Associate Professor · HDR
Transforming biomass.
Preserving resources.
I study processes that turn biomass and waste into energy, materials and solutions for water treatment.
01 / Research areas
From understanding mechanisms to evaluating processes, my work combines experiments, simulation and performance assessment.
Understanding and optimising pyrolysis, gasification and catalytic reforming to convert biomass into useful energy gases.
How do biomass composition and operating conditions influence product distribution? How can we improve gas quality and reduce tar formation?
Producing, characterising and activating biochars to explore their use as adsorbents, catalyst supports and fillers in composite materials.
How are production conditions, porosity and surface chemistry related? How can these properties be tailored to an application, and how stable is the resulting material?
Combining physicochemical and biological treatments to remove pollutants and explore the recovery of water, energy and nutrients.
How can photocatalysis, electrocoagulation and biological processes work together? How can microalgae cultivation and anaerobic digestion be integrated into a resource recovery chain?
Connecting experimental data with kinetic models and simulations to compare resource recovery pathways and inform process design.
Which parameters determine process performance? How can energy efficiency, technical and economic feasibility, and environmental impacts be assessed together?
Characterise the resource. Understand the mechanisms. Design the process. Assess its impacts.
02 / Facilities & modelling
Experimental reactors and process simulation tools for biomass conversion. Explore the setups, models and research applications documented in our publications.
01 / Pyrolysis & co-pyrolysis
Jaafar et al. — Upgrading Pyrolytic Oil via Catalytic Co-Pyrolysis of Beechwood and Polystyrene. Captured from p. 16; cropped around the figure. © 2023 the authors · CC BY 4.0.
A semi-continuous quartz tubular reactor with a stainless-steel spoon for introducing samples into the heated zone. Vapours pass through a downstream catalyst bed before condensation; nitrogen maintains an inert atmosphere.
Co-pyrolysis of beechwood and polystyrene to improve the resulting oil. Experiments compared zeolite catalysts, biomass-to-plastic ratios and temperature, examining their effects on oxygen removal and oil composition.
Conditions in the cited study
02 / Biochar gasification
Reyes et al. — The Development of a Kinetic Model for Biochar Gasification with CO₂: Comparison Between a Thermogravimetric Analyzer and a Fluidized Bed Reactor. Captured from p. 5; cropped around the figure. © 2025 the authors · CC BY 4.0.
A gas–solid reactor with a stainless-steel tube, a cyclone, condensers and gas analysis. Biochar is mixed with sand, heated under nitrogen and then exposed to CO₂ for isothermal gasification.
Gasification of beechwood biochar to develop kinetic models and compare reactor measurements with thermogravimetric analysis. The study examined temperature, CO₂ partial pressure and the CO₂-to-carbon ratio.
Conditions in the cited study
03 / Continuous pyrolysis & catalytic upgrading
Campusano et al. — Improvement of Properties of Bio-Oil from Biomass Pyrolysis in Auger Reactor Coupled to Fluidized Catalytic Bed Reactor. Captured from p. 5; cropped around the figure. © 2024 the authors · CC BY 4.0.
A motor-driven screw transports biomass continuously through a heated stainless-steel tube. Its speed controls solid residence time. In the illustrated configuration, vapours then enter a separate fluidised catalytic bed before condensation.
Beechwood pyrolysis followed by catalytic upgrading with iron-modified HZSM-5 zeolites. The work assessed how temperature, residence time and catalyst iron loading affected bio-oil yield and composition.
Conditions in the cited study
04 / Process simulation
Abdelouahed et al. — Detailed Modeling of Biomass Gasification in Dual Fluidized Bed Reactors under Aspen Plus. Energy & Fuels 26, 3840–3855 (2012). Explanatory diagram created for this website from the study.
An Aspen Plus model coupled with Fortran routines for dual fluidised bed biomass gasification. It combines pyrolysis correlations, reaction kinetics and char combustion to calculate material and energy balances.
The 2012 study compared predictions with TNEE and FERCO experimental data, including gas and tar composition, flow rates and heating values. It also examined the influence of water–gas shift kinetics.
Modelling framework
Interested in a collaborative experiment, a modelling study or a research partnership?
Discuss a project03 / Research projects
Collaborative research in water treatment, renewable hydrogen, biomass conversion and circular resource recovery.
From wastewater to resources.
Project Coordinator
I coordinate a multinational Mediterranean project integrating physicochemical and biological wastewater treatment with clean energy production, bioresource recovery and decision-support tool development. Treatment and resource-recovery activities are connected within an integrated circular approach.
