AIChE Environmental Symposium 2017

Gasification... the conversion of carbonaceous materials into CO, CO₂ and H₂ through exposure to high temperature in an oxygen starved environment... is a process that was discovered in the 1800s. Since that time, it has been studied and applied in countless ways and today, there are an estimated 950 large scale gasification installations around the world containing about 2,600 gasification systems, each supplying an average of 435 MW of energy. As electricity, each could provide enough to power a mid-sized US city like Pittsburgh or St. Louis. Coal is the primary feedstock for about 80% of future gasification projects; these installations however are not making electricity, but methanol and ammonia, to supply a growing petrochemical industry in China and India.

SDL Citadel, LLC was formed to explore the idea of applying gasification technology to post- industrial and post-consumer paper and plastic to recover usable electricity and heat. Recent successes have produced over 320 kW of electricity from 5 tpd of waste made of a 50/50 mix of paper and plastic. While it’s an exciting start, gasification of paper and plastics (particularly) creates significant chemical, mechanical, thermodynamic and safety challenges requiring a marriage of historical best practices, unconventional thinking, a lot of patience and a little luck.

This presentation will discuss SDL’s work, highlighting some of the technical, environmental, functional, safety, and economic challenges it faces as it works to address the needs of potential industries, governments and markets seeking a higher purpose for their post-industrial and post- consumer waste. 

John B. Kiser, President and CEO, SDL Citadel, LLC. SDL Citadel is an R&D company that is developing a system designed to unlock the latent energy in post-industrial and post-consumer solid waste and convert it into useful products – primarily electricity and heat. He was first involved with SDL in 2011 as an active investor and consultant, then in September, 2015, he was named as its senior leader.

Previously, Mr. Kiser worked at the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU from 2006 – 2015. He started as its Director of Strategic Planning, later becoming an Associate Dean, and finally as the Executive Director of the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership where he designed and delivered leadership and professional development programs to complement students’ technical education. Before SMU, John had a wide variety of engineering, marketing and management roles with oil and gas companies including Lyco Energy Corporation (Dallas), Mobil Oil Corporation (Baton Rouge, Dallas, Pittsburgh), and Exxon Company USA (Midland). His exposure to the oil industry began while in high school giving him over twenty-five years of work experience in the industry.

He attended the Colorado School of Mines and later, Texas A&M University where in 1984 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering. In 1997 he received his Master of Business Administration degree from SMU.

Mr. Kiser currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Carr P. Collins Social Service Center for the Salvation Army, where he was its chairman from 2011-2015. He also served on the Town North YMCA Board of Management from 1997- 2007, having served for two years as its chair and having successfully led three annual campaigns and one capital campaign.

John and his wife, Susan, have lived in Dallas since 1996. They have twin sons Luke and Logan who are both senior engineering students at Texas A&M and graduating in December, 2017. 

Speaker: Dr. Jincheng Du

Abstract