Application of mathematical modelling in teaching the subject "Predictive microbiology and risk assessment" (035STU-4/2021) Supervisor: doc. Ing. Pavel Ačai, PhD. (2021-2023) - KEGA
Projekt je integrálnou súčasťou konceptu a praktickej realizácie výučby predmetu „Prediktívna mikrobiológia a hodnotenie rizika“ na Fakulte chemickej a potravinárskej technológie STU v Bratislave. Je zameraný na zvýšenie teoretickej aj praktickej odbornej úrovne študentov v inžinierskych študijných programoch: Výživa a hodnotenie kvality potravín (N436P2_4I), Potraviny, hygiena, kozmetika (N436P0_4I) a doktorandskom študijnom programe: Chémia a technológia požívatín (N400P6_4D). Dôležitým plánovaným výstupom projektu je aplikácia poznatkov pripravovanej vysokoškolskej učebnice „Prediktívna mikrobiológia a mikrobiologické hodnotenie rizika - Príklady a úlohy na riešenie praktických úloh zodpovedajúcim softvérovým vybavením v počítačovej miestnosti.
Bioreaction engineering of enzyme oxidation processes (1/0515/22) Supervisor: prof. Ing. Milan Polakovič, CSc. (2022-2025) - VEGA
This project focuses on the development of three-phase bioreactors for lactone production using immobilized cells with Bayer-Villiger monooxygenases. Whole cell biocatalysts with expressed cyclohexanone monoxygenase or enzyme cascade immobilized in polyelectrolyte complex capsules will be used. The preparation of immobilized biocatalysts will be optimized with respect to their productivity and operational stability. Investigation of the kinetics of reactions catalyzed by free and immobilized cells will be a key stage for optimization of developed bioprocesses. Another important aspect investigated will be cell poisoning by substrates and reaction products and oxygen transfer in three-phase systems. Experiments in mechanically and pneumatically agitated bioreactors and mathematical modeling of lactone production in this equipment will be essential
Experimental and mathematical modelling of double-reactor membrane hybrid systems for production of chemical specialities (1/0548/21) Supervisor: doc. Ing. Mário Mihaľ, PhD. (2021-2024) - VEGA
The aim of the project is to mathematically modelling and experimental verification of the production of chemical specialities with the strong inhibition on the production strain (2-phenylethanol, phenylacetaldehyde) performed in the double reactor membrane hybrid system consisting of two bioreactors (mechanically stirred tank bioreactor, airlift reactor) interconnected with the membrane separation (membrane extraction) used for intermediate transport between the bioreactors and for the removal of the inhibiting product.
Green innovations in student final theses and semestral projects (BIN SGS02_2021_001) Supervisor: prof. Ing. Juma Haydary, PhD. (2022-2024)
The goal of this project is to strengthen institutional cooperation between higher education institutions in Slovakia and Norway to enhance both quality and relevance of the education in Slovakia in the field of Green Industry Innovation. The project aims to start a close cooperation between STU Bratislava and NTNU Norway. The focus of cooperation will be the integration of research and industrial applications in the field of innovative green technologies into student final theses and semestral projects.
Chemoenzymatic synthesis of substances with pharmaceutical potential: Optimization of processes of phenylethanoid glycosides production (APVV-18-0188) Supervisor: prof. Ing. Milan Polakovič, CSc. (2019-2023) - APVV
Phenylethanoid glycosides form core structural motifs of several compounds with a therapeutic effect. The main objective of the project is the investigation of processes of chemo-enzymatic production of less-known phenylethanoid compounds, β-fructofuranosides and β-galactopyranosides of tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol, that may provide a scale of new potential drugs with improved or even different activities compared to the yet known substances. The investigated processes include the preparation of biocatalysts, tranglycosylation production of phenylethanoid glycosides and their separation from the reaction mixture. Immobilization of selected enzymes will be investigated followed by optimization of biocatalysts and reaction conditions with regard to chemo- and regioselectivity of the process, chromatographic separation and purification of products with a simultaneous recovery of substrates (primarily tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol), and optimization of processes in a flow bioreactor with respect to the productivity and operational stability. The chosen methods of investigation reflect modern trends in the research and development of synthetic drugs. Pharmaceutical industry invests heavily into the transformation from batch processes to the continuous ones and this fact stimulates the progress in the new research field called flow chemistry. Another project outcome will be the process-economic analyses of production feasibility and sufficient amounts of the substances for biological activity tests.
