University College Dublin

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http://www.ucd.ie/agfood/staff/animalcropscience/academic/drkevinpaulmcdonnell/

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Brief résumé:    My principal area of research is agricultural power and machinery systems including sustainable biomass-to-energy systems, primarily covering the areas of bioethanol; 2nd generation liquid fuels; use of GIS to estimate impacts of changing land from food into energy production; recovery of nutrients from waste food ingredients and GPS systems. I have developed a substantial core research programme in the biomass to energy domain including the SFI funded UCD Charles Parsons Programme on biomass to-energy research (SFI grant c. €3 million over 7 years). In the last 5 years, I have collaborated on research projects worth in excess of €56 million of which c. €5 million was in my name. I have published circa 90 senior peer-reviewed journal papers, with an additional 8 under review; and circa 30 conference presentations. I have been developing and building a research team over the last 8 years. The development of the research team is reflected in the multi-authored publications that I have presented and has enabled me to build an international team. I have established two campus companies (BioE and Belfield Technology) to enable the commercialisation of IP arising from my research and have a patent filed. I have supervised to completion 6 PhD and 16 research masters students. The key outputs of my research strategy will be: postdoc training; PhDs graduated; peer-reviewed papers; international conferences presentations; citations; patents; and commercialisation of the research.  I have contributed significantly to developing UCD’s standing in the biomass-to-energy area: I was the bioenergy co-ordinator for the UCD €32 million PRTLI 5 successful Science hub application within which I have an energy laboratory in the new development with a capital equipment budget of €275,000. Part of this plan is to develop the agricultural data management and mechanisation programme. I plan to continue this research with a view to placing UCD at the forefront of this area internationally. Over the last five years I have placed many of my research students at prestigious institutions internationally (Fraunhofer, Hamburg, Texas A&M, DaimlerChrysler R&D, Univ. Wisconsin (Fulbright Scholar), etc), thus enhancing their exposure to world-class research facilities; and assisting me in strengthening an international network of collaborative research partners in this domain. The current team comprises of 2 Postdocs, 8 PhDs, 1 Masters and 1 Research Assistant.                Selected relevant publications: Murphy F, Devlin G, & McDonnell K. Energy requirements and environmental impacts associated with the production of short rotation willow (Salix sp) chip in Ireland. Global Change Biology Bioenergy (2013). Galbally P, Fagan C, Ryan D, Finnan J, Grant J, & McDonnell K, (2012) Biosolids and distillery effluent amendment to Irish miscanthus x giganteus plantations: impacts on groundwater and soil. Journal of Environmental quality, 41 (1) pp114-123. Everard C, McDonnell K,  Fagan C.C. Prediction of biomass gross calorific values using visible and near infrared spectroscopy Biomass and Bioenergy (2012) Butler E, Devlin G, Meier D, & McDonnell, K.P Fluidised bed pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomasses and comparison of bio-oil and micropyrolysate by GC/MS-FID. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis (2012) Everard D., Fagan C. & McDonnell K. (2012) Visible & near infrared spectral sensing coupled with chemometric analysis as a method for on-line prediction of milled biomass composition pre-pelletising. Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy, 20 (3), pp361-269 Murphy F, McDonnell K Butler E, & Devlin G. (2012) The evaluation of viscosity and density of blends of Cyn-diesel pyrolysis fuel with conventional diesel fuel in relation to compliance with fuel specifications EN 590:2009: Fuel, 91 (1) pp112-118   Selected Research funding:   Science Foundation Ireland: Charles Parsons Bioresources for Bioenergy: €2.9 million, 2006-2015 Department of Agriculture: Agricultural nutrient management: €347,000, 2006-2011 Teagasc Walsh fellowship: Weed control in biomass crops: €84,000, 2012-2016 Department of Agriculture (Coford) Forestry biomass systems €950,000, 2010-2014 Enterprise Ireland: CropHealth – Biosensor assessment/feasibility, €13,500, 2014-2014