Part of the book: Developments in Heat Transfer
Grape processing produces a substantial amount of residues that are highly polluting and expensive to treat, being grape seed one of the main by-products with high commercial interest. During the extraction process of grape seed oil, most of the nutraceutical compounds remain on the solid cake. This book chapter resumes the potential utilization of grape seed oil for producing biobased materials through environmentally friendly processes that could substitute petroleum-derived products. Special attention is given to transesterification and epoxidation processes. The transesterification of grape seed oil in presence of methanol drives to the production of a biodiesel with excellent low-temperature properties. According to EN 14214, grape seed oil-based biodiesel presents a slightly lower cetane number than the specified limit. In addition, this biodiesel presents a low oxidation stability which can be improved by the incorporation of oxidation stabilizer. Attending to the epoxidation of grape seed oil, short reaction times and high temperatures are advised. Epoxidized grape seed oil can be used for the synthesis of biobased polyols and its further application on the synthesis of polyurethane compounds.
Part of the book: Grapes and Wines
This work shows the technical feasibility of incorporating phase change materials (PCMs) into clay plastering mortars to improve the thermal properties of the building envelopes. Due to the absence of regulated and internationally agreed-upon norms for clay mortars containing thermoregulating microcapsules (MPCMs), two tests following UNE-EN-998-1:2010 and UNE-EN-1015, were designed to provide the greatest similarity to its final application. Three different dosages 5, 10, and 15 wt% of MPCM relative to the dried mortar weight were used. Fresh mortars were physically characterized to determine its consistency, apparent density, period of workability and open time, and occluded air content. Physical and mechanical characteristics were determined for hardened mortar. The thermal characteristics of the specimens were analysed by using a differential scanning calorimetry, obtaining their apparent specific heat capacities and the enthalpy curves. Building simulation software is a fundamental tool for designing buildings with almost zero energy consumption. In this study, three identical architectural models were simulated. The reference building had inner coatings of clay-based mortar, mortar with 15% added material, and a conventional gypsum mortar. These buildings were subjected to the same exposure and radiation conditions, which allowed the result to be compared to evaluate the effect of incorporating the PCM.
Part of the book: Sustainable Buildings