Innovations in Thermochemical Technologies for Biofuel Processing

Dr. Sonil Nanda is a Research Associate in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He received his Ph.D. degree in Biology from York University, Canada; M.Sc. degree in Applied Microbiology from Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT University), India; and B.Sc. degree in Microbiology from Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, India. Dr. Nanda’s research areas are related to the production of advanced biofuels and biochemicals through thermochemical and biochemical conversion technologies such as gasification, pyrolysis, carbonization and fermentation. He has gained expertise in hydrothermal gasification of a wide variety of organic wastes and biomass including agricultural and forestry residues, industrial effluents, municipal solid wastes, cattle manure, sewage sludge and food wastes to produce hydrogen fuel. His parallel interests are also in the generation of hydrothermal flames for the treatment of hazardous wastes, agronomic applications of biochar, phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated soils, as well as carbon capture and sequestration. Dr. Nanda has published over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, 30 book chapters and has presented at many international conferences. Dr. Nanda serves as a Fellow Member of the Society for Applied Biotechnology in India, as well as a Life Member of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers; Association of Microbiologists of India; Indian Science Congress Association; and the Biotech Research Society of India. He is also an active member of several chemical engineering societies across North America such as the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Chemical Institute of Canada, and the Combustion Institute-Canadian Section. Dr. Nanda is an Assistant Subject Editor for the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (Elsevier). He has also edited several Special Issues in renowned journals such as the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (Elsevier), Chemical Engineering Science (Elsevier) Waste and Biomass Valorization (Springer), Topics in Catalysis (Springer), SN Applied Sciences (Springer), Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery (Springer), and Chemical Engineering & Technology (Wiley). Dai-Viet N. Vo is deputy director of the Institute of Applied Technology and Sustainable Development, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, in Vietnam. He worked as the principal investigator and co-investigator for 23 different funded research projects related to sustainable and alternative energy, and published two books, 15 book chapters, more than 300 peer-reviewed journals including 101 prestigious review articles, and more than 80 conference proceedings. Dr. Vo is an assistant subject editor for the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (Elsevier) and guest editor for several special issues in high-impact factor journals such as the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (Elsevier), Comptes Rendus Chimie (Elsevier), Chemical Engineering Science (Elsevier), and Topics in Catalysis (Springer), amongst others.

Section 1: Biomass Feedstocks: Classification, Characterization and Candidacy  1. Recent progress in the characterization of feedstocks and products for design and optimization of biomass thermochemical conversions 2. State-of-the-art approaches in biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals 3. Upcycling biomass resources into fuels and chemicals to support sustainability

Section 2: Biomass-to-Liquid, Biomass-to-Gas and Gas-to-Liquid Technologies 4. Production of solid fuel and bio-oil for energy application via slow, fast and intermediate pyrolysis processes 5. Progress in biomass fast pyrolysis technique: Outlook of modern experimental and theoretical approaches 6. Biofuel production with integrated pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading system 7. Thermochemical valorization of oil palm biomass to value-added products: A biorefinery concept 8. Progress of biomass air gasification to produce energy-dense synthesis gas 9. Hydrothermal gasification of biomass and organic wastes for hydrogen production: Advances, Challenges and Prospects

Section 3: Reforming and Fuel Upgrading Technologies 10. Clean and sustainable biofuels through syngas fermentation: Challenges and opportunities 11. Hydrogen and carbon co-generation from catalytic methane decomposition: Current progress and future trends 12. Artificial neural network modeling method for forecasting syngas generation from reforming processes 13. Carbon-based catalyst in the production of biodiesel: A review 14. Upgrading bio-hydrogenated diesel from palm-fatty acid with self-reliable hydrogen synthesis