Associate Professor in the Department of Energy and Chemistry at UNESP, Faculty of Engineering, Guaratinguetá Campus (FEG), overseeing the Combustion and Carbon Capture Laboratory (LC3). She leads the Research Group on Modeling Thermal and Hydraulic Systems and Processes and is a member of the Research Group on Petroleum/Natural Gas, Energy, and Environment Engineering at UNESP. She served as the coordinator for the Postgraduate Program in Mechanical Engineering (UNESP/FEG) from 2019 to 2021. Her postdoctoral internship was conducted at the University of Southampton (UK) - Energy Technology Research Group/School of Engineering Sciences. She holds postdoctoral, doctoral, and master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering from USP/EESC and a degree in Chemical Engineering from UFF/RJ. Her research in the energy sector focuses on the application of carbon capture technologies (Mineral Carbonation, Calcium Looping, and Oxycombustion), thermochemical conversion processes of biomass, and LCA
EDUCATION
Chemical Engineer, PhD in Mechanical Engineering
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Fuel Technology, Environmental Chemistry, Pollution
Efficiency and Energy Consumption of Partial Carbonation Process for CO2 Capture from Natural Gas Combustion Rubens Coutinho Toledo, Caio Leandro de Moraes, Vinoth Thangarasu, João Andrade de Carvalho, Ivonete Avila Energies, 2025 Brazil has set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is a significant opportunity to leverage calcium looping (CaL) technology for energy generation in natural gas power plants. CaL is a promising technology, due to sorbent low cost and availability, but its industrial implementation performance decay is a major challenge to face. While evaluating carbon-capture technologies, net emissions perspective is essential, and optimizing CaL capture through a partial carbonation cycle is a promising approach, both to reduce net emissions and improve the number of cycles before deactivation. In this context, a Brazilian dolomite was characterized and evaluated, to be used as sorbent in a CaL process employed in natural gas power plants. For such a purpose, a novel methodology has been proposed to evaluate the mass ratio of CO2 captured, to assess the energy consumed in the process. A rotatable central composite design (RCCD) model was used to identify the optimal temperature and residence time conditions in the carbonation stage of the CaL process, focusing on achieving energy efficiency. The five most promising conditions were then tested across 10 calcination–carbonation cycles, to examine the impact of partial carbonation in capture efficiency over extended cycles. The results indicate that temperature plays a critical role in the process, particularly in terms of capture efficiency, while residence time significantly affects energy consumption. The conditions that demonstrated optimal performance for both the single and the multi-cycle tests were 580 °C for 7.5 min and 550 °C for 10 min, given that index of capture efficiency (IEC10,c) values of 1.34 and 1.20 were found, respectively—up to 40% higher than at 475 °C. There was lower energy expenditure at 580 °C (Esp) (33.48 kJ), 550 °C (Esp = 37.97 kJ), CO2 mass captured (CO2cap = 9.80 mg), and the samples exhibited a more preserved surface, thus making it the most suitable option for scale-up applications.
The Substitution of Natural Gas with Biomethane in an Industrial Fluidized Bed Sand Drying Process Mônica Valéria dos Santos Machado, João Andrade de Carvalho, Ivonete Ávila, Andreas Nascimento, Felipe Solferini de Carvalho Energies, 2025 Drying sand using a fluidized bed process is very common in the industries that use the material in their processes. The fluidized bed system works by introducing gas and excess air into a bed to achieve the temperature required to dry the particulate material. This system is used in various industrial processes, including gasification, pyrolysis, grain drying and industrial sand. The main objective of this research was to analyze the sand drying system used in an industrial process with a fluidized bed and to verify the interchangeability and costs between natural gas and biomethane operation. To achieve this, an energy balance was developed using a specific mathematical model to calculate the amount of fuel required for the process as a function of the excess air. The specific consumption of fuel gas (m3 of gas per t of dry sand) is the most important parameter for the performance of the sand drying equipment, and the mathematical model developed in this research was used to determine this parameter. It was found that the specific consumption drops significantly until the flue gas temperature reaches around 600 °C. Beyond this point, it continues to decrease, but at a much slower rate. To determine the energy balance, this study was divided into two parts: the combustion chamber and the fluidizer itself. In the combustion chamber, the temperature of the injected gases was determined as a parameter, and sand with a known initial moisture content was considered in the fluidizer. In comparison with real industrial data collected from a company consuming natural gas, the model achieved good agreement. In terms of interchangeability between operations with natural gas and biomethane, the results show that the gases are interchangeable in sand drying, although there is a difference between the Wobbe indices of more than the usually recommended 5%.
