TWEREBO PROCESS INDUSTRIES
LTD.
CANTOMENTS, ACCRA, GHANA
ACTIVATED CARBON PRODUCTION
FROM COCONUT SHELLS AND
PALM KERNEL SHELLS
BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION FROM CASSAVA AND CASSAVA PEELS
Design and development of an integrated continuous process plant for the production of Biochar, activated carbon and electricity.
Design and development of pilot biochar reactors using agricultural residues.
Design and development of a pilot plant for the incineration of hazardous wastes.
Design and development of a plant for the production of bioelectricity using Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology from waste water using local electrode materials.
Design and development of a pilot plant for the production of bioethanol from agricultural residues.
Production of Biodiesel from vegetable and waste oils.
Analysis and assessment of integrated waste management options in Ghana and other African countries.
Waste characterization and quantification in rural, urban and industrial environments.
Production of bioethanol from aquatic, marine and terrestrial plants.
Research into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation biofuels from local materials, agricultural residues and municipal solid waste.
Design and development of solar driers for agricultural products and residues.
Design and development of biogas systems from organic materials and residues.
KNUST-RMU BIOMASS AND BIOCONVERSION RESEARCH GROUP
RESEARCH TEAM
Overall Research Expertise
Biological, Biochemical, and Thermochemical conversion of biomass (algal, cellulosic, sugar-based, starch-based, municipal solid waste and municipal wastewater) and polymers (plastics and biopolymers) to various compounds and energy products for applications in rural and urban communities; and industrial applications.
SPECIFIC AREAS OF WORK AND INTEREST
- Characterisation of algal, cellulosic and starch-based biomass for enzyme recovery, biofuel production and various biorefinery applications.
- Technical analysis of crop residue generation in Ghana and its potential bioenergy recovery.
- Chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis of algal, cellulosic and starch-based biomass for bioethanol production.
- Development of bio-electrochemical systems for electricity generation, wastewater treatment, hydrogen production and water desalination.
- Development of pyrolysis and gasification technologies for activated carbon, biochar, bio-oil and syngas production.
- Optimisation of various fermentation pathways to maximise bioethanol yield from algal and cellulosic biomass.
- Assessment of conventional and novel biomass pretreatment processes for enhanced bioenergy recovery.
- Optimisation of the anaerobic digestion of algal, cellulosic, municipal solid waste and faecal sludge to maximise methane concentration.
- Transesterification of Jatropha circus seeds and faecal sludge for optimal biodiesel production.
- Biorefinery approach to bioethanol and biodiesel production from Jatropha circus.
- Assessment of plastic waste types and composition from terrestrial and marine environment for potential biocatalytic conversion to useful compounds.
- Production, profiling and application of crude cellulase and amylase cocktails from cassava peels and other cassava related residues.
- Recovery and profiling of amylases from leguminous crops for the hydrolysis of starch-based biomass.
- Optimisation and modelling of the hydrolysis of tropical macroalgae with selected commercial cellulases and chemical catalysts.
- Extraction, characterisation and application of enzymes from plastics-degrading microbes to facilitate the bioconversion of plastics to ethylene glycol.
- Development of metagenomic libraries of enzyme producing microbes from plastics.
- Isolating and identifying indigenous microbes (genomic DNA) from both bio- and plastic waste with significant biocatalytic activities for in vitro bioconversion.
- Exploration and genomic profiling of the Ghanaian biowaste microbiota for their unique hydrolytic enzyme capacities.
- Microbial exploration and enzymatic pathway profiling of microbes that show unique dual capacities for converting pentose and hexose sugars to ethanol.
- Development of on-site tailored enzymes to complement commercial enzymes for bio-waste bioconversion as a means of reducing biofuel production costs on commercial enzymes.
- Development of enzyme immobilization platforms on carbonized and non-carbonized indigenous biomass such as palm kernel shells for improved enzyme recovery.
- Techno-economic and socio-economic assessment of various enzyme production, biofuel production and biorefinery technologies and pathways.