Immobilization and co-immobilization of viable whole-cell biocatalysts with enzyme cascades for production of chemical specialties, development of methods for their characterization and bioreactor engineering (APVV-20-0272) Supervisor: prof. Ing. Milan Polakovič, CSc. (2021-2025) - APVV
The scientific essence of the project is the acquisition of new knowledge and the development of characterization methods in the research of viable whole-cell immobilized biocatalysts for the production of chemical specialties. Immobilization and co-immobilization of recombinant E. coli cells with coexpressed enzyme cascades as well as individual cascade enzymes by innovated processes, development of their characterization methodology, use of high-performance immobilization devices and utilization of bioreactor engineering methods have the potential to accelerate development of immobilized whole cell cascade systems. This would extend the possibilities for the development of industrial cascade biocatalysts, taking advantage of the enzymes of the Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase family, which have not yet been applied in the industry. Advanced procedures for characterization of changes in cell physiology and microstructure of immobilizing materials and optimization of biocatalytic efficacy of immobilized cells will be used in collaboration with top cooperating teams. The research will include the development of biosensors based on new nanomaterials.
Improving of inherent safety design of production processes using computer-aided mathematical modeling (1/0511/21) Supervisor: prof. Ing. Ľudovít Jelemenský, DrSc. (2021-2024) VEGA
Chemical production, operated in extreme conditions (high pressure, high temperature), bears a significant risk of a major industrial accident and therefore it requires a detailed analysis of all potentially dangerous situations that can lead to an accident. Currently, there is no single, coherent, and practically applicable method allowing the use model-based hazard identification in the "real" environment of chemical industry. The proposed project should define a new perspective of intelligent (smart) software tools used for safety analysis in process industry. The main tasks of the project will therefore be focused on the development of prototype software tools capable of the utilization of detailed mathematical models of chemical units for automatic - software-controlled identification of hazards in process industries. Prepared software tools will allow investigating very complicated fault propagation paths in chemical processes and identifying situations that can lead to accidents or loss of production.
Mechanism of tau protein movement through and out of the brain (APVV-21-0321) Supervisor: prof. Ing. Milan Polakovič, CSc. (2022-2025) - APVV
The pathological aggregation of tau protein is a hallmark of a group of neurodegenerative diseases collectively referred to as tauopathies. The presence of tau in cerebrospinal fluid before detecting neuronal death indicates that tau can be actively secreted by neuronal cells into extracellular space (ECS). Brain ECS is a tight and influences the movement of dozens of neuromodulators and hundreds of large molecules. ECS transports signaling molecules, cellular waste products, and therapeutics. The basic biophysical mechanisms governing how large molecules move through the brain’s ECS are little understood. This knowledge is critical to establi shing how the ECS controls the distribution of biomedically relevant macromolecules, such as tau protein. To elucidate the movement of tau protein in ECS and how it can be transported from to brain across blood- CSF barrier into the periphery is one of the most important fields in the study of neurodegenerative disorders. The future findings and understanding of how tau moves through extracellular space and out of the brain can help us to develop new reliable diagnostic approaches.
Multilevel Intensification of Chemical Processes and Industrial Clusters (APVV-18-0134) Supervisor: doc. Ing. Zuzana Labovská, PhD. (2019-2023) - APVV
Intensification of processes is nowadays considered as one of the most promising development strategies in modern chemical engineering research. The necessity of focusing the research on process intensification is induced by the decreased accessibility of non-renewable raw materials, increasing energy prices, high price of labor, increasing safety demands and the requirement on decreased environmental load. However, the attempt for maximum process efficiency often leads to discrepancies between the material – energy optimization and safety audit requirements. One of the main project goals and also a contribution to the process intensification is the analysis of material and energy inputs as well as time optimization effect on process safety. Simultaneous analysis of commonly optimized and safety parameters should prevent introducing undesired risks into the production process or at least provide early warning of potentially dangerous system behavior as a result of a production process change. The proposed method of multilevel optimization including safety analysis of optimized parameters changes can be divided into several steps: mathematical modeling of unit operations, verification of such obtained models, combination of unit operations and their interconnection into a given optimized system, definition of optimization limits, definition of objective functions considering specific requirements of the optimized system, solution of prepared optimization tasks by mathematical models applying suitable numerical procedures, summation and comparison of optimization tasks results, analysis of individual solutions obtained by optimization on the increase resp. decrease of the production system safety.
