Polytechnic University of Valencia

About: Polytechnic University of Valencia is a education organization based out in Valencia, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Population. The organization has 16282 authors who have published 40162 publications receiving 850234 citations.

Process innovation strategy in SMEs, organizational innovation and performance: a misleading debate?

Abstract: This article contributes to the study of process innovation as a growth strategy for SMEs, enriching and complementing the well-researched debate about product innovation. Thus, under-researched process innovation strategies are analyzed, and their antecedents and innovative performance implications explored. The results show that process innovation strategy is mainly shaped by the acquisition of embodied knowledge, which acts as a key mechanism for countering firms’ weak internal capabilities. As process innovation is mainly production oriented, performance consequences are measured using the production process indicators of cost reduction, flexibility and capacity improvement, avoiding traditional misguided measures based on sales, which are more product oriented. Drawing on information for 2,412 firms taken from Spanish CIS data, our results suggest that R&D efforts are not positively related to production process performance, but that the latter is improved by the synchronous co-adoption of organizational and technological innovation. SMEs conducting a process innovation strategy rely heavily on the acquisition of external sources of knowledge in order to complement their weak internal innovative capabilities, and their pattern of innovation shows clear-cut differences from traditional R&D-based product innovation strategies. The article uses a resource-based view framework to generate hypotheses.

Modelling the energy demands of aerobic and anaerobic membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment

Abstract: A modelling study has been developed in which the energy requirements of aerobic and anaerobic membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are assessed in order to compare these two wastewater treatment technologies. The model took into consideration the aeration required for biological oxidation in aerobic MBRs (AeMBRs), the energy recovery from methane production in anaerobic MBRs (AnMBRs) and the energy demands of operating submerged and sidestream membrane configurations. Aeration and membrane energy demands were estimated based on previously developed modelling studies populated with operational data from the literature. Given the difference in sludge production between aerobic and anaerobic systems, the model was benchmarked by assuming high sludge retention times or complete retention of solids in both AeMBRs and AnMBRs. Analysis of biogas production in AnMBRs revealed that the heat required to achieve mesophilic temperatures (35°C) in the reactor was only possible with influent wastewater strengths above 4–5 g CO...