Dr Daniel Jozef Nowakowski

Qualifications & Education
MSc (Eng), PhD (Leeds)

Daniel graduated from the Silesian University of Technology (Gliwice, Poland) in 2000 with an MSc (Eng) degree in Chemical Technology, specialising in Inorganic Chemical Technology and Electrochemistry. From graduation until February 2004 he worked as an engineer and research assistant in the Institute for Chemical Processing of Coal (Zabrze, Poland), in the Department of Physical Chemistry and Thermal Processing of Fuels. His research was focused on pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis processes of coal and biomass with physical and chemical characterisation of pyrolysis products. Part of his work was also studies of the catalytic influence of inorganic additives on the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds during pyrolysis and combustion processes of solid fuels.

In March 2004 he started a PhD (funded by EPSRC, UK) at the University of Leeds, in the Energy and Resources Research Institute. In May 2008 he finished his PhD under supervision of Prof. J.M. Jones and Prof. R.M.D. Brydson. His PhD thesis title was "Influence of potassium and phosphorus on the thermochemical conversion of the cell wall components of biomass".

Daniel joined the Bioenergy Research Group in August 2007. His principal research interests are:

• Pyrolysis processes of biomass with the application of advanced analytical methods, including: TGA - thermogravimetric analysis, Py-GC-MS/FID - analytical pyrolysis with the application of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, HS-MS - head space analysis of organic volatiles with the application of mass spectrometry, FTIR - Fourier transform spectroscopy.

• Upgrading of biomass-derived oil via esterification over solid acid catalysts.

• Catalytic pyrolysis of biomass, lignins and acid-hydrolysis residues.

Publications

Peer-reviewed journals

C.E. Greenhalf, D.J. Nowakowski^*, A.V. Bridgwater, J. Titiloye, N. Yates, A. Riche and I. Shield; Thermochemical characterisation of straws and high yielding perennial grasses; Industrial Crops and Products, Volume 36, Issue 1, March 2012,  pp. 449–45; dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2011.10.025  [click to download] 

C.E. Greenhalf, D.J. Nowakowski^*, A.B. Harms, J.O. Titiloye and A.V. Bridgwater; Sequential pyrolysis of willow SRC at low and high heating rates – Implications for selective pyrolysis; Fuel, Volume 93, March 2012, pp. 692–702; dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2011.11.050  [click to download] 

E.M. Hodgson, D.J. Nowakowski, I. Shield, A. Riche, A.V. Bridgwater, J.C. Clifton-Brown and I.S. Donnison; Variation in Miscanthus chemical composition and implications for conversion by pyrolysis and thermo-chemical bio-refining for fuels and chemicals; Bioresource Technology, Volume 102, Issue 3, February 2011, pp. 3411–3418; dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.10.017  [click to download]

G. Jiang, D.J. Nowakowski and A.V. Bridgwater; Effect of the Temperature on the composition of lignin pyrolysis products; Energy & Fuels, 24(8), July 2010, pp. 4470–4475; dx.doi.org/10.1021/ef100363c  [click to download] 

D.J. Nowakowski, A.V. Bridgwater, D.C. Elliott, D. Meier and P. de Wild; Lignin fast pyrolysis: Results from an international collaboration; Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, Volume 88, Issue 1, May 2010, pp. 53–72; dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2010.02.009  [click to download] Top cited article: #1 (April to June 2010) in Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis

G. Jiang, D.J. Nowakowski and A.V. Bridgwater; A systematic study of the kinetics of lignin pyrolysis; Thermochimica Acta, Volume 498, Issues 1–2, January 2010, pp. 61–66; dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2009.10.003, [click to download] Top cited article: #4 (April to June 2010) in Thermochimica Acta

Daniel J. Nowakowski, Charles R. Woodbridge and Jenny M. Jones; Phosphorus catalysis in the pyrolysis behaviour of biomass; Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, Volume 83, Issue 2, November 2008, Pages 197-204; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2008.08.003 [click to download]    

Daniel J. Nowakowski and Jenny M. Jones; Uncatalysed and potassium-catalysed pyrolysis of the cell-wall constituents of biomass and their model compounds; Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, Volume 83, Issue 1, September 2008, Pages 12-25; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2008.05.007 [click to download] 

Daniel J. Nowakowski, Jenny M. Jones, Rik M.D. Brydson and Andrew B. Ross; Potassium catalysis in the pyrolysis behaviour of short rotation willow coppice; Fuel, Volume 86, Issue 15, October 2007, Pages 2389-2402;  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2007.01.026 [click to download]

Conferences

R. Gosselink, J. van Dam, P. de Wild, W. Huijgen, A.V. Bridgwater, D.J. Nowakowski, E. Heeres, A. Kloekhorst, E. Scott, J. Sanders; Valorisation of lignin – Achievements of the LignoValue project; 3rd Nordic Wood Biorefinery Conference (NWBC) 2011, Stockholm (Sweden), 22-24 March 2011.

