Edgar Ramirez Huerta

An enthusiast for the bioeconomy with a background in chemical engineering and process engineering through 10+ years of involvement in the polymers and textiles space during his former work in Mexico where he was working in the manufacturing of thermoformed non-woven composite fabrics. During that time Edgar developed experience carrying on quality control, maintenance and industrial operation activities. In 2019, he made the decision to align his career with the objectives and values pursued by the bioeconomy and thereby build a new professional career in Europe. Hence why he end up doing a five-month internship as a laboratory technician in an environmental and water quality service providing laboratory located in Hungary. His passion and determination for being part of a biorefinery-related team led him to be part of Celignis in February 2020.

At Celignis, Edgar has gained experience in the pretreatment of biomass following autohydrolysis and alkali methods as well as enzymatic hydrolysis designs for the production of lignin-rich substrates and other bio-based materials used in the food and pharmaceutical industry while working in multiple of our bespoke (by contract) research projects. He has also worked with different analytical techniques that are widely used for the composition and characterization of bio-based materials such as CHNS, Ion Chromatography, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Thermogravimetric Analysis, Ash Melting Behaviour, Pore Analysis, Particle Size Distribution, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy, among another task that included standard good laboratory procedures.

Currently, Edgar is responsible for the ion chromatography department handling our samples undergoing different lignocellulosic analysis packages. He is also directly involved in the determination of chlorine and sulphur ions as part of our combustion properties package, and in the determination of major and minor elements using our Agilent 5110 ICP-OES. In addition, Edgar´s business-oriented aptitudes had a valuable contribution to the development of our New Biochar Analysis Packages which include biochar production trials and the determination of various physical, thermal and soil amendment properties. Edgar´s experience carrying out chemical experiments, analytical methodologies and understanding of the composition and properties of biomass together with his engineering, data processing, and business-oriented formation will play a part in the expansion of Celignis's analytical services.

Edgar has 10+ years of experience working in the manufacturing of thermoformed non-woven composite fabrics where he was initially responsible for the quality control of a department that was producing over 10,000 m2 of composite fabrics a day. During his time working in this industry, he continued developing his qualifications, skills and knowledge by participating in the implementation of national standards of organization, quality management systems, and business management systems to increase the productivity of all departments of the company.

He also participated in projects of different natures like the development of new formulations for the improvement of the key performance aspects of the thermoformed non-woven composite fabrics such as flexibility, strength and elasticity as well as participating in the cost accounting associated with the development and improvement of those properties. Edgar was also part of a project that involved the implementation of a thickness sensor for the impregnation systems used in the lamination working station. He also participated in the development of procedures related to the health, safety, security and working atmosphere of the manufacturing department. In addition, he was part of the innovation board where matters of branding, administration, finances and strategical planning were discussed in agreement with the role that the manufacturing department was playing.

Edgar’s former years at Celignis equipped him for carrying out chemical experiments and working with a variety of instruments relevant to the analysis of lignocellulosic feedstocks and other bio-based materials. He also developed specific capacities for troubleshooting and providing service to the various instruments that are typically used at Celignis which adds capacity of reaction in light of unexpected events which enable Celignis from offering a faster service. Moreover, Edgar has always shown interest in the produced data, so he is also capable of participating in the data processing and data interpretation for the analysis that he is involved.

Edgar has participated in different projects that were directly involved with our bioprocess development department. During these projects, he carried out procedures related to the pretreatment of biomass using our Accelerated Solvent Extraction systems. He is also experienced in using our Parr Reactor which has been used for the pretreatment of biomass that was subsequently used for the designing of processes in the manufacturing of biofuels, food industry derivatives, and bio-based pharmaceutical materials. He is also equipped for working with enzymes and other laboratory procedures like super centrifugation, acid precipitation and liquid nitrogen extraction of pigments.

Edgar had a pivotal contribution to the development of our New Biochar Analysis Packages. He got initially involved in establishing the standard operative procedures for the Specific Surface Area Analysis and the Pore Size Distribution Analysis. He has also participated in projects that involved the analysis of the different types of biochar for determining their CHNS composition, Calorific Value, Major and Minor Elements, Ash Melting Behaviour, Thermogravimetric Behaviour, Particle Size Distribution and Scanning Electron Microscope. Additionally, he has been part of numerous biochar production trials where parameters such as temperature, heating ratio, cooling ratio, nitrogen flow, residence time and particle size were considered as part of the experimental design. Furthermore, Celignis’s expertise and Edgar’s interest in advancing the development and application of biochar is a significant competitive advantage when it comes to offering comprehensive assessment, potential application tests and feedstock-to-biochar process evaluation customer support.

MSc: By Research from the University of Limerick (2022) - "Enzymatic Hydrolysis Lignin and Kraft Lignin from Birch Wood: A Source for Producing Functional Bio-Based Materials”.

MBA: In Finances and Management from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (2018).

BSc: In Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara (2015).