New chromatographic membrane adsorbents: physicochemical and process characteristics and optimization of separation of selected therapeutic proteins (APVV-20-0312) Supervisor: prof. Ing. Milan Polakovič, CSc. (2021-2025)-APVV
Production of fuel quality gas by solid waste and biomass gasification (APVV-19-0170) Supervisor: prof. Ing. Juma Haydary, PhD. (2020-2023) - APVV
By the gasification of carbon-based waste, we can produce gas containing H2, CO, CH4, CO2 and light hydrocarbons. However, this gas also contains undesirable components such as solid particles, tars, compounds of S, N and Cl and other impurities. In order to be used as a fuel in internal combustion engines or turbines, this gas must meet certain pollutant content requirements. The aim of this project is to contribute to the answer to the question of how to produce a fuel quality gas from mixed waste in an environmentally friendly way. The project considers experimental research in laboratory conditions, mathematical modeling and computer simulation of industrial processes. The project also includes a techno-economic analysis of variants of gasification in the conditions of a stand-alone plant and in terms of integration into an existing refinery environment. For the gasification of mixed wastes and waste biomass under laboratory conditions, a two-stage laboratory gasification plant developed in our previous research will be used. The quality parameters of the produced gas can be influenced both by the conditions in the gasification plant itself and by additional cleaning operations. This project will investigate the impact of process parameters in both gasification and purification stages on gas quality parameters.
Regeneration of ionic liquids used in separation processes (APVV-18-0232) Supervisor: doc. Ing. Elena Graczová, CSc. (2019-2023) - APVV
The project is a continuation of a systematic study aimed at modeling of azeotropic mixtures separation by extraction or extraction distillation in the presence of a new alternative solvent - ionic liquid. The use of ionic liquids in separation technologies to separate azeotropic mixtures and mixtures of components with close boiling points seems to be very promising. In case of extraction processes, e.g. in the separation of alkanes and aromatics, due to the relatively high selectivity of the ionic liquids to aromatics, it is possible to use ionic liquids also for separating mixtures with aromatics content lower than 20%. Extraction distillation uses solvents (including ILs) the presence of which significantly alters relative volatility of the original mixture components, i.e., the conditions of the mixture components separation are changed. Replacement of classical volatile solvents with non-volatile ionic liquids should provide benefits such as a less complicated manufacturing process and much easier solvent regeneration. The project will address the issue of ionic liquid regeneration, which is an essential part of the complete separation process. In particular, the project has experimental character. Various separation devices (evaporators, distillation columns, …) will be tested. Results of the experimental measurements will be integrated into simulation calculations of the complete separation process of various model azeotropic mixtures (alkane - aromate, alcohol - water, alcohol – ketone, …).
Support for the use of renewable energy sources and capacity building in the field of environmental protection at the Georgian Technical University (SAMRS/2022/GE/1/2) Supervisor: prof. Ing. Juma Haydary, PhD. (2022-2024) - Slovak Aid The aim of this project is to contribute to the construction of infrastructure and the sustainable use of natural resources in Georgia by improving the quality of life and health of the Georgian population through efficient and sustainable use of renewable energy sources (RES), development of education for women and men in RES and environmental protection, raising citizens' awareness of the fight against climate change and developing trade relations between Georgia and the Slovak Republic. The specific objective of the project is to increase the share of renewable energy use and environmental capacity building in Georgia through the development of sustainable technical infrastructure in the field of energy, support of a public university in capacity building, building and establishing cooperation between Slovak and Georgian institutions and knowledge transfer in the field of environmental protection from Slovakia. Combating climate change, saving resources, protecting the environment, the knowledge-based economy, education and equal opportunities for all without gender, religion, ethnicity and other differences are the main attributes of this project. The most important results of the project will be: Fully equipped renewable energy center for solar and thermal energy production and for providing practical training and demonstration of renewable energy sources at the Georgian Technical University, serving for students from all regions of Georgia. trained home lecturers in Slovakia who will provide post-project training and 50 local students with improved knowledge and skills in the field renewable energy sources and environmental solutions. In terms of cross-cutting themes environment and climate change in accordance with the SAMRS methodological guideline on cross-cutting themes 2022, the project is classified in category B, because project activities do not pose a risk to the environment but only opportunity and contribute to the fight against climate change.
