Andrea Nicolini

Andrea Nicolini
University of Perugia | UNIPG · Department of Engineering

Electronic Engineering

About

184
Publications
48,685
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3,441
Citations
Additional affiliations
December 2015 - present
University of Perugia
Position
  • Professor (Associate)
November 2005 - December 2015
University of Perugia
Position
  • Professor (Assistant)

Publications

Publications (184)
Article
Different techniques were proposed to recover γ-valerolactone (GVL) from aqueous solutions (e.g., supercritical CO2 and distillation), but high equipment and operational costs as well as the high-boiling polar nature of this organic solvent have limited its industrial usage. As an example, GVL has garnered attention as a sustainable solvent in lign...
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This article outlines the design and performance of a flue gas condensation system integrated with a biomass combustion plant. The system comprises a biomass plant fuelled by wood chips, generating flue gases. These gases are condensed via a double heat exchanger set-up, extracting water and heat to reduce concentrations of CO, CO2, and NOx while r...
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Reducing the carbon footprint of energy production is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today. Lignocellulosic biomass residues from fruit production industries show promise as a viable energy source. This paper presents a study of the Italian context concerning the utilization of orchard lignocellulosic residues for energy produc...
Preprint
Full-text available
Reducing the carbon footprint of energy production is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today. Lignocellulosic biomass residues from fruit production industries show promise as a viable energy source. This paper presents a study of the Italian context concerning the utilization of orchard lignocellulosic residues for energy produc...
Article
Refrigerators, as other cooling systems, are responsible for a significant parcel of anthropogenic emissions since they are essential and heavy appliances that use energy during its lifespan and are loaded with refrigerant gases. Three types of commercial refrigerators and their new versions, with incorporated CO2 as refrigerant gas and an wireless...
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The potential benefits of highly reflective and retro-reflective (RR) materials on urban context have been performed by several studies through their optical characterization. During their lifetime, outdoor aging and soiling can affect the RR optical behaviour. To this aim, this study investigates the performance of RR plaster coatings after outdoo...
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Retro-reflective (RR) materials, applied to building envelopes, constitute an option to tackle Urban Heat Island phenomenon, thanks to their capability to reflect the sunlight predominantly towards the solar incidence direction. RR coatings are obtained with the deposition of glass beads on traditional diffusive materials. During their lifetime, ou...
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This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of an innovative technology for the agricultural sector. The technology consists of a high-reflective mulching membrane, coupled with a drip sub-irrigation system, applied in the experimental field in Perugia, Italy. The aim is to investigate the effects of the high-reflective membrane on soil temper...
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This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of lignin-based polyol production through organosolv fractionation of cardoon stalks and subsequent lignin liquefaction. The LCA employed a cradle-to-gate approach, encompassing cardoon cultivation and all processing steps leading to polyol production. The research involved lab...
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Wood waste is a valuable material that could constitute an abundant and inexpensive source to produce new materials and energy recovery. In Europe, about 46 % of wood waste is recycled to particleboard and fiberboard, while the other fraction is incinerated. However, a considerable quantity of wood waste has the potentiality to be transformed into...
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Gas hydrates are crystalline structures formed by water molecule cages hosting gas molecules [...]
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Noise exposure may cause auditory and extra-auditory effects. School teachers and students are exposed to high noise levels which have an impact on perceptual-cognitive and neurobehavioral aspects. The latter influence teaching conditions and student school performance. A Protocol was defined and parameters to be investigated were identified for ac...
Conference Paper
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This article presents the design and performance analysis of a flue gas condensation system coupled to a biomass plant, that is an objective of the national supported PRIN2017 BIOCHEAPER project. The analysed system is composed of a biomass combustion plant fed by wood chips producing flue gases that are condensed by a double heat exchanger system...
Article
Renewable energy production is rapidly increasing, but it is not demand-oriented, and this makes challenging its integration into national distribution grids. Sector coupling strategies (i.e., power-to-heat) represent a solution to this issue since they enable demand-side management strategies by increasing energy flexibility. Among the others, ele...
Article
Retro-reflective (RR) materials may represent an advanced solution for building envelopes, as they could contribute to Urban Heat Island mitigation. This study could bring novelty to the current state of the art on this topic, as it proposes to investigate the optimum design of glass beads RR materials for building application. To this aim, the imp...
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The present research deals with the micro – scale characterization of sI hydrates containing a binary mixture of methane and carbon dioxide. The application of replacement strategies in natural hydrate reservoirs, always leads to the formation of “mixed” hydrates, whose mechanical and chemical properties are different from those of pure CH4 and CO2...
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Given the current scenario of increasing environmental problems associated with the need for rapid energy transition, this article aimed to investigate the implementation of Cynara cardunculus L. (cardoon), a plant with high environmental performance, as a source of energy resources. This study presented thLife Cycle Assessment of two energy produc...
Article
The effects of natural parameters and their related properties, on the formation and dissociation of gas hydrates, have been widely investigated and satisfying information can be found elsewhere in literature. Conversely, there is a substantial lack of similar studies related to CO2/CH4 replacement processes. This research aims to contribute in thi...
