This Project aims to support, on an academic level, international greenhouse gas reduction targets by following a global target of 43% reduction in fossil fuel consumption by 2030 (2015 Paris Agreements, COP 26 and COP 28) and reach the net-zero by 2050. Fortunately, there are cross-cutting enablers, including innovation, international collaboration and digitalization, that accelerate progress by strengthening policies or providing more effective technological solutions. The project is based on the collaboration between UCAD (ESP) and CUNY (Lehman College). Lehman and ESP students initially connected with each other through COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning), a course designed, structured to bring students and professors in different countries together in one online classroom. Lectures were delivered both asynchronously as well as synchronously and use language translation software that provided subtitles in the relevant language. Participants engaged in collaborative assignments, embarked on joint research and interacted on digital discussion boards as part of their coursework.
The general objective of this project is to produce experimental cells from swelling clay base for the construction of affordable housing in Senegal and in particular as part of the development program of the urban pole of Danga Kholpa . The specific objectives are: to carry out a campaign to characterize the properties of the clay soils under consideration; to carry out brick samples for their characterization; to build prototypes from these construction products; Perform in situ monitoring of thermal and mechanical performance; conduct a comparative study of brick prices.
This project, PHOSPHOVAL, aims to study a set of solutions to the problems of elimination of by-products from phosphate plants. PHOSPHOVAL is a project of material recovery of fluosilicic acid and phosphogypsum from the production of phosphoric acid. This project thus envisages an alternative treatment of fluosilicic acid which constitutes an interesting intermediate reagent rather than a simple hazardous industrial waste. Thus, the conversion of this aqueous effluent makes it possible to obtain hydrochloric acid, soda and a cementitious material. Alkaline activation of the cementitious material with incorporation of phosphogypsum and schlams provides a building material that can replace Ordinary Portland cement.
Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique and the University of Applied Sciences of Hamburg, have developed this project to set up a training of license in renewable energies, with options oriented on the sectors of solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind and biogas, with the support of SATECH (in Senegal) and SMA (in Germany). The main objective of the project, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), is to train a skilled workforce capable of properly designing, installing, operating, maintaining and managing renewable energy facilities. The project focuses on adapting the training programme to market needs, strengthening the capacity of training stakeholders and supporting the professional integration of graduates.
Biosurfactants are considered the promising compounds of this century because of their multifunctional, environmentally friendly character and their effectiveness in extreme environmental conditions. However, high production costs limit their production, marketing and large-scale use, making these molecules non-competitive substances on the market. This difficulty in producing and marketing biosurfactants accentuates the use of surfactant compounds of fossil origin. Due to the depletion of fossil sources, chemical surfactants will one day be threatened with extinction. However, the need to increase the competitiveness of biosurfactants by reducing production costs, marketing while maximizing yield is inevitable. This project highlights the evolving knowledge of biosurfactant production and applications.
The building sector is an object of concern in terms of health, energy consumption and environmental impacts. With more than 40 % of the world's energy consumption and high CO2 emissions, the building sector is among the most energy-intensive sectors. An in-depth analysis of the building sector shows that Concrete, the material currently most used in Senegal is unsuited to the climatic conditions of Sahelian countries. In addition, cement production consumes a lot of energy and is a source of greenhouse gas emissions. Faced with environmental and energy concerns, the choice of appropriate materials is a key to limiting environmental impact and ensuring a healthy and comfortable indoor environment. This is how a sustainable approach using local clay resources for the production of clay bricks was implemented. However, the use of swelling clays is the source of significant problems in construction. Thus for a good prediction of the mechanical and thermal behavior of a material, it is important to determine its physical properties. This project focuses on the physical characterization of the excavated soils of Diamniadio in Senegal.
