TRANSFER OF ANALYTICAL METHODS FOR THE CHARACTERISATION OF NATURAL PRODUCTS TO R&D PROCESSES OF IDOKI

IDOKI SCF Technologies S.L. is a technology-based company, set up on September 2006 in Derio (Biscay) with the main scope of developing extraction and purification processes based on the use of supercritical fluid extraction technology (SFE) in food processing, extraction of natural products and the production of personal care products. IDOKI¿s researchers have been working on many different R&D projects so far, most of them using this technology. However, the optimization of a SFE method for the different matrices cannot be performed unless we have an analytical method for the characterisation of the extracts obtained in each experiment. The analytical methods are also essential for the quality control of the raw materials that are going to be used and also for the final product. This PhD thesis was born to tackle this problem and therefore, it is based on the development of different analytical methods for the characterisation of the extracts and products. The projects that we could include in this thesis were the following: the extraction propolis, the recovery of agroindustrial residues (soy and wine) and the dealcoholisation of wine.On the one hand, for the extraction of propolis, several UV-Vis spectroscopic methods were used in order to measure the antioxidant capacity and the total polyphenol and flavonoid content of the extracts. A SFC method was also developed in order to measure more specific phenolic compounds. On the other hand, for the recovery of agroindustrial residues UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to determine the total polyphenol content and two SFC methods were developed to analyse different phenolic compounds. Extraction methods such as MAE, FUSE and rotary agitation were also evaluated for the characterisation of the raw materials.Finally, for the dealcoholisation of wine, the development of a SBSE-TD-GC-MS and DHS-TD-GC-MS methods for the analysis of aromas and a NIR spectroscopic method for the determination of ethanol content with the help of chemometrics was necessary. Most of these methods are typically used in IDOKI¿s lab as routine analyses apart from others not included in this PhD thesis.

Valuing Flexibility: The case of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Power Plant

In this paper we analyze the valuation of options stemming from the flexibility in an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Power Plant. First we use as a base case the opportunity to invest in a Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) Power Plant, deriving the optimal investment rule as a function of fuel price and the remaining life of the right to invest. Additionally, the analytical solution for a perpetual option is obtained. Second, the valuation of an operating IGCC Power Plant is studied, with switching costs between states and a choice of the best operation mode. The valuation of this plant serves as a base to obtain the value of the option to delay an investment of this type. Finally, we derive the value of an opportunity to invest either in a NGCC or IGCC Power Plant, that is, to choose between an inflexible and a flexible technology, respectively. Numerical computations involve the use of one- and two-dimensional binomial lattices that support a mean-reverting process for the fuel prices. Basic parameter values refer to an actual IGCC power plant currently in operation.

Modular integration and on-chip sensing approaches for tunable fluid control polymer microdevices

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