Bibliometric Analysis of Renewable Natural Gas (Biomethane) and Overview of Application in Brazil Mônica Valéria dos Santos Machado, Ivonete Ávila, João Andrade de Carvalho Energies, 2024 In view of the increasing demand for clean energy and the growing awareness of environmental sustainability, a bibliometric study examines the various facets of renewable natural gas (biomethane). Sustainable fuels are gaining importance as an alternative to fossil fuels because they are renewable and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, an overview of the use of biomethane was compiled for Brazil. The country was chosen because it is the authors’ home country. These emerging energy sources have the potential to play a critical role in the transition to a cleaner, more sustainable and cost-effective energy landscape, thereby reducing environmental impact and strengthening the resilience of our energy future.
Investigating the Influence of Distributor Type, Particle Size and Rice Husk Percentage on Fluidized Beds through Cold Fluidization Experiments Fernando M. P. Balestieri, Carlos M. R. Luna, Ivonete Ávila Energies, 2023 This work studies a fluidization system through cold experiments by using a mixture of rice husk and sand to investigate three parameters: type of bed distributor (perforated plate and plate with Tuyere-type injectors), sand granulometry (mean diameters of 324 µm and 647 µm) and rice husk mass ratio (from 1% to 10% of rice husk). The results reveal that the perforated distributor plate achieved a lower minimum fluidization velocity. However, the plate with Tuyere injectors generated better mixing, thus reducing possible stagnation points. An increase in the mean diameter of the sand raises the minimum fluidization velocity but also facilitates the formation of preferential channels. As for the rice husk mass ratio, values of over 5% cause stagnation points and preferential channels. It was also found that the relation between minimum fluidization velocity and rice husk ratio follows an exponential behavior, and an equation was developed to better describe their relation.
Experimental Development of Calcium Looping Carbon Capture Processes: An Overview of Opportunities and Challenges Rubens C. Toledo, Gretta L. A. F. Arce, João A. Carvalho, Ivonete Ávila Energies, 2023 Global warming might be mitigated if emissions were interrupted through carbon capture technologies, as there is a significant amount of comprehensive studies on them. An outline of the main gaps and trends of a technology is critical for further development. In this context, this study provides an overview of calcium looping carbon capture processes that have proven their potential and commercial viability. A bibliometric analysis is conducted on both Scopus and Web of Science database by seeking the keywords “calcium looping”, “co2 capture”, and “fluidized bed” in titles, abstracts, and keywords. Word selection was based on a list of relevant papers on the topic. These items of data have been processed and analyzed based on the number of publications and citations by emphasizing recent publication evolution, journal influence, the use of specific keywords, and co-citation. Results reveal that the European Union (EU) leads the rankings on the topic, followed by Canada. Keyword choice might have affected the number of citations. Recent studies used limestone as a sorbent and a dual fluidized bed reactor with a calciner or resistance depending on its size. Most studies are focused on technology scale-up. Although scale-up seems to be a priority, multiple studies are designed to assess the effect of steam generation and SO2 on the process.
Experimental Study on Mineral Dissolution and Carbonation Efficiency Applied to pH-Swing Mineral Carbonation for Improved CO2 Sequestration Natália R. Galina, Gretta L. A. F. Arce, Mercedes Maroto-Valer, Ivonete Ávila Energies, 2023 Mineral carbonation incurs high operating costs, as large amounts of chemicals and energy must be used in the process. Its implementation on an industrial scale requires reducing expenditures on chemicals and energy consumption. Thus, this work aimed to investigate the significant factors involved in pH-swing mineral carbonation and their effects on CO2 capture efficiency. A central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was employed for optimizing the operational parameters of the acid dissolution of serpentinite. The results showed that temperature exerts a significant effect on magnesium dissolution. By adjusting the reaction temperature to 100 °C and setting the hydrochloric acid concentration to 2.5 molar, 96% magnesium extraction was achieved within 120 min of the reaction and 91% within 30 min of the reaction. The optimal efficiency of carbon dioxide capture was 40–50%, at higher values than those found in literature, and 90% at 150 bar and high pressures. It was found that it is technically possible to reduce the reaction time to 30 min and maintain magnesium extraction levels above 90% through the present carbonation experiments.
