Laboratories
GICAS (Engineering, Applied Sciences & Simulation Group)
Office: Hayek HS401-J
Phone: (+593 2) 297-1700
E-mail: alandazuri@usfq.edu.ec, lorejuela@usfq.edu.ec
Approach
It is based on the following issues:
- Mechanisms & Transformation Processes
- Pollutants Removal
- Development of green and innovative technologies
- Recovery of materials and chemicals with high added value
- Validation and verification through Computer-Aided Simulation
And they are grouped into the following areas:
- GICAS – SIM: Technological projects with a modelling approach and computer-assisted simulations that validate experimental results
- GICAS – H2O: Technological projects focused on water treatment and recovery
- GICAS – NAT: Projects that promote the efficient use of biodiversity (renewable, biodegradable, and therefore sustainable material) through green processes that promote the Circular Economy (zero waste and/or reuse, recycling, or waste recovery)
Projects
GICAS – H2O/NAT/SIM
- Moringa Project in Ecuador (2015- up to the present date): The motivation for this project is based on the versatility of Moringa oleifera Lam. in water purification processes, development of food products, rheology, its natural characteristics, and as a biomaterial.
GICAS – H2O
- Emerging contaminants and metal removal from drinking and wastewater (2014-Presente): Continuous and non-continuous technologies are evaluated for emerging organic compounds and metal removal using different Moringa oleifera Lam. seed parts. Classic technologies during water treatment applications are also studied.
- Coagulation-flocculation processes evaluation using moringa oleifera seeds (2016-2018): Experimental evaluation of crushed Moringa oleifera Lam. seeds and powder waste.
GICAS – SIM
- Weir Project (2017-Presente): Simulation and validation of new weir and channel designs for the improvement of current fluid flow models.
- Momentum and mass transport simulations of active compounds through hydrogels (2018-Present): CFD and mass transfer simulations are studied for the validation of drug delivery experimental data using hydrogels.
- CFD and mass transport simulations for the recovery of high value materials and compounds (2018-Present): The recovery of high value chemicals from multiphase flows are analyzed. Experimental data are obtained through green extractions.
- Water Filtration model Project (2017-Present): Metal and emerging compound removal, such as caffeine, are tested through different filtration media and a new filtration model has been developed and is currently being tested with more compounds.
- Simulation of the prilling process (2018-2020): This project consists in developing a simulation that includes hydrodynamic and mass transport effects in the prilling process (granulation) during ammonium and urea production.
- Thermal Transport in fusion welding (2019): The purpose of this project is to incorporate the Navier-Stokes equations to analyze weld pool convection phenomenon.
GICAS – NAT
- Agro-industrial effluents treatment for the recovery of high value-added bioproducts (2019-2022): Recovery of phytochemicals (phenolics, saponins, alkaloids, etc.) from agro industrial effluents through green extractions and emerging oxidant technologies (e.g. Fenton reaction).
- Green extractions of bioactive compounds from agro industrial wastes (2018-Presente)
- Beta-carotene extractions by using green solvents (NADES) from oil palm and simulation for a supercritical CO2 extraction.
- Fractionation of plant cell Wall from agroindustrial residues and subproducts for value-added bioproducts production (2018 – 19).
- Oil palm empty fruit bunch deconstruction and isolation of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin bioplymers, oligomers and/or monomers
- Roses stalks
- Brew spent grain
- Antioxidant capacity determination of plant extracts to evaluate its potential use in nutraceuticals, functional foods (2018-19)
- Avocado seeds extracts (2018 -19)
- Moringa leaves extracts (2018 – 19)
- Anti leshmaniasis activity of moringa leaf extracts (2018-19)
Publications
| Year | Title | Authors | Document |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Second Generation Biorefining in Ecuador: Circular Bioeconomy, Zero Waste Technology, Environment and Sustainable Development – The Nexus. Accepted for publication in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts. | Orejuela, L. M., Landázuri, A. C., Goodell, B. | In process |