So-called clean and renewable energy sources are increasingly being explored as a response to global warming and the depletion of fossil fuels. The availability of biomass and its energy potential make it an excellent alternative. Like other African countries, Ivory Coast is stepping up its waste-to-energy efforts to boost its energy mix. For example, sawdust from the most widely exploited tropical woods in Ivory Coast is used to produce biofuels for domestic and industrial use. Box-Behnken's Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used firstly to model and optimize binder percentage, compaction pressure and retention time, and then to study the effects of their interaction on Higher Heating Value (HHV), Impact Resistance Index (IRI) and ash content. Subsequently, the combination of the Laboratory Emissions Monitoring System (LEMS) and the water boiling test were used to determine pollutant emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and aerodynamic particles with diameters ≤ 2.5 µm (PM2.5). Finally, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to determine the influence of the type of thermochemical treatment of the parent biomass on the calorific, mechanical and combustion properties of the resulting fuel briquettes.
The steel industry is a major contributor to global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Efficient heat storage systems are essential to optimize energy use and reduce environmental impact. Storage thermochemical heat, involving reversible reactions, appeared as a promising technology. This project studies the potential of copper oxide and barium for thermochemical heat storage applications in industry. The European Research Centre aims to improve efficiency, sustainability and profitability. Research focuses on the identification of appropriate metal oxides as supports for couples BaO2 /BaO and Cu2O/CuO, the optimization of the redox performance of these two couples and the determination of the essential elements for the manufacture of the prototype for the production. The objective of the project is to investigate the feasibility of the integration of the thermochemical storage during the manufacturing process of the steel more precisely in the step cooling of steel billets.
In this Internationalization Initiative Project, we seek to realize the promise of global citizenship by building bonds among students and faculty at Oregon State University (OSU) and Cheikh Anta Diop University (CADU) in Senegal. Senegal is not commonly a country that sends its students to OSU; as it is French speaking, students will typically seek out graduate studies in France. The objective of this project is to create and sustain long-term interaction between the two institutions. It aims to advance the internationalization goals of OSU which are aligned with those of the School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering (CBEE) to realize the promise of global citizenship. Based on our common research interests, we decided to have athematic focus on ‘Industrial Decarbonization.
In a context of accelerating climate change, it is more necessary than ever to produce building materials that are more ecological than Portland cement. The co-valorization of phosphogypsum and fly ash, industrial by-products, constitutes an ecological interest and an opportunity in the field of building materials. The main problem with the recovery of phosphogypsum lies in the quantity recovered. Thus, the general objective of this project was to valorize phosphogypsum in greater amount in construction and building materials.
The WASTEVAL project offers new data to improve national strategies to combat climate change, marine pollution and urban management. The consumption of biochar by households at the expense of other fuels will be the main indicator of this project. Thus, the marketing of green coal produced by WASTEVAL in local and rural areas is our main priority. Thus, WASTEVAL will propose a process to manufacture biochar from cow dung, sewage sludge, clay and household waste. A pilot plant will be set up to refine the research results before setting up a possible industrial unit.
Fluorosilicic acid (H2SiF6) is one of the wastes products released by the industrial production of phosphate fertilizers and constitutes a major environmental (toxicity) and economic (end-of- chain waste treatment) challenge. It is therefore essential to opt for recycling this waste through a treatment system generating substances that can be used in chemical processes. However, up to now, no industrial solution has been implemented to treat this dangerous effluent. In this project, the sodium fluorosilicate conversion step has been revisited. The methodology consisted in carrying out a thermodynamic study of the aqueous process, using the geochemical software PHREEQC. The calculations were combined with experimental tests on a model compound (pure Na2SiF6), in a batch reactor, with different product characterization techniques (ICP-AES, XRD, TGA). This project led to the proposal of a new step of the process, that allows to successively generate two solid products: (i) pure calcium fluoride CaF2, usable in metallurgy and (ii) a mixture of hydrated calcium silicate (CSH) low in CaF2, which is a promising raw material for the manufacture of building materials.
Building materials are one of the major environmental, economic and social issues plaguing our societies. This project focus on transforming waste into new hydraulic pastes at low temperature. As it is well known, human activities are changing the climate in dangerous ways and over the last decades, our planet has suffered of environmental pollution which contributes to climate change. The main raw materials were clay, phosphate and fluoride waste. Working-up these industrial wastes for their transformation into civil applications like cement, mortars and concrete leads to new building materials. However, the goal of this project was to ensure efficiency and sustainability in the manufacturing companies by using waste into opportunity. This study consists on producing several composites at low-energy consumption by carrying out processes which are environmentally friendly for saving our planet.