The main research interest οf the Microbiology lab concerns the study of physiology of oleaginous microorganisms, both heterotrophs (yeasts, fungi) and autotrophs (microalgae, cyanobacteria) and the production of microbial lipids, named Single Cell Oils (SCOs) with emphasis on those containing high percentages of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs), which are products with a major biotechnological interest for pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The laboratory has developed innovative strategies in the field of biotechnological research that are related to:

• the bio-technologies concerning the valorization of bio-waste/agro-industrial by-products or co-products of the agro-industrial and chemical activity in Greece in pilot and large scale. Wastes considered include the by-products of fish farming, of biodiesel manufacture (industrial glycerol), of olive mills (olive-mill wastewater), of wineries, the co-products of tomato and pear industries, etc., which are considered as substrates for the production of biofuels and microbial metabolic products with high-added value (SCOs, organic acids, microbial proteins etc.).
• the development of a complete and financially-viable biodiesel production system using crops of energy plants and by-products, like raw glycerol, which are characterized as renewable raw materials. These new technologies (biological cultivation of energy plants, biotechnological methods for biodiesel production) are of great importance for future enhancement of competitiveness in general economic and social renewal.
• the production of enriched fish food supplemented with high-value compounds (microalgae biomass rich in PUFAs and pigments) in order to optimize the growth and physical state of the fish growing in Greek fish farms, aiming to the enhancement of the beneficial effects of them to the consumers’ health.

Our research group are actively involved in the development, modeling, optimization and application of the so-called advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewaters, as well as other aqueous matrices, including surface waters, groundwater, potable water and treated effluents.

Several AOPs are investigated including heterogeneous photocatalysis over immobilized or suspended semiconductor materials, homogeneous photocatalysis (photo-Fenton), wet air oxidation with or without heterogeneous catalysts (e.g. transition metal oxides and precious metals), sonochemical reactions, ozone oxidation and ozonolysis, and electrochemical oxidation over various “active” and “non-active” electrodes. Moreover, process coupling constitutes a major research topic to elucidate possible synergistic, cumulative or antagonistic effects.

Research methodology includes fundamental kinetic and mechanistic studies to elucidate possible interactions amongst the various operating parameters, identification of major transformation by-products, establishment of the reaction network and assessment of the post-treatment chemical, biological and ecotoxic properties.

Oxidative treatment targets a wide spectrum of contaminants including emerging organics such as the metabolites of pharmaceuticals and personal care products typically found in treated effluents at the ng/L-μg/L level, “mild” industrial effluents such as those from textile processing and “heavily polluted” (agro)industrial effluents such as those from olive processing (for olive oil and edible olives manufacturing) and landfill leachates. Research interests also include the inactivation of pathogens, as well as the simultaneous treatment of heavy metals and organic contaminants.

The sustainable management and treatment of various aqueous matrices usually requires an inter- and multi-disciplinary approach, where environmental chemical engineering plays a pivotal role; in this respect, separation processes, amongst others, are critical for the recovery of added-value by-products (i.e. waste valorization) and/or the reuse of processed streams, an area of interest to the research group.

Laboratory equipment: Wet air oxidation reactor, high power and low frequency ultrasound generator, ozone generator, solar simulator, electrochemical oxidation reactors.
Analytical: Total organic carbon analyzer, Toxicometer.

The research team is actively involved in the exploitation of industrial or metallurgical – mining by-products for the production and development of building materials, such as structural ceramics, cements and geopolymers. Also, the processes studied include sintering and metal-slag reactions. The research methodology includes surface, thermal and thermochemical side-by-product treatments, physicochemical characterization and mechanical properties of the materials produced in order to understand the interaction of the composition of the specimens with their properties and their improvement.

The by-products under consideration are boron containing wastes, bauxite residues, FGD gypsum, ferroaluminous by-products such as EAF, ILs etc., food processing residues such as rice husk ash and generally any by-product that could be exploited in the frame of the circular economy.

Brief description of the research activities of the Laboratory or the Research Team

Technologies and particle separation methods, Particulate systems, Flow in porous materials, filtering of particulate pollutants

Development of scientific instruments to characterize the size and shape of inorganic, organic and biological particles

Consolidation of non -aggregated porous materials with inorganic salt precipitation, deposition of sparingly soluble salts in oil extraction premises

Water & waste water treatment methods, Design of water and wastewater treatment systems, Environmental Management and Protection

Fluid Mechanics and Transport Phenomena

Separation Processes, wastewater treatment by membrane filtration technologies and reclamation of organic substances with a high added value (Ultrafiltration, Nanofiltration, Reverse Osmosis, distillation, crystallization, adsorption, extraction, etc. Applications in agroindustrial wastewater treatment technologies.

The formation of crystalline particles from aqueous supersaturated solutions and from melts is a very important process underlying a quite broad spectrum of phenomena including salts or organic compounds crystallization and separation of polymorphs (food and pharmaceutical industry), scale formation and fouling in industrial water intensive processes (cooling towers, heat exchangers), preparation of powders with tailor made characteristics, biological mineralization etc. Understanding the mechanism of these processes is a prerequisite for their effective control in supersaturated solutions. Aside from the above mentioned applications, crystallization may be used as a tool for the recovery of raw materials from wastes (phosphorus from municipal wastewaters and polyphenols from olive mill wastewater). Adsorption of substances at the crystal/ solution interface is an important mechanism of transport of pollutants from the aqueous phase to the solids. Precipitation and or crystallization in the presence of pollutants is among our research interests. Charge transfer reactions at the metal/aqueous solutions interface are typical for metal corrosion. These reactions may be favored by the presence of scale deposits. The relationship between these two processes is within the research interests of our Laboratory.