| 2020 | Hacia la sostenibilidad con la Bioeconomía y Biorrefinería de Subproductos Forestales y Agroindustriales Aplicando Química e Ingeniería Verdes | Orejuela, L.M. | Memorias del Evento, en proceso |
| 2020 | Moringa oleifera Lam. Leaf Powder Antioxidant Activity and Cytotoxicity in human primary fibroblasts. Natural Product Research | Landázuri, A. C., Gualle, A., Castañeda, E., Morales, Caicedo, A., Orejuela, L. | Download |
| 2020 | Part 2 Chapter Orange (Citrus sinensis): Phytochemicals, Phytonutrients, Antioxidant effects and metabolic benefits. In “Medicinal Plants in the Treatments of Metabolic Disorders”. | Orejuela, L.M., Arboleda, E. | Download |
| 2020 | Part 3 Chapter 2. Avocado (Persea americana): Phytochemicals and Health Promoting Benefits against Metabolic Disdorders. In “Medicinal Plants in the Treatment of Metabolic Disorders” | Orejuela, L.M. | Download |
| 2020 | Mango (Mangifera indica L.) By-Products for Food, Cosmetics and Water Treatment Applications: A Zero-Waste and Biorefinery Approach with Classic and New Generation Solvents. | Landázuri, A.C., Arroyo, E., Lagos, A.S., Gualle, A., Andino, C. and Orejuela, L. | 2020 AIChE Annual Meeting Conference Proceedings. November 2020. |
| 2020 | All for One and One for All Research: Moringa oleifera Lam. in Food, Health and Environmental Applications | Landázuri, A.C., Arroyo, E., Lagos, A.S., Gualle, A., Andino, C. and Orejuela, L. | 2020 AIChE Annual Meeting Conference Proceedings. November 2020. |
| 2019 | Valorización de residuos y subproductos agroindustriales mediante la biorefineria y su impacto en lla Bioeconomia y Economia Circular, in Ciclo de Conferencias: Ambiente y Residuos. ESPOCH, 5 de Dic 2019. Riobamba, Ecuador | Orejuela, L.M. | Download |
| 2019 | Biorefinery, Bioeconomy and Circular Economy in Ecuador: from forest and agroindustrial by-products to biofuels and high value-added chemicals | Orejuela, L.M. | Download |
| 2019 | Relación de la Economía Circular, la Tecnología Cero Desechos, la Bioeconomía, la Biorrefinería, y el Desarrollo Sostenible y Sustentable | Orejuela, L. M. | Download |
| 2019 | Biorefinery: Macro, micro and nanocellulose fibers from forest and agro-industrial waste | Orejuela, L. M. | Download |
| 2019 | Materiales Avanzados a partir de biomasa residual forestal, agrícola, agroindustrial y urbana | Orejuela, L. M. | Primer Congreso de Investigación en Materiales y Aplicaciones. Primer Congreso de Investigación en Materiales y Aplicaciones |
| 2019 | Bioproductos y materiales avanzados a partir de biomasa residual | Orejuela, L. M. | Universidad Técnica de Ambato, April 2019. Ambato, Ecuador |
| 2019 | Tecnología cero desperdicios y su impacto ambiental: Biorefineria lignocelulosica para obtención sustentable de bioenergía y productos de alto valor agregado | Orejuela, L. M. | XI Congreso Nacional de Estudiantes de Ingeniería Química USFQ. November 2018, Quito, Ecuador. |
| 2018 | Experimental evaluation of crushed Moringa oleifera Lam. seeds and powder waste during coagulation-flocculation processes | Landázuri, A.C., Villarreal, J.S., Núñez, E.R., Pico, M.M., Lagos, A.S., Caviedes, M. | Download |
| 2018 | Proyecto Moringa en Ecuador: un Componente, Investigación Multidisciplinaria. Artículos del Evento 1er Congreso Internacional Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria | Landázuri, A. C. | Download |
| 2018 | Simulación de Salto de Partículas de polvo generado por acción del viento utilizando Comsol Multiphysics | Benavides, V. A. & Landázuri, A. C. | Download |
| 2018 | Metal adsorption in aqueous media using Moringa oleifera Lam. seeds produced in Ecuador as an alternative method for water treatment | Landázuri, A. C., Cahuasquí, J., & Lagos, A. | Download |
| 2018 | Simulación CFD y ecuaciones del milenio: Navier-Stokes. | Landázuri, A. C. | Memorias XI Congreso Nacional de Estudiantes de Ingeniería Química CONEIQ, Quito, Ecuador |
| 2018 | Valorización del afrecho de cebada (Hordeum vulgare) de cerveza mediante el fraccionamiento de la pared celular con solventes. | Guerrero, B., Orejuela Escobar, L.M. | Memorias XI Congreso Nacional de Estudiantes de Ingeniería Química CONEIQ, Quito, Ecuador |
