Ciencias Exactas y Ciencias de la Salud
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11285/551039
Pertenecen a esta colección Tesis y Trabajos de grado de las Maestrías correspondientes a las Escuelas de Ingeniería y Ciencias así como a Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud.
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- Circular economy: Tequila vinasse treatment for upcycling and downcycling(Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, 2024-12-04) Ramos Reyes, María Fernanda; Gradilla Hernández, Misael Sebastián; Tuesta Popolizio, Diego A.; García Garcia, Christian Enrique; School of Engineering and Sciences; Campus Monterrey; González López, Martin EstebanTequila is one of Mexico's most iconic distilled beverages, with a steadily growing industry that also embodies a significant cultural legacy. However, most tequila producers in the country face challenges in managing the waste generated during production due to the high costs of treatment and the low economic returns from by-products. This thesis begins by exploring the intricate relationships between tequila production and various industrial, environmental, and governmental sectors through a comprehensive mapping process. The second section examines the production of distillates, including bioethanol, tequila, and other alcoholic beverages, focusing on the treatment of substantial liquid waste known as vinasse, which is produced at a rate of 10-15 liters per liter of distilled product. This waste presents critical environmental challenges, such as eutrophication, soil pollution, and toxicity. A systematic review conducted in this thesis evaluates various pathways for valorizing distillery vinasse. The review includes 72 treatments involving ethanol industry vinasse, tequila vinasse, and their combinations with agro-industrial residues, categorized into three main valorization strategies: waste-to-energy, waste-to-food, and waste-to-product. Biotechnological treatments, such as two-stage anaerobic digestion and fungal anaerobic fermentation, achieved the highest yields and product diversity. Moreover, bacterial processes demonstrated significant potential for producing high-value products like polymers, enzymes, and proteins. The third part of this thesis is about an aerobic treatment in co-cultures and monocultures using strains like C. utilis, R. mucilaginosa, K. marxianus, A. niger, A. oryzae, and R. oligosporus were explored for contaminant removal and high-protein biomass production. The C. utilis and A. oryzae co-culture generated the best results at the tube scale, showing remotion up to 63.52% TN removal, 86.87% P removal, and 46.21% COD removal over 72 hours in the benchtop scale. A kinetic study modeled biomass growth using a biphasic Zwietering-modified Gompertz model, achieving a maximum protein of 47.27 g kg⁻¹. The thesis also explores other high-value products using this substrate, such as phenols, and the importance of these remotions.
- Environmental assessment of urban rivers through a dual lens approach: machine learning based water quality analysis and metagenomic characterization of contamination effects(Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, 2024-12-03) Fernández del Castillo Barrón, Alberto; Gradilla Hernández, Misael Sebastián; emipsanchez; García González, Alejandro; Pacheco Moscoa, Adriana; Brown, Lee; Oscar Alejandro Aguilar Jiménez; School of Engineering and Sciences; Campus Monterrey; Senés Guerrero, CarolinaUrban rivers are critical ecosystems increasingly threatened by pollution. Effective water quality monitoring and contamination assessment are essential for informed management decisions. The Santiago River, a key hydrologic system in Mexico, has become one of the country’s most polluted rivers, posing significant ecological risks and public health concerns for nearby communities. This study underscores the urgent need for comprehensive environmental evaluation and enhanced monitoring approaches. Chapter one introduces the motivation behind monitoring water quality in highly polluted rivers, presenting the problem statement and contextual background of the Santiago River basin. It outlines the research question and provides an overview of the proposed dual-lens approach: combining water quality analysis via machine learning algorithms with metagenomic characterization of contamination effects. Key contributions of this work to the field are also highlighted. Chapter two reviews global monitoring strategies from highly polluted rivers, focusing on nine rivers across developed and developing countries to offer a comparative perspective on water quality management needs. In Chapter three, regression and classification machine learning models are developed to predict the Santiago River Water Quality Index (SR-WQI), designed as complementary tools to strengthen the current monitoring program. Chapter four analyzes the historical water quality patterns of the Santiago River to identify the most variable and representative data for training machine learning models. This chapter also reveals that redundant data can hinder model performance by leading to overfitting. Chapter five investigates spatial variations in the microbial composition of Santiago River sediments and examines correlations with water quality. Using high-throughput sequencing, potential microbial biomarkers were identified and impacts of physicochemical parameters and heavy metals on microbial communities were assessed. Finally, chapter five highlight the main findings of this thesis and covers some limitations, perspectives for future research and final remarks.