The dissolution of sparingly soluble salts in undersaturated solutions is of paramount importance in understanding the behaviour of materials exposed in the atmosphere. Mechanistic investigations are needed in order to understand the deterioration of the building materials of the built cultural heritage at the molecular level, so that the most suitable remediation methods may be designed. The investigations in our laboratory are focused in these two tasks.

The research team of the Laboratory of Process and Synthesis Optimization of the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Patras has experienced in  the field of design and evaluation of technologies for the exploitation of processed raw materials of both organic and inorganic nature. More specifically, ESB research team has developed significant technology in the development of early-stage mathematical modeling processes and incorporating these standards into commercial simulators (such as UniSim, Aspen, SuperPro, Matlab, GAMS).

Significant work has also been done in linking early experimental results with the economic and environmental assessment of the respective technologies on industrial scale. ESB also has significant know-how in the systematic optimization of industrial systems both at the level of strategic planning and at the level of optimization of the mechanical design and operation of the respective units.

The lab possesses remarkable know-how in the development of Life Cycle Inventory Systems, but also in Life Cycle Analysis using commercial LCA software such as GaBi and openLCA.

The research activities of the members of the laboratory of Physical Chemistry are concerned with basic as well as applied research. A part of this research is related to the following subjects of environmental interest:

• Photo-electrochemistry of semiconductors
• Corrosion and protection
• Kinetics and mechanisms of electrochemical reactions
• Electrocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis, electroanalysis
• Electrochemical Promotion of Catalysis (EPOC / NEMCA)
• Fuel Cells
• Structure of electrified and un-electrified interfaces
• Chromatography

The Laboratory of Building Materials is one of the main Laboratories that have been operating since the foundation of the Polytechnic School. It provides theoretical and practical training to the students of the Department of Civil Engineering and postgraduate students of the Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Program in the Protection, Maintenance and Restoration of Cultural Monuments, on modern building materials (cement, aggregates, concrete, steel), traditional materials of monuments and historical buildings, as well as repair materials.

Over the last twenty years, the Laboratory has developed a major research activity that mainly concerns two research fields / fields:

• Applied research to promote new materials in the production and utilization of industrial by-products in the building, for the benefit of:
• saving of natural resources and energy,
• environmental protection,
• construction economics.
• Research on the analysis of historical monumental heritage materials and the maintenance and fixation of buildings with compatible materials, as well as construction materials in general. Also in recent years, the properties of nano-modified building materials have been tested.

The Scientific staff of the Laboratory consists of experienced and new researchers from various scientific disciplines (civil engineer, geologist, chemist, architect engineer) to adequately cover the complex problems encountered in building.

The main purpose of the Laboratory of Nutritional Physiology and Feeding is to promote scientific knowledge on nutrition of animal organisms, implemented through:

• Production of basic scientific knowledge through research,
• Implementation of nutrition knowledge and transfer of food processing technology into practice at every level,
• Nutrition advice related to chemical composition, quality of livestock products (milk, meat, eggs) and consumer health.
• Promotion and dissemination of applied scientific knowledge on nutrition of farmed terrestrial and aquatic organisms such as ruminants (cows, sheep, goats), monogastric herbivores (solipeds, rabbits), monogastric omnivorous (pigs, birds) with the aim of optimizing the production of food suitable for the promotion of human health,
• Education of anyone involved, directly or indirectly, with nutrition on theoretical and applied topics (general or special),
• Teaching of nutrition-related scientific subjects to the students of AUA at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

The laboratory of Biochemical Engineering & Environmental Biotechnology (BEEB) (www.beeb.enveng.tuc.gr) is one of the few laboratories involved in the development of biological-based processes to address environmental problems in Greek Universities. The laboratory was established with the arrival of Prof. Nicolas Kalogerakis at TU-Crete in Chania in the summer of 1997, a few months before the Department accepted its first undergraduate students in September 1997. The laboratory belongs to Division II: “Analysis and Design of Environmental Processes” of the School of Environmental Engineering at TU-Crete and it has participated in many National and EU (FP5, FP6, FP7, H2020, LIFE, EEA) projects and has established collaborations with many laboratories in EU and worldwide.

The research mission of the BEEB Laboratory is to:

• Become one of the premier centres of excellence and innovation in Greece and Southern Europe for Research and Development of novel biotechnological processes for environmental protection, quality assessment and remediation of contaminated sites and marine environments.
• Establish collaborative research projects with other laboratories at National, EU and International level.
• Provide external services on a contractual basis for environmental sample analysis and/or bioremediation or phytoremediation process design & monitoring.

The Research Unit “Technologies for the Management of Mining / Metallurgical Wastes and Soil Rehabilitation”, https://www.mred.tuc.gr/index.php?id=4250, belongs to the School of Mineral Resources Engineering of Technical University Crete and operates under the supervision of Prof. Konstantinos Komnitsas. In the Research Unit, apart from educational activities, several diploma, MSc and PhD theses are carried out, while several research projects, funded from national sources and the European Commission, are implemented.

The studied research topics include:

Development of new processes for the treatment of primary and secondary raw materials

• Waste management and valorization
• Soil decontamination
• Sustainable development
• Circular economy
• Environmental and risk assessment
• LCA of processes and products