Explore PHYBIOMED (opens in a new tab)
Renewable hydrogen for communities.
Principal Investigator
Contributed to renewable-hydrogen pathways for energy-secure communities through high-pressure bio-oil hydrodeoxygenation, Aspen Plus modelling of anaerobic digestion, electrolyser sizing, and integration with solar and wind energy.
Grass biomass to useful products.
Work Package Leader
Sustainable conversion of grass biomass into hydrogen, methane and value-added products through pretreatment, bioprocessing and sustainability assessment.
Waste pyrolysis & resource recovery.
Contractual research collaboration
Pyrolysis of non-recyclable waste for energy and material recovery, linking thermochemical conversion research with an industrial application.
Municipal biomass & biochar.
Principal Investigator
Characterised municipal-biomass pyrolysis products, modelled an industrial biochar-production unit, and assessed large-scale pyrolysis feasibility and techno-economic performance.
Biomass gasification for hydrogen.
Researcher
Contributed to multi-stage biomass-gasifier design, biochar-catalysed tar cracking, and hydrogen-production optimisation through methane reforming and the water–gas shift reaction. Performed energy and exergy assessment of the gasification system.
Upgrading biomass-derived bio-oil.
Principal Investigator
Investigated fast-pyrolysis bio-oil deoxygenation, designed and integrated biomass pyrolysis with a continuous catalytic hydrodeoxygenation reactor, and assessed the hydrodynamic feasibility of a fluid catalytic cracking unit for bio-oil upgrading.
Images are AI-generated conceptual illustrations. They do not depict actual project facilities, equipment or demonstrated results.
04 / Publications
A selection of co-authored papers, spanning biomass conversion, materials and catalysis.
All my publications on Google Scholar6 selected publications
Fuel Processing Technology
Optimising catalytic pyrolysis and characterising biochar produced from Brachychiton seeds.
Results in Chemistry · 20, 103036
Investigating how deposition conditions relate to the properties and photocatalytic activity of ZnO thin films.
Catalysis Today · 459, 115421
Converting sludge into biochar-supported copper nanoparticles for the catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol.
Fuels · 6(2), 34
Kinetic modelling of CO₂ gasification, comparing thermogravimetric analysis with a fluidised bed reactor.
Journal of Composites Science · 8(6), 220
A review of biochar production, properties and potential applications in biocomposite materials.
Process Safety and Environmental Protection · 186, 89–103
Assessing thermal hazards during the preparation and curing of resins incorporating biomass-derived products.
Try another keyword or select all topics.
Visit my research profile for the full publication list and other work.
Google Scholar05 / Background & teaching
I am an Associate Professor with accreditation to supervise doctoral research (HDR) at INSA Rouen Normandie, working in the Chemical Process Safety Laboratory.
Discover LSPCUniversity of Rouen Normandy
ENSIC · LRGP
University of Lorraine
ENSIC · Nancy, France
Constantine, Algeria
Teaching & supervision
Process safety, simulation and unit operations. Supervision of internships and doctoral research at the intersection of energy, materials and the environment.
06 / Institution & location
My research is based at INSA Rouen Normandie, within the Laboratory for Chemical Process Safety: a setting where engineering education, experimentation and process modelling come together.
The engineering school
INSA Rouen Normandie brings together engineering education, research and doctoral training. Its main campus at Madrillet, in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, is part of the Rouen metropolitan area in Normandy, northern France.
Explore INSA Rouen NormandieThe research laboratory · UR 4704
The Laboratory for Chemical Process Safety is a joint research unit of INSA Rouen Normandie and the University of Rouen Normandie. Its work spans process safety, biomass valorisation and green chemistry, CO₂ capture and utilisation, and microwave-assisted processes.
Discover LSPC researchFrance → Normandy → Rouen metropolitan area
Locator maps · Regional boundaries: IGN / data.gouv.fr, ODbL. Campus location: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Archive photographs · October 2007
INSA Rouen Normandie · Madrillet campus
© Aripauteur · CC BY-SA 3.0
Original photo on Wikimedia Commons
INSA Rouen Normandie · Madrillet campus
© Aripauteur · CC BY-SA 3.0
Original photo on Wikimedia Commons
INSA Rouen Normandie · Madrillet campus
© Aripauteur · CC BY-SA 3.0
Original photo on Wikimedia Commons
07 / Contact
Collaborative projects, academic or industry partnerships,
doctoral research: get in touch to discuss your ideas.
INSA Rouen Normandie
LSPC–MRIE
Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, France