorize the organic fraction of solid waste and municipal wastewater sludge to produce high-value end products for industry and end consumers.
PURPLEGAIN aims to create a European network to share information, facilitating technology and knowledge transfer between the academic and industrial sectors, related to purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) applications for resource recovery from organic waste sources.
CHEERS is a new biorefinery concept, inspired on nature biodiversity (insect and microbial platforms), to sustainably and efficiently upgrade underused or waste side-streams such as bagasse, wastewater, CO2 and CH4 from bio-based industries into innovative biobased products. CHEERS concept will be validated at demo-scale at an industrial brewery.
BiOBreW will design novel recombinant enzymes that will allow obtaining high yields of ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid from brewer’s spent grain, a byproduct from breweries. Moreover, it will develop innovative nano-encapsulation using nanocarriers, composed of biocompatible and biodegradable polymers, for these compounds.
Venturini, M., Bucci, P., Muñoz, R. (2025) Novel Fluidized Bed Bioreactor with Density-Graded Carriers for Bioremediation of Nitrate in Uranium Industry Effluent. Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ew00077g
Abdykarimov, B., Alimzhanova, M., Syrgabek, Y., López-Serna, R. (2025) Green analytical procedure index assessment for total petroleum hydrocarbons determination methods in soil and sediments. A review. Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teac.2025.e00262
Rodríguez-Reyes, J.J., García-Depraect, O., Cantera, S., Mena-Navarro, V., León-Becerril, E. (2025) Assessment of the recovery of hydrogen production activity in dark fermentation reactors after a long period of shutdown. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.04.025
León-Vaz, A., Torres-Franco, A.F., García-Encina, P.A., Muñoz, R. (2025) Developing a microalgal-bacterial consortium for the removal of organic pollutants from petrochemical industry. Journal of Water Process Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2025.107663
Fernández-Delgado, M., Plaza, P.E., García-Cubero, M.T., Lucas, S., Coca, M., López-Linares, J.C. (2025) Examining mixotrophic fermentation in fed-batch mode for C1-gas valorization. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.7874