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Lignocellulosic biomass is a nonedible matrix that can be efficiently exploited as feedstock in an integrated biorefinery after a proper pretreatment. An organosolv pretreatment using an acidified γ-valerolactone (GVL)/water solution was proposed to improve the cellulose enrichment and enzymatic saccharification of cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) s...
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The whole metallurgic sector produces up to 200 million tons of slag, which are tapped from the blast furnace (at a temperature of 1,500°C), and then need to be cooled down before disposal. These cooling processes are generally conducted open-air, significantly affecting local environmental quality of the surroundings. The present study aims at inv...
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Materials for urban pavements and building coatings have a direct impact on urban thermal environment: low-reflective and highly absorptive materials, in fact, could contribute to the exacerbation of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon, which negatively affects building energy consumptions and indoor and outdoor thermal comfort. These effects co...
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This article aims to present an evaluation of the environmental performance of a combustion polygeneration plant fed with lignocellulosic material from cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) through the technique of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The system boundaries encompassed macro-phases of crop production, transportation, and polygeneration processes...
Article
The aim of this work is to enhance microclimate and pedestrians’ thermal comfort under solar awnings. For this purpose, an optimized awning with aluminized polyester film, characterized by low thermal emissivity properties downward and high thermal emissivity upward, was tested and compared with a high thermal emissivity white textile awning, usual...
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A synthetic review of the application of multi-objective optimization models to the design of climate-responsive buildings and neighbourhoods is carried out. The review focused on the software utilized during both simulation and optimization stages, as well as on the objective functions and the design variables. The hereby work aims at identifying...
Conference Paper
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Il presente lavoro descrive le prestazioni di un sistema innovativo per il retrofit della cattura delle polveri sottili (PM-Particulate Matter) emesse da stufe a pellet residenziali, in accordo a quanto previsto dal progetto PRIN BIOCHEAPER. Il sistema proposto è composto da un ciclone passivo che può essere facilmente accoppiato all'impianto di sc...
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This research study aimed to investigate the influences of angular-selective retro-reflective (AS-RR) and retro-reflective (RR) materials on the urban equivalent albedo (αeq). Full ray tracing solar analyses were conducted through the Monte Carlo-based numerical model validated in a previous work. Different geometry scenarios with different pattern...
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Agro-food chain impacts global greenhouse gas emissions by around 30%. To reduce this score without worsening food crops' yield, new and more sustainable technologies (i.e., mulching membranes, advanced irrigation systems) were implemented. Within this framework, the present study aims to assess the influences on heat propagation throughout the soi...
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One of the primary targets for the new lignocellulosic feedstock-based biorefinery is the simultaneous valorization of holocellulose and lignin. Acidified organosolv treatment is among the most promising strategy for recovering technical lignin, water-soluble hemicellulose, and cellulose pulp with increased accessibility to hydrolytic enzymes. In t...
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The brick industry is currently facing a shortage of natural resources. Despite this, the demand for construction bricks is progressively increasing. Alternative materials, such as dredged sediments and solid organic waste, have been recently proposed as options to replace natural clay in brick manufacturing. Potential exploitation of dredged sedim...
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Nowadays, ever-increasing energy demands and the depletion of fossil fuels require efficient and environmentally friendly technologies for energy generation. In this context, energy systems integration makes for a very strong proposition since it results in energy saving, fuel diversification, and the supply of cleaner energy. To this end, it is of...
Article
Cardoon is low-input biomass which can be efficiently exploited in the modern biorefinery for multi-purpose uses. In this work, cardoon lignocellulosic stalks underwent to acid-catalyzed steam explosion. A design of experiments approach was employed to assess the effect of the process variables (acid concentration, temperature and reaction time) on...
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Retro-reflectivity is a promising surface capability, which has attracted the interest of researchers for building applications in order to counteract Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects. This work aims at studying the impact of the substrate material on the optic performance of retro-reflective (RR) coatings. Three types of substrate materials were in...
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Wine production is a key sector for the Italian economy, representing 13 billion euros per year. The proportion of the market raises concerns about improving the production technology at low cost, safe practices, and low environmental impacts. The recurrent life cycle assessment performed does not report on the impacts of frost protection. This stu...
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Gas hydrates are nonstoichiometric solid crystalline compound, whose formation is function of several parameters, such as pressure, temperature, fluid phase composition, reservoir saturation degree and others. One of the most critical aspects related to the research on this manner stays in differences existing between experimental results reached b...
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An innovative method against late frosts in vineyard has been developed at CIRIAF, University of Perugia. It consists of an organic coating made by cotton candy and straw to prevent the vine shoots freezing due to late frosts. This technique has already tested at lab-scale with very encouraging results. This paper aims to experiment the effect of t...
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The present study deals with an original application of RR materials to the agriculture sector, evaluating the effectiveness of a high-reflective mulching membrane treated with glass micro-spheres and coupled with a drip sub-irrigation system. An experimental facility, in which this technology is exploited, has been set up in Perugia (Italy). Influ...
