(2em) Overcoming Transport Barriers in Fluid-Solid Physical and Chemical Processes

Research Interests: Many fluid-solid physical and chemical processes experience transport effects, limiting the amount of processable fluid per unit time. This has implications on many industrial processes including carbon capture and conversion, permanent gas separations, and sorption enhanced catalysis. Empirical models are useful in defining kinetic performance of an adsorbent or catalyst but may only be applicable to a limited number of operating conditions. Furthermore, empirical models offer little information on how to improve process performance, from a molecular, bottom-up starting point. First principles transport models can offer similar practical process intensification information but may also provide fundamental insight leading to paradigm shifts in designing better adsorbents and catalysts [1,2]. Combining defined objectives from first principles models with knowledge of novel materials synthesis can lead to further scientific understanding of fluid-solid interface chemistry and improvement on process efficiency [3,4]. One example could be the structure-property relationships between hierarchical porosity, morphology, and chemical composition of zeolite materials on gas uptake rates, capacities, and energy inputs in gas separations. Defining material properties using first principles models may even lead to the discovery of new adsorbent or catalytic zeolite materials. In addition to defining process performance parameters, knowledge of zeolite synthesis can be utilized to improve yields, reactor loadings, and crystallization times, allowing for potential commercial scale-up. Composite materials are also important in many of the processes mentioned above. Catalyst and adsorbent supports such as zeolites or metal oxides can be tailored to optimize the interactions between the support’s surface and the active phase. For example, the support’s surface acidity and hydrophilicity can impact the activity of amines in carbon capture from ambient air [5] or from point sources [6]. Using high temperature CO₂ capture agents in catalytic reforming and water gas shift operations can improve the selectivity and yield when producing sustainable H₂ [7]. The examples mentioned are only a few of the possible fluid-solid processes that have the potential for improvement through defining objective functions and determination of fundamental transport parameters to guide rational synthesis of high-performance adsorbents and catalysts. The proposed research aims to use first principles transport models, fundamental adsorption, catalytic, and materials science, chemistry, and engineering to expand the operating conditions, improve performance, and gain atomic level insight of various fluid-solid physical and chemical processes.

Teaching Interests: Teaching interests associated with the proposed research include core chemical engineering courses: chemical thermodynamics, heat, mass, and momentum transport, chemical reactor engineering, and process design. Specific elective courses can also supplement the proposed research and include zeolite science and applications, characterization methods of solid materials, and fundamentals of adsorption science. A course relating to doing scientific research will help students learn topics such as design of experiments, navigating literature, data management, and preparing manuscripts. This research course would be for undergraduate students interested in going to graduate school.