Innovation of technologies in food, energy, and environmental nexus

食品、能源和环境关系方面的技术创新

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-04190
• 负责人: Raghavan, Vijaya
• 金额: $ 1.97万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=566357
• 关键词: Innovation; technologies; food; energy; environmental

The world is faced with challenges to food security to feed 7 billion that must be met within the context of climate change, environmental degradation, and continued population growth and demands for fuel. Globally, an estimated one third of harvested food is lost before it can reach the consumer. Preventing such losses will help to ensure food security and to relieve the need to exploit new land for food production. Also, the agricultural sector generates up to one third of greenhouse gas emissions, thus waste management is important. To address these issues, the objectives of the proposed program are to: (1) develop methods using electro-technologies for processing of food crops and for producing biochar; (2) develop high pressure storage technologies and optimization of conditions for different horticultural produce to increase nutrient content, and to maintain quality and freshness; and (3) optimize methods to use agriculture wastes as feedstock for biochar production, for biorefineries, and for microbial fuel cells to generate electric power. These seemingly disparate lines of research have risen from my core interest in post-harvest technologies for drying and storage of crops. My research in drying and thermal treatment of foods has focused on using electro-technologies based on microwaves (MWs), radio-frequency, and pulse-electric fields in different systems. We also studied the use of these technologies to extract valued compounds from biomass, to pasteurize egg products and in-shell eggs, to disinfest grains, and for chemical synthesis. The proposed program will continue this line of research into the use of high voltage electric-fields for drying of temperature-sensitive foods and for denaturing proteins such as gluten. This has implications for addressing gluten allergies. We also started work on MW-assisted systems to produce high quality biochar and hydrochar from agricultural residues. My initial studies in storage were on modified and controlled atmosphere systems. Since then, we have characterized optimal conditions for heat treatment to control pests in storage, and examined the use of environmental stresses such as UV irradiation to stimulate antioxidant production in stored produce. In this line of study, we are exploring hyperbaric treatment of produce prior to storage to improve quality and to extend storage life without refrigeration. We will develop this technology for field and industrial use. We have started a new line of research into improving the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFC), which will be useful in remote areas where electricity is unreliable. We have examined using syngas as a carbon source, and we have worked on characterizing physical aspects of MFCs for the purpose of scale-up. Our attention will now be focused on using agricultural waste as a source of carbon. The proposed program builds upon our strength in the application of physical sciences’ principles to biological systems. In this body of work, we discovered a strong need of a multi-disciplinary approach which integrates strands from different disciplines to take into account the biological and engineering aspects of research questions; this has helped us to develop innovative processes and technologies to achieve viable solutions. We will continue to use this approach. The proposed program has many innovative aspects such as a process using high voltage electric fields for drying foods and to denature gluten; MW-assisted pyrolysis to produce high quality biochar from agricultural wastes; hyperbaric treatment process to improve quality of food and extend storage without refrigeration, and scaled-up MFC to provide electricity from wastes. This will impact on many sectors.

在气候变化，环境退化以及人口持续的增长和对燃料的需求的背景下，世界面临着粮食安全挑战70亿的挑战。在全球范围内，估计收获食品的三分之一在能够到达消费者之前就丢失了。防止这种损失将有助于确保粮食安全并挽救开发新土地进行粮食生产的必要性。此外，农业部门最多产生了温室气体排放的三分之一，因此废物管理很重要。为了解决这些问题，提议的计划的目标是：（1）使用电工处理食品作物并生产生物炭的方法； （2）开发高压储存技术并优化不同马文化生产的条件，以增加养分含量，并保持质量和新鲜度； （3）优化使用农业废物作为生物炭生产的原料，生物精炼厂的原料以及微生物燃料电池的产生电力。这些看似不同的研究线已经从我对收获后技术的核心兴趣中兴起，用于干燥和储存作物。我在食物的干燥和热处理方面的研究集中在使用基于微波（MWS），射频和脉搏电场的电学技术。我们还研究了这些技术从生物量中提取有价值的化合物，用于对鸡蛋产物和壳中卵的巴氏菌，毒性谷物以及化学合成。拟议的程序将继续进行这一研究，以使用高压电场来干燥温度敏感食品和贬低蛋白质（如面筋）。这对解决面筋过敏有影响。我们还开始在MW辅助系统上工作，以生产农业残留物的高质量生物炭和氢炭。我对存储的最初研究是在经过修改和受控的大气系统上。从那时起，我们已经表征了热处理以控制储存害虫的最佳条件，并检查了使用环境应力（例如紫外线照射）刺激储存生产中的抗氧化剂产生。在这一研究中，我们正在存储之前探索生产高压处理，以提高质量并延长存储寿命而不制冷。我们将开发该技术供领域和工业用途。我们已经开始了一项新的研究，以改善微生物燃料电池的性能（MFC），这将在电力不可靠的偏远地区有用。我们已经使用Syngas作为碳源进行了检查，并且我们努力表征MFC的物理方面，以进行扩展。现在，我们的注意力将集中在使用农业废物作为碳来源上。拟议的计划基于我们将物理科学原理应用于生物系统的实力。在这项工作中，我们发现了一种多学科方法的需求，该方法将来自不同学科的链融合在一起，以考虑研究问题的生物学和工程方面；这有助于我们开发创新的过程和技术以实现可行的解决方案。我们将继续使用这种方法。拟议的程序具有许多创新的方面，例如使用高压电场来干燥食品和变性面筋的过程。 MW辅助热解产生农业废物的高质量生物炭；高压治疗过程，以提高食物质量并扩大不冷藏量的储存，并扩大MFC以提供废物的电力。这将影响许多部门。