Page 21 - New Trends In Coal Conversion

xx Biographies

José Angel Rodríguez Paredes is finishing his studies at the Higher Polytechnic
School at the University of Seville in pursuit of obtaining the Degree in Industrial
Chemical Engineering. Currently, he is developing a research about flue gas desulfur-
ization applied in fossil fuel power plants under the guidance of Professor Fernando
Vega, who is the tutor of the project. In particular, this project aims at evaluating
both the performance and operational requirements of the conventional SO 2 scrubbing
associated to the deployment of postcombustion capture technologies in the energy
sector, based on the current state of art of SO 2 scrubbing technologies. Within the
academic field, he has collaborated in studies about alternative approaches of waste-
water treatment. He also carried out comparative studies of the batch distillation
processes in both charentais still and packed columns to produce wine liquors.

José María S anchez Herv as is the Head of the Combustion and Gasification Division
of the Department of Energy at CIEMAT (Research Centre for Energy, Environment
and Technology), Spain, where he has been working since 1995. He holds a PhD in
Chemical Engineering by Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, 2003, a Master’s
degree in Environmental Management by CEPADE, Polytechnic University, Madrid,
Spain, 1997 and BSc degree in Industrial Chemistry by Complutense University of
Madrid, Spain, 1991. His research expertise comprises thermochemical conversion
of coal, biomass and wastes, combustion, gasification and pyrolysis, gas cleaning
and pollutants removal, gas upgrading, H 2 separation, and CO 2 capture and utilization.
He has participated in numerous R&D projects on a national and international level
and is author of more than 300 contributions in scientific journals, peer-reviewed
conferences, and technical reports. He has a solid track record on courses to graduate
and postgraduate students at an international level in the field of thermochemical
conversion of fossil and renewable fuels.

Maria Antonia Diez Díaz-Estébanez is a scientific researcher of the Spanish National
Research Council (CSIC) at the National Coal Institute (INCAR) in Oviedo, Spain,
working in the field of cokemaking. Her research activity began at INCAR-CSIC
with her MSc and PhD in carbochemistry and obtained her PhD degree from the
University of Oviedo in 1988. Following her PhD, she undertook a postdoctoral
position at the Northern Carbon Research Laboratories (NCRL) in the University of
Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom (1988e1990), investigating the relation-
ships between the structure and properties of cokes and carbon materials. After her
postdoc, she returned to INCAR-CSIC as a member of the scientific staff. She has
also had short research stays at the Wrocław University of Technology (Poland) and
the CNRS-Université d’Aix-Marseille III (France). Her research interests are in the
relationships between coal properties, coking technologies and the structure and
properties of metallurgical coke, and the composition and thermal behavior of tar/
pitch. Her research activity also expands to the environment protection, in particular,
to the thermochemical feedstock recycling of organic wastes in co-processing with
coal and coal products. This research has been carried out within the framework of
regional, national and European projects and contracts with different companies.
She has published over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, several chapters