- Harnessing the methanogenic potential of the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes generated in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara(Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, 2023-06) Ibarran Esparza, Fernanda Estibaliz; GRADILLA HERNANDEZ, MISAEL SEBASTIAN; 399272; Gradilla Hernández, Misael Sebastián; puemcuervo, emipsanchez; González López, Martín Esteban; Chong, James P. J.; School of Engineering and Sciences; Campus Monterrey; Senés Guerrero, CarolinaMSW generation rate has been rapidly raising in the last decades and is expected to continue increasing, especially in developing countries. Globally, the organic fraction of the MSW (OFMSW) is the largest waste category. This waste stream is characterized by its high nutritional content that translates into high energy recovery potential. For this reason, anaerobic digestion (AD) has been proposed as a waste management (WM) strategy to treat the OFMSW. AD is a Waste-to-Energy (WtE) technology that allows to simultaneously recovery of energy from waste in the form of biogas, a mixture mainly composed of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), and to recycle nutrients in the form of digestate, a liquid by-product with high potential for fertilization and soil amendment applications. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the biochemical methane potential of the OFMSW generated in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (MAG), a large city in a developing country. This thesis presents a systematic review of the implementation of pilot and full-scale AD plants to treat the OFMSW in developing countries reported in the last ten years. The review aimed to analyze the literature gathered from a technical perspective focusing on the operating parameters, feedstock characteristics, and biogas, digestate, and energy production reported for each AD plant. In this work, a comparison of the implementation level of this technology in developing and developed countries was carried out to identify practices and lessons learned in developed countries that could be applied to AD plants in developing countries. The technical, economical, and political challenges identified surrounding the implementation of AD in developing countries were identified and discussed. As noted in this work, a large difference between the maturity of the technology between developing and developed countries was observed, the majority of AD plants in developing countries treat the OFMSW in mono-digestion with the purpose to obtain electricity; whereas in developed countries, AD systems treat this waste in co-digestion with different industrial waste streams and exploit the technology further from only generation electrical power, obtaining other high market-value products. This thesis also presents AD as a WM strategy to treat the organic fraction of the municipal solid waste generated in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (MAG) located in Mexico. In this work, an experimental approach to sample the OFMSW generated in different socioeconomic strata of the MAG and to evaluate its biochemical methane potential (BMP) at a lab-scale AD system is presented. From a microscale perspective, the microbiome was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing to assess the microbial dynamics and its relationship to the composition 8 of biogas generated throughout the assays. From a macroscale perspective, a multi-Gompertz kinetic model was used to describe the cumulative biogas production and to estimate the potential biogas and methane production of the OFMSW generated in the MAG. Furthermore, this estimation was used to assess the potential environmental, economic, and energetic benefits of implementing AD as the WM practice to treat the OFMSW in the MAG. As highlighted in this work, with a biochemical methane potential of 732.8 L·kg-1 VS, an estimated 8.5 MWh·year-1 of electrical power could be produced, representing a revenue of 1.13 million USD per year and a reduction in GHG emissions of 10,519 tonnes CO2eq·year-1 in the MAG. Anaerobic digestion represents an important opportunity for developing countries to shift to sustainable WM systems, especially in the case of the OFMSW, since this waste stream represents a large untapped potential source of clean energy. AD offers significant environmental and economic advantages as a WtE and WM practice that could help developing countries, like Mexico, reach their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction and clean energy generation goals. However, further research is required to harness the methanogenic potential of the OFMSW generated in the MAG. Opportunities to optimize the AD system from a microbiological and from an operational perspective, such as using other regional waste streams as co-feedstocks, should be explored. Different political, technical, and financial barriers are preventing the full-scale implementation of AD in developing countries, nonetheless, forming alliances in which the public, private and institutional sectors work together can help overcome these challenges.