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Carbon dioxide injection into natural gas hydrate reservoirs represents a promising opportunity to predispose a theoretically carbon neutral energy source. This technique allows to replace methane molecules with an equal number of carbon dioxide molecules and, consequently, to balance in advance emissions associated to methane utilization. While th...
Conference Paper
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This work refers to the activities developed in the scope of PRIN (BIO-CHEAPER) Project-Research Projects of Relevant National Interest. The objective of this article is to present a preliminary LCA by investigating the primary energy demands of a polygeneration plant fed with cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) lignocellulosic material. Moreover, this ar...
Conference Paper
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Modern agriculture techniques are responsible for the production of large volumes of greenhouse gases that represent the main cause of climate change. At the same time, agricultural activities are negatively affected by climate change effects, showing a reduction in productivity. Within this framework, the present study aims at investigating the ef...
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Natural gas hydrates represent a valid opportunity to counteract two of the most serious issues that are affecting humanity this century: climate change and the need for new energy sources, due to the fast and constant increase in the population worldwide. The energy that might be produced with methane contained in hydrates is greater than any amou...
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The study deals with the application of retro-reflective (RR) and angular-selective retro-reflective (AS-RR) coatings on surfaces (i.e. the street ground and the south-exposed façade) within the urban canyon. Solar analyses were conducted at different latitudes (Oslo, Milan, and Cairo) by varying the urban canyon height-to-width ratio (H/W) to dete...
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The PRIN (Research Project with Relevant National Interest) project “Biocheaper—biomasses circular holistic economy approach to energy equipments” started in September 2019 and involves several universities: Palermo as the university coordinator, Perugia, Cassino, Enna, Pavia and Bolzano. The main goal of the project is to increase the energy effic...
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Lignocellulosic biomass is a non-edible feedstock that can be used in integrated biorefinery for the production of biochemicals and biofuel. Among lignocellulosic biomass, Cynara cardunculus L. (cardoon) is a promising crop thanks to its low water and fertilizer demand. Organosolv is a chemical treatment that uses numerous organic or aqueous solven...
Article
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Late frosts are one of the major impact factors on agriculture worldwide with large economic losses for agricultural crops, with a significant impact also in wine production. Given the importance of the wine sector in the world, more and more efforts are being made to identify innovative techniques capable of creating a low-cost and effective prote...
Article
Urban areas are increasingly affected by the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon, which is mainly due to highly dense urban environments and to solar and radiative properties of outdoor surfaces. UHI has a strong impact on urban microclimate, significantly contributing to the deterioration of outdoor human thermal comfort. Solutions based on high re...
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The Italian building stock consists of buildings mainly constructed until the mid-20th century using pre-industrial construction techniques. These buildings require energy refurbishment that takes into account the preservation of their architectural heritage. In this view, this work studies an innovative integrated modelling and simulation framewor...
Article
This paper presents the results of the characterization of new retroreflective (RR) plasters for outdoor applications. The paint has been obtained through deposition of four different types of RR microspheres on a traditional plaster for exterior applications. The plasters were characterized through a spectrophotometric, directional and colorimetri...
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Raising energy consumption observed in sport events for the last decades leads the organizing associations to develop adequate strategies for counteracting this. While the active systems (installed on or integrated in buildings) had been already significantly enhanced to produce renewable energy with high efficiency, the passive strategies still pr...
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Nowadays natural gas hydrates represent a promising opportunity for counteracting several crucial issues of the 21 th century. They are a valid answer to the continuously increasing energy demand, moved by the global population growth; moreover, considering their conformation and the possibility of using them for carbon dioxide permanently storage,...
Conference Paper
Nowadays cities constitute the major source of pollution and energy consumption worldwide: the continuous rise in population and the unstoppable expansion of urban boundaries cause the lack of green and open areas and the spread of built surfaces with low solar reflectance capability. This fact leads to multiple effects, e.g. the increase of anthro...
Conference Paper
Energy storage systems represent one of the most concrete solutions for solving the main two limits of the renewable energy sources (RES): punctuality and not programmable generation. Among them, Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) technology is an efficient, low cost, and extremely adaptable option for small scale applications. In the present pap...
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Highly- and retro-reflective materials have recently been investigated and proposed as a new urban coating solution to reduce the so-called urban heat island effect. The present study aims at providing a numerical model for assessing inter-buildings solar reflections when these materials are applied to urban canyon's surfaces. The proposed model in...
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Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is a promising crop from which to obtain oilseeds and lignocellulosic biomass. Acid-catalyzed steam explosion is a thermochemical process that can efficiently pre-treat lignocellulosic biomass. The drawback is the production of a high number of carbohydrate degradation products in the liquid fraction that could inhibit...
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According to the European goals defined in EU Dir. 28/2009, biomass represents a valid alternative to fossil fuels. Combined heat and power (CHP) biomass plants are considered as advantageous in those rural areas which show critical issues regarding the disposal of organic wastes from agriculture and forestry activities. Furthermore, the connection...