Programa de Doctorat en Enginyeria Ambiental

Recent Submissions

Phycobiliprotein production with cyanobacteria-rich cultures and microbiomes 

Bellver Catalá, Marta (Date of defense: 2025-02-18)

(English) Phycobiliproteins are pigments found in cyanobacteria, which are exploited in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. However, the large-scale production of these bio-based products has high production ...

A new approach for end of life estimations in electric vehicle batteries: maximizing battery usage 

Etxandi Santolaya, Maite (Date of defense: 2024-10-09)

(English) The adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) requires careful management of their resource-intensive batteries to make sure that the transition does not come at a high environmental cost. Technological advancements ...

Towards a better water resources management and control using bioelectrochemical systems 

Fernández Gatell, Marta (Date of defense: 2024-06-11)

(English) Freshwater is an extremely scarce yet essential resource for all life forms on planet Earth. Its quality directly impacts the development of human societies as well as the ecosystems balance and health. However, ...

Effective ventilation solutions for educational environments: balancing health, comfort, and sustainability in a post-pandemic scenario 

Ruiz de Alegría Sala, Alba (Date of defense: 2024-10-28)

(English) Indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort are critical in educational buildings, as poor conditions have been linked to reduced cognitive performance, higher absenteeism and long-term health effects. The ...

Eliminación de blanqueadores ópticos de aguas textiles residuales y reutilización de efluentes 

Salas Olivares, Héctor Manuel (Date of defense: 2021-09-14)

(English) he textile industry consumes a large volume of water in various activities and is an importan! wastewater generator. Colorless dyes that emit fluorescence when exposed to UV light are used in the optical whitening ...

Optimization of the bioplastics production from cyanobacteria 

Rueda Hernández, Estel (Date of defense: 2022-07-18)

(English) Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is one of the most interesting alternatives to conventional plastics, because it has similar properties to polypropylene, it is more biodegradable than other bioplastics, it has really ...

Modeling of emerging organic contaminants during artificial aquifer recharge, transport, degradation and risk associated 

Canelles Garcia, Arnau (Date of defense: 2022-07-13)

(English) Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is a key strategy to increase freshwater resources in many regions facing water scarcity. The success of a MAR facility implies both technical (water quality and quantity as main ...

Secondary air pollutants in urban and rural Catalonia, Spain: characterizing the precursors, source-contributions, and toxicity 

In 't Veld, Marten (Date of defense: 2023-11-29)

(English) Air pollutants can be classed as either primary or secondary pollutants. Primary air pollutants are those that are directly emitted into the atmosphere, whereas secondary air pollutants are generated in the ...

On the use of decadal predictions for agricultural climate services: bridging the gap between service providers and users 

Solaraju Murali, Balakrishnan (Date of defense: 2023-01-26)

(English) Unfavorable and extreme climate events such as drought and heat stress heavily impacts the agriculture sector and food security globally, and the impact of these climate hazards is expected to increase over the ...

Closing loops in intensive livestock systems: innovative strategies for nutrient recycling and emissions reduction 

Morey Gual, Lluís (Date of defense: 2023-11-17)

(English) The exponential growth of world population is leading to a high demand of food products and, consequently, to the development of intensive agricultural and livestock systems. In this sense, synthetic fertilizers ...

Understanding size-resolved dust emission from field measurements in Morocco 

González Flórez, Cristina (Date of defense: 2023-10-06)

(English) Atmospheric mineral dust is composed of a variety of mineral particles exhibiting distinct composition, shape, and size. The wide range of diameters exhibited by dust particles, spanning more than three orders ...

Energy and material circularity in building-integrated agriculture : an environmental approach 

Muñoz Liesa, Joan (Date of defense: 2022-07-20)

(English) Cities are great resource consumers and largely contribute to anthropogenic environmental impacts, urgently requiring a decarbonization plan. Urban agriculture lies on industrial ecology principles; waste resources ...

Environmental impact accounting of organic agricultural production systems: advancing inventory and biodiversity modelling approaches in life cycle assessment 

Montemayor, Erica Yvonne (Date of defense: 2022-11-24)

(English) Agriculture not only contributes to more than a quarter of all global greenhouse gas emissions but is also the number one anthropogenic source of nitrogen emissions and a danger to nearly half of threatened ...

Use of advanced analytics for health estimation and failure prediction in wind turbines 

Beretta, Mattia (Date of defense: 2022-07-21)

The energy sector has undergone drastic changes and critical revolutions in the last few decades. Renewable energy sources have grown significantly, now representing a sizeable share of the energy production mix. Wind ...

Comparison of the mesophilic, thermophilic and temperature-phased anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge 

Lanko, Iryna (Date of defense: 2022-01-27)

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is currently spread all over the world for sewage sludge stabilisation, volume reduction and green energy production. Its implementation contributes to turn a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) into ...

Diferent approaches to improve groundwater resources management : submarine groundwater discharge and managed aquifer recharge 

Jou Claus, Sonia (Date of defense: 2022-06-20)

Global change is expected to affect significantly the global hydrological behavior, changing mean annual precipitation patterns, increasing length of drought periods, rising evaporation and atmospheric water vapor and ...

Evaluating the impact of urban mobility policies on the air quality levels of Barcelona by means of an integrated modelling system 

Rodríguez Rey, Daniel (Date of defense: 2022-03-21)

Persistent high levels of NO2 have severe health effects on population. These are often found in large urban conurbations with high vehicle densities. In Barcelona, with one of the highest vehicle densities in Europe, the ...

Microalgae-based wastewater treatment systems at demonstrative scale : gravity harvesting and thickening of biomass, and advanced design of bioreactors 

Ortiz Ruiz, Antonio (Date of defense: 2021-12-17)

Microalgae culture is currently receiving considerable attention for its potential in wastewater treatment and production of algal biomass from which high-value bioproducts and bioenergy can be obtained, as well as the ...

Análisis composicional del acceso a servicios de agua, saneamiento e higiene y medida de sus desigualdades 

Quispe Coica, Filimon Alejandro (Date of defense: 2021-12-14)

Access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services is closely linked to public health. The benefits of having safe WASH are vast. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) estimates of the population accessing ...

Implementation and evaluation of the circular economy model in the construction and demolition waste sector 

López Ruiz, Luis Alberto (Date of defense: 2021-12-02)

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is a major environmental concern that requires immediate attention. The large volumes of CDW produced and its associated environmental effects have led to explore new alternatives ...