- Integrated environmental assessment of municipal solid waste management scenarios in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, Mexico(Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, 2021-12-03) Lara Topete, Gary Ossmar; Gradilla Hernández, Misael Sebastián; puemcuervo/tolmquevedo; Yebra Montes, Carlos; Vázquez Morillas, Alethia; Bernache Pérez, Gerardo; Schoool of Engineering and Sciences; Campus Guadalajara; Robles Rodríguez, Carlos EduardoMunicipal Solid Waste (MSW)—more commonly known as trash or garbage—consists of everyday items we use and then throw away, such as product packaging, bottles, food scraps, and batteries among others. This comes from our homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses. Inadequate MSW management can significantly impact human and ecosystems health, particularly the most vulnerable population groups. Governments around the world have addressed this issue through the adoption of circular economy approaches. The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region and Mexico have also taken their first steps toward this transition. Furthermore, the Mexican State of Jalisco, has decided to face the MSW mismanagement problems through the development of the ‘Jalisco Reduce’ policy with the introduction of Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facilities in one of the most populated Mexican cities: the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (GMA). The MBT is a solid waste treatment technology which combines the mechanical separation of the recoverable materials contained in MSW with the biological stabilization of organic matter via processes such as anaerobic digestion or composting. Therefore, this work aimed to assess the feasibility of MBT implementation in the GMA and LAC countries through two approaches: i) a comparative analysis of the MBT study cases reported for LAC region and developed European countries to compile the experiences and lessons learned to improve the implementation of MBT plants in lesser developed or developing countries. Furthermore, the main technological, sociocultural, economic, and political challenges that LAC countries must overcome to facilitate the transition of MSW management system to circular economy schemes were identified and discussed, and ii) an environmental performance evaluation of current MSW management model and two potential scenarios for the improvement of MSW management in a GMA subsystem, composed of four municipalities: Guadalajara, Tonala, Tlajomulco and El Salto, which currently dispose of their MSW at a closing sanitary landfill. The two potential scenarios include a mechanical treatment plant and a mechanical biological treatment plant, which are currently being considered as alternatives to transition towards a circular economy. Global warming potential (CO2-eq) and abiotic resources depletion (Sb-eq) were employed as environmental indicators for the evaluation. The comparative analysis was performed between the cases reporting the projection or an implementation of an MBT plant in developing countries in Latin America (Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico) and developed countries in the Europe (Germany, Croatia, Spain, France, Poland, Slovenia, Greece and Italy). The comparison suggested that LAC region countries must initially characterize the MSW which will be the input to the MBT facilities to allow for the optimal design of the treatment plant in accordance with the treatment goals. Additionally, because the rates of source separation and material recovery are very low in these countries and the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) is high in the countries of the LAC region (37.16%, 33.60% and 52.50% for Europe and Central Asia, North America and LAC regions, respectively) agreements must be made with the largest organic waste generators (food markets, municipals gardening and pruning departments, schools, among others), to obtain high purity streams of organic waste for the production of high-quality compost or biogas. Furthermore, other main challenges for the countries in the LAC region to transition to circular economy schemes for MSW management are the reinforcement of the monitoring and control of the disposal sites; the implementation of source-separation and selective collection mechanisms; the inclusion and formalization of the waste pickers activities in the MSW management system; the establishment of formal valorization markets; the implementation of policies of monetary responsibility for the waste generators; the promotion of intermunicipal cooperation schemes; and the development of technically skilled human resources who can conduct evaluations and provide advice for the decision making process were identified as the key challenges. Regarding the environmental evaluation, results indicate that the current MSW management system (baseline) contributes with 111.21 Gg CO2-eq/year to Jalisco State’s GHG emissions, while the two potential scenarios displayed net reductions of 24-34% of CO2-eq emissions, due to the avoided emissions resulting from the recovery of valuable materials and the potential partial substitution of petroleum coke by refuse-derived fuel in cement kilns, despite the increase in energy demand derived from the implementation of the treatment plants. Regarding the abiotic resource depletion, the rates of material recovery in the current scenario produce a reduction of 0.16 Gg Sb-eq/year, which constitutes a minimal fraction compared to the potential reduction in fossil fuels when considering the avoided coke extraction, which provides a reduction of 5.62 Gg Sb-eq/year. The sensitivity analysis revealed that some key parameters, such as the fraction of food and kitchen and plastic waste in the MSW, can alter the ranking order of scenarios (always being the current management model the less preferred option).