| 2018 | Evaluación del uso potencial del colorante extraído de la semilla del aguacate (Persea americana) como producto alimenticio funcional. | Tituaña, C. Orejuela Escobar, L.M. | Download |
| 2018 | Biorefinería : un modelo de negocios de productos de alto valor agregado a partir de desechos agrícolas e industriales y promotora de desarrollo sustentable en el contexto de la bioeconomía | Orejuela, L. M. | Download |
| 2018 | Uso eficiente de la biomasa residual: fraccionamiento para la obtención de biocombustibles y bioproductos en las Agro y Biorrefinerías | Orejuela, L. M. | Download |
| 2018 | Structural analysis of lignin fractions isolated from lignocellulosic biomass after choline chloride: glycerol deep eutectic solvent and chelator-mediated Fenton pretreatments | Orejuela, L. M., Frazier, C., Goodell, B., Renneckar, S | IV Congreso de Biotecnología y Biodiversidad y XV Foro del Banano, October 2018. Guayaquil, Ecuador. |
| 2018 | Catalytic Pretreatment and Cellulase Cocktail Mimics Brown Rot for Potential Biorefinery Applications | Goodell, B., Tabor, S., Orejuela, L., Contreras, Alfredsen, G., D., Jellison, J., Renneckar, S., Labbe, N. | LignoBiotech 2018, Symposium of Biotechnology Applied to Lignocelluloses. 29 August – 1 September, Helsinki, Finland. |
| 2017 | Lignocellulosic Biomass Fractionation by Glyceline Deep Eutectic Solvent and a Chelator Fenton System | Orejuela, L. M. | Download |
| 2017 | EWB-Ecuador/Usfq Project: Contaminant Removal from Effluents through the Use of Moringa oleifera Seeds for Application in Ecuadorian Rural Communities | Landázuri, A. C., Lagos, A. S., Pico, M. M., Nuñez, E. R., Trávez, A. L., Troya, M. F., . . . Caviedes, M. | Download |
| 2016 | Aerosol Transport Simulations in Indoor and Outdoor Environments using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) | Landázuri, A. C. | Download |
| 2016 | Lignocellulose deconstruction using a deep eutectic solvent and a chelator-mediated Fenton system for biofuels and bioproducts production | Orejuela, L. M. | 2nd International Congress of Biofuels and Bioenergy”. September 2016. Sao Paulo, Brasil. |
| 2016 | Biomass fractionation to produce biofuels | Orejuela, L. M. | 4th Bio Based Material Center Symposium, May 18th, 2018, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. |
| 2015 | Biofuels and Biomaterials from biomass treated with Glyceline Deep Eutectic Solvent and CMF reaction | Orejuela, L. M. | 10th Energy Harvesting Workshop 2015. Blacksburg, VA, USA. |
| 2015 | Cell Wall Deconstruction with DES and CMF system | Orejuela, L. M. | MII Conferences and Poster Session, 2015. Blacksburg, VA, USA. |
Team Work
GICAS – SIM
Andrea C. Landázuri, PhD – Founder & Director
GICAS, Director GICAS – SIM
Team Members
- Amir Azimi, PhD – Lakehead University, Canadá
- Edison Bonifaz, PhD – Mechanic Engineer, USFQ
- Alex Jerves, PhD –Mathematics, USFQ
- Lourdes Orejuela, PhD – Chemical Engineer, USFQ
- Gabriela Vernaza, PhD – Food Engineer, USFQ
- José Alvarez, PhD –Chemical Engineer, USFQ
GICAS – NAT
Lourdes Orejuela, PhD – Co-Director GICAS, Founder & Director GICAS-NAT
Team Members
- Andrea Landázuri, PhD – GICAS, USFQ
- Mario Caviedes, PhD – Agroindustry Engineer, USFQ
- Antonio León, PhD – Agroindustry Engineer, USFQ
- Sonia Zapata, PhD – Microbiology Institute, USFQ
- Patricia Manzano, PhD – CIBE, ESPOL, Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Tatiana Mosquera, PhD – Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, Quito, Ecuador
- Jaime Guevara, Engineer – Extractora San Daniel, Ecuador
GICAS – H2O
Andrea C. Landázuri, PhD – Director GICAS – H20
Collaborators
- Víctor Guerrero, PhD – LANUM, EPN
- Lourdes Orejuela, PhD – Chemical Engineer, USFQ
- Mario Caviedes, PhD – Agroindustry Engineer, USFQ
- Danny Navarrete, MS – Industrial Engineer, USFQ
- Daniel Mantilla – Ecuamoringa, Ecuador
OUR VISION
To be a benchmark in Ecuador of collaborative and innovative work for the solution of complex problems in engineering, applied sciences and simulation.
OUR MISSION
To develop and apply knowledge and technologies from an inter-, trans- and multidisciplinary approach in order to provide solutions to complex problems in Ecuador and worldwide. Our work mainly contributes to the areas of engineering, applied science, modeling and simulation.
