Call: +34 876 555 481
Email: jsoler@unizar.es
Address: c/Mariano Esquillor SN Edificio I+D+i, I3A, 50018, Zaragoza (Spain)
Sideral: See the profile (CV)
ABOUT ME
My beginnings in the field of research took place in October 1995 after obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry (June 1995). I joined the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree and, later, to do a PhD (1995-2000). The research line consisted in the development of a new redox fluidized bed reactor with two zones, one oxidizing and the other reducing, which would allow to obtain improvements in performance in processes of oxidative dehydrogenation. The results were very promising, especially in obtaining butadiene from n-butane, where the yield was tripled compared to conventional fixed and fluidized bed reactors.
After obtaining a doctorate degree, I joined the fuel cell research group at the CIEMAT fossil fuel department in Madrid to collaborate in the development of the research topic: heterogeneous catalysis in fuel cells: “development of new electrocatalysts, improvements in fuel processing “(2000-2003). This allowed me to become familiar with the preparation of materials for both low (polymeric cells) and high temperature (molten carbonates) fuel cells. I also worked on system integration projects that used fuel cell technology for electricity generation.
For 6 months (2003-2004) I worked as a PhD researcher by obtaining a contract from the Torres Quevedo program in technology transfer and research for the manufacture of fuel cell components in David Fuel Cell Components SL, one of the first private projects in Spain in this technology.
After obtaining a Ramón y Cajal tenure contract (2005-2010), I joined the University Institute for Nanotechnology Research of Aragón (INA) and the Reactor Catalysis and Engineering group (CREG) at the University of Zaragoza, where I led carried out tasks on the preparation and characterization of new materials with high ionic conductivity for use in proton exchange membrane fuel cell membranes capable of operating at high temperatures. As a relevant milestone, the financing of a European project was achieved. In 2008, I obtained a grant from the Torres Quevedo program for a four-month research stay at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne to develop new membranes and electrocatalysts for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
In 2010, I joined the Aragón University Engineering Research Institute (I3A) where I work on developing new routes for obtaining higher value-added chemical products through the preparation of catalysts and / or new catalytic reactors. In 2014, I was selected by SENESCYT (Ecuador) to carry out the project “Development of catalysts for the production of hydrogen from biomass from the residues of the banana plant through catalytic gasification in water at supercritical temperature” in the University of Cuenca, Ecuador for 4 months between the years 2014 and 2016.
Of the works carried out, I have presented more than one hundred and forty papers at conferences and I have published 48 indexed articles (h-index = 24). I am co-author of a book, 3 book chapters and 4 international patents. I have supervised 9 Doctoral Theses, 9 Final Degree Projects, 23 Final Degree Projects, 4 Final Master’s Projects and I have tutored two students in the Erasmus program and internships in companies, respectively. I have participated in 42 research projects: 5 regional, 24 national, 12 European and 1 from the University of Zaragoza. I have been a member of the Spanish Zeolite Group since 2005 and of the HYDROGEN Network: “PRODUCTION AND USES IN TRANSPORTATION AND THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR” (H2TRANSEL) of CYTED since 2020.
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9022-2835
Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57208335764
PUBLICATIONS
2025
Renda, Simona; Soler, Jaime; Herguido, Javier; Menéndez, Miguel
En: Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 197, pp. 107764, 2025, ISSN: 0961-9534.
@article{RENDA2025107764,
title = {Effect of particles size and density on the segregation of catalyst-sorbent mixtures for direct sorption-enhanced DME synthesis: Experimental and mathematical study},
author = {Simona Renda and Jaime Soler and Javier Herguido and Miguel Menéndez},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0961953425001758},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2025.107764},
issn = {0961-9534},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-01-01},
journal = {Biomass and Bioenergy},
volume = {197},
pages = {107764},
abstract = {Direct sorption-enhanced dimethyl ether synthesis (SEDMES) is a promising process for the production of fuels from CO2 sources. Using novel technologies, the process can be run exploiting the phenomena of particles segregation in a fluidized bed reactor. However, the knowledge on the solid movement and the segregation patterns is a mandatory preliminary step for the setup of the final application. In this study, we evaluated the impact of particles size and density on the segregation patterns, and we used the Gibilaro and Rowe (GR) model to analytically represent the experimental results. It was observed that the variation of both parameters influences segregation, even though a higher separation degree in a wider operating velocity range was observed when a higher density ratio was induced between the two solids. Through the experimental analysis, five possible bed configurations were identified, and a consideration was made on the aims of the GR model to adjust the mathematical representation to the present case. By considering the bottom portion of the bed as a jetsam-rich phase and not – as previously reported – as a segregated layer, a mass balance on the catalyst allowed to obtain a faithful analytical representation of the experimental segregation patterns.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2024
García Mateo, Nerea; Lasobras Laguna, Javier; Romero Pascual, Enrique; Soler Herrero, Jaime; Herguido Huerta, Javier; Menéndez Sastre, Miguel
vol. 12, 2024.
