Justas Eimontas doctoral dissertation “Recovery of energy products by pyrolysis from seaweed and fishing nets” defense

Author, Institution: Justas Eimontas, Lithuanian Energy Institute.

Dissertation title: Recovery of energy products by pyrolysis from seaweed and fishing nets

Science area, field of science: Technological Sciences, Energetics and Power Engineering, T006.

Defense of the dissertation: 2025-01-24, 09:00 a.m., Lithuanian Energy Institute, 202-AK auditorium, Breslaujos st. 3, Kaunas, Lithuania.

Scientific Supervisor: Dr. Nerijus Striūgas (Lithuanian Energy Institute, Technological Sciences, Energetics and Power Engineering, T006).

Dissertation Defence Board of Energetics and Power Engineering Science Field:

• Chairperson – Senior Researcher Dr. Raimondas Pabarčius (Lithuanian Energy Institute, Technological Sciences, Energetics and Power Engineering, T006)
• Dr. Algirdas Jasinskas (Vytautas Magnus University, Technological Sciences, Environmental Engineering, T004)
• Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ilona Jonuškienė (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Chemical Engineering, T005)
• Prof. Dr. Hab. Gintautas Miliauskas (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Energetics and Power Engineering, T006)
• Prof. Dr. Mauro Prestipino (Messina University, Italy, Technological Sciences, Energetics and Power Engineering, T006)

The doctoral dissertation is available at the library of Kaunas University of Technology (Gedimino 50, Kaunas) and on the internet: J. Eimontas’s el. dissertation (PDF)

Annotation:
The past few decades have highlighted significant challenges associated with energy consumption, driven by rapid population growth and the increasing automation and motorization of systems. This has resulted in a substantial imbalance between energy production and consumption, exacerbating both energy scarcity and environmental issues. Since fossil fuels and natural gas—currently the primary energy sources—are being rapidly depleted, there is growing emphasis on renewable energy sources and the extraction of energy from alternative materials. Consequently, energy recovery technologies are gaining increasing relevance. Among these, thermal decomposition processes, such as pyrolysis, are well-established methods for recovering energy products from waste. The quality and applicability of these products are determined by process parameters and the catalysts employed. However, a review of the scientific literature reveals that the selection of catalysts and feedstocks for enhancing the quality of liquid products from the pyrolysis of biomass and plastic waste remains underexplored. This study aims to address this gap by focusing on the preparation and application of biochar-based catalysts impregnated with metals such as iron or copper. The performance of these catalysts in pyrolysis will be compared with that of commercial zeolite catalysts to produce higher value-added energy and chemical products.