The EFRI program is designed to offer critical, strategic support to interdisciplinary teams of researchers to embark on rapidly advancing frontiers of fundamental engineering research.EPA/NSF Networks for Characterizing Chemical Life Cycleĭirectorate for Mathematical & Physical SciencesĮPA: Office of Research and Development / National Center for Environmental Researchįull Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. Allen, and Penn State University Chemical Engineering Department Head Phillip Savage and Assistant Professor Christian Pester. The team also will develop teaching modules related to the research for inclusion in university courses and high school engineering curricula through the Engineer Your World program which reaches over 10,000 diverse high school students across the U.S.Ĭo-PIs include Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Assistant Professor Li-Chiang Lin, School of Environment and Natural Resources Assistant Professor Nicole Sintov, University of Texas at Austin Professor David T. Additionally, they will analyze cost and physical flows of current and emerging technologies, model supply networks to determine the effects on the wider chemical industry, conduct behavioral studies to discern and influence the role of consumers, and assess life cycle and circularity to estimate environmental effects across global value chains. Valorization is the process of reusing, recycling or composting waste materials and converting them into more useful products including materials, chemicals, fuels or other sources of energy. The team will conduct synergistic research in polymer chemistry, reaction engineering, and molecular simulation to determine properties of depolymerization and valorization processes under practical conditions of contamination. “With this collaborative project, we expect to contribute to finding solutions that allow society to benefit from the many attractive properties of plastics, while eliminating their environmental impacts such as those due to littering and greenhouse gas emissions,” Bakshi said.
Conversely, in a circular economy, goods are reused, repaired, or remanufactured, thereby taken back into the product cycle. Bakshi’s multidisciplinary team will develop methods and tools for assessment, design, and innovation toward Sustainable and Circular Engineering for the Elimination of End-of-life Plastics.Ī linear model of resource consumption includes resource extraction, manufacturing, distribution, and use, followed by disposal. The remainder has either been disposed of as landfill, incinerated or otherwise lost to the environment at the end of the product’s useful life.
Only a small fraction of the plastic produced to date has ever been recycled. Model of a Circular Economy Eliminating end-of-life plastics The team will use a data-driven approach to integrate the reactor system components and further the fundamental understanding of the gas upgrading chemistry by identifying an efficient catalyst to promote the reactions. Velocys, Inc., and Jan Lerou Consulting will contribute as industry partners. “This amazing funding to support the development of a unique modular system based on the extensive expertise of the team members on material synthesis, multiphase reactor design, system optimization and techonomic analysis allows our collective idea to be possibly realized,” Fan said.Ĭo-principal investigators include Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Assistant Professor Joel Paulson and Research Assistant Professor Andrew Tong, and Materials Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Vicky Doan-Nguyen. The successful integration of this innovative technology has the potential to be transformative for monetizing stranded natural gas while reducing the carbon footprint by simultaneously consuming carbon dioxide as a feedstock in the gas conversion process.
The system will leverage Fan’s thermo-catalytic flared gas reforming (TC-FGR) technology and a novel pseudo-catalytic metal oxide (PMO) material. Successfully transforming these remotely distributed gas resources to useful energy products will contribute significantly to the U.S. Stranded natural gas resources are currently flared due to economic limitations associated with prohibitive transportation costs and small reservoir sizes. The project led by Fan will develop a small-scale modular chemical processing system to convert stranded natural gas and carbon dioxide into value-added liquid fuel products.
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