@proceedings{GarcíaMateo_LasobrasLaguna_RomeroPascual_SolerHerrero_HerguidoHuerta_MenéndezSastre_2024,
title = {Preparation and characterization of adsorbents in a CO2 hydrogenation process with a fluidized bed reactor for the synthesis of methanol},
author = {García Mateo, Nerea and Lasobras Laguna, Javier and Romero Pascual, Enrique and Soler Herrero, Jaime and Herguido Huerta, Javier and Menéndez Sastre, Miguel},
url = {https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/jji3a/article/view/10633},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-07-01},
urldate = {2024-07-01},
journal = {Jornada de Jóvenes Investigadores del I3A},
volume = {12},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {proceedings}
}
Val Planells, María Edurne; Renda, Simona; Lasobras Laguna, Javier; Soler, Jaime; Herguido, Javier; Menéndez, Miguel
vol. 12, 2024.
@proceedings{ValPlanells_Renda_LasobrasLaguna_Soler_Herguido_Menéndez_2024,
title = {Estudio de segregación de sólidos aptos para la reacción de síntesis de dimetil éter por hidrogenación de CO2 en lecho fluidizado asistida por adsorbente},
author = {Val Planells, María Edurne and Renda, Simona and Lasobras Laguna, Javier and Soler, Jaime and Herguido, Javier and Menéndez, Miguel},
url = {https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/jji3a/article/view/10679},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-07-01},
urldate = {2024-07-01},
journal = {Jornada de Jóvenes Investigadores del I3A},
volume = {12},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {proceedings}
}
Zapater, Diego; Lasobras, Javier; Zambrano, Naydu; Hita, Idoia; Castaño, Pedro; Soler, Jaime; Herguido, Javier; Menéndez, Miguel
En: Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, vol. 63, no. 8, pp. 3586-3599, 2024.
@article{doi:10.1021/acs.iecr.3c03956,
title = {Effect of Thermal, Acid, and Alkaline Treatments over SAPO-34 and Its Agglomerated Catalysts: Property Modification and Methanol-to-Olefin Reaction Performance},
author = {Diego Zapater and Javier Lasobras and Naydu Zambrano and Idoia Hita and Pedro Castaño and Jaime Soler and Javier Herguido and Miguel Menéndez},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.3c03956},
doi = {10.1021/acs.iecr.3c03956},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-01-01},
journal = {Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research},
volume = {63},
number = {8},
pages = {3586-3599},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Menéndez, Miguel; Ciércoles, Raúl; Lasobras, Javier; Soler, Jaime; Herguido, Javier
A Preliminary Assessment of Sorption-Enhanced Methanol Synthesis in a Fluidized Bed Reactor with Selective Addition/Removal of the Sorbent Journal Article
En: Catalysts, vol. 14, no. 7, 2024, ISSN: 2073-4344.
@article{catal14070409,
title = {A Preliminary Assessment of Sorption-Enhanced Methanol Synthesis in a Fluidized Bed Reactor with Selective Addition/Removal of the Sorbent},
author = {Miguel Menéndez and Raúl Ciércoles and Javier Lasobras and Jaime Soler and Javier Herguido},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/14/7/409},
doi = {10.3390/catal14070409},
issn = {2073-4344},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-01-01},
journal = {Catalysts},
volume = {14},
number = {7},
abstract = {Methanol synthesis from CO2 can be made in the presence of a sorbent to increase the achievable yield. If the fresh sorbent is continuously fed to a fluidized bed and separated from the catalyst bed by segregation, a steady-state operation can be achieved. The objective of the present work is to provide insight on the suitable operating conditions for such a fluidized bed reactor system. For this, a conventional CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 was selected as the catalyst, and the SiOLITE® zeolite was selected as the sorbent. Different particle sizes were used to be tested in various proportions to perform the fluidized bed segregation study. The fluid dynamics and segregation of the catalyst–sorbent binary mixtures were the most critical points in the development of this proof of concept. A good bed segregation with a mixing index of 0.31 was achieved. This fact favors the correct operation of the system with the continuous addition of adsorbent, which had hardly any catalyst losses during the tests carried out, achieving a loss of 0.005 g/min under optimal conditions. Continuous feeding and removal of sorbent with a low loss of catalyst was observed. Reactor simulations with MATLAB provided promising results, indicating that the addition of sorbent considerably improves the methanol yield under some operating conditions. This makes it more viable for industrial scaling, since it allows us to considerably reduce the pressure used in the methanol synthesis process or to increase the yield per step, reducing the recirculation of unconverted reactants.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}