S.W. Banks, D.J. Nowakowski^*, A.V. Bridgwater and J.M. Jones; Assess the impact of alkali metals in biomass on the physical and chemical properties of fast pyrolysis bio-oil. Bioten Conference: Biomass-Bioenergy-Biofuels-Biorefinery, Birmingham (UK), 21-23 September 2010.

Ch. Greenhalf, D.J. Nowakowski^*, J. Titiloye and A.V. Bridgwater; Thermochemical characterisation of willow SRC and bio-oil derived from fast pyrolysis. Bioten Conference: Biomass-Bioenergy-Biofuels-Biorefinery, Birmingham (UK), 21-23 September 2010.

A.B. Harms, D.J. Nowakowski^* and A.V. Bridgwater; Fast pyrolysis processing of agricultural and forestry residue: Nitrogen recycling and carbon sequestration. Bioten Conference: Biomass-Bioenergy-Biofuels-Biorefinery, Birmingham (UK), 21-23 September 2010.

M. Patel, D.J. Nowakowski^* and A.V. Bridgwater; Diesel miscible biofuels via the pyrolysis and upgrading of acid-hydrolysis residues of biomass. Bioten Conference: Biomass-Bioenergy-Biofuels-Biorefinery, Birmingham (UK), 21-23 September 2010

D.J. Nowakowski^* and A.V. Bridgwater; Analytical and fast pyrolysis studies of lignin. International Biomass Valorisation Congress, Amsterdam (NL), 13-15.09.2010. [presentation - click to download]

M.E. Gyftopoulou, D.J. Nowakowski, G. Jiang and A.V. Bridgwater; Fast pyrolysis of lignin (Aston round-robin results); International Lignin Institute COST50 Workshop - Lignin research: present and future; Zurich (Switzerland), 27-29 October 2008. [poster - click to download]

D.J. Nowakowski, G.Jiang, A.V. Bridgwater and J.M. Jones. Impact of potassium and phosphorus on the physicochemical properties of biomass-derived fast pyrolysis liquids (Bio-oil). 18th International Symposium on Analytical & Applied Pyrolysis, Costa Teguise, Lanzarote (Spain), 18-23 May 2008.

E.M. Hodgson, D.J. Nowakowski, A. Riche, A.V. Bridgwater and I.S. Donnison. Py-GC-MS and TGA characterisation of Miscanthus genotypes: Key biomass markers and reaction kinetics. 18th International Symposium on Analytical & Applied Pyrolysis, Costa Teguise, Lanzarote (Spain), 18-23 May 2008.

W. Ociepka, D.J. Nowakowski, J.M. Jones and A. Williams, Emissions from domestic-scale energy production using co-combustion of biomass and coal. ICCS&T 2007 - International Conference on Coal Science and Technology, Nottingham, 28-31 August 2007

D.J. Nowakowski, J.M. Jones and R.M.D. Brydson. 17th International Symposium on Analytical & Applied Pyrolysis, Budapest (Hungary), 21-26 May 2006.

D.J. Nowakowski, J.M. Jones and R.M.D.K. Brydson, Influence of potassium catalyst on pyrolysis and combustion behaviours of wheat straw. Proceedings of the 19th International Symposium on Combustion Processes, Wisla (Poland), 31.07-03.09.2005.

J.M. Jones. L.I. Darvell, D.J. Nowakowski, L. Ma and A. Williams. Fundamentals of biomass combustion. Proceedings of the 19th International Symposium on Combustion Processes, Wisla (Poland), 31.07-03.09.2005.

D.J. Nowakowski and J.M. Jones, Influence of potassium on pyrolysis processes of basic biomass components. Proceedings of the World Renewable Energy Congress, Aberdeen, 22-27.05.2005, pp.590-595. [click to download]

L.I. Darvell, P. Hrycko, J.M. Jones,D.J. Nowakowski, M. Pourkashanian and A. Williams. Impact of minerals and alkali metals on willow combustion properties. Proceedings of the World Renewable Energy Congress 2005, Aberdeen, pp.584-589. [click to download] 

Newsletters

[under construction]

Analytical pyrolysis is one of tools utilised for the study of organic polymers. Biofuel sources (including wood, grasses, coal, vegetable oils, plant fibres, lignin) and biological samples can be analysed by this technique, which uses thermal energy to convert large molecules into smaller, volatile molecules suitable for GC-MS/FID analysis.

Esterification could be an attractive method for improving fast pyrolysis bio-oil properties. Esters converted from acids and others compounds through esterification became dominant components of the upgraded oil.