Sustainability & Environment

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Marcellus Shale Gas Wastewater Reuse and Recycle

AIChE Webinar

Oct 3, 2012

Jessica Gray

This webinar provides background on how water is used for drilling and hydraulic fracturing and includes a review of hydraulic fracturing fluid composition and flowback and produced water quantity and composition.

Institute for Sustainability (IfS)

IfS is an umbrella organization encompassing a broad spectrum of activities related to sustainability. It has three sub-entities: the Sustainable Engineering Forum (SEF), the Center for Sustainable Technology Practices (CSTP), and the Youth Council on Sustainability Science and Technology (YCOSST). It also provides oversight to the AIChE Sustainability Index (sm).

Environmental Division (ENV)

The ENV division provides relevant programs on current environmental topics and non-confidential information concerning all aspects of environmental activity. The division promotes publication of papers of interest to chemical engineers in environmental activities as well as coordinates the Institute’s activities with other related societies.

Pyrolytic Pathways to Advanced Biofuels

Oct 18, 2011

R. C. Brown

Pyrolysis is the thermal conversion of carbonaceous materials in the absence of molecular oxygen to liquids, solids and gases. In the most general sense, pyrolysis can occur in an inert or reducing atmosphere or within a solvent (including water); it can occur at atmospheric or elevated pressure;...

New Design for Advanced Zero Emission Power Plant Concept

Oct 18, 2011

Wei Chen

The most significant anthropogenic greenhouse gas is CO 2 , which arises mainly from the use of fossil fuels. A new technology called Advanced Zero Emission Power Plant (AZEP) targeting CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) is being developed. In the AZEP concept, CO 2 -diluted O 2 is used to combust the...

Stabilization of Hanford K-Basin Sludge by Dissolution of Uranium Metal with Carbonate / Peroxide Solution

Oct 18, 2011

Stuart T. Arm

The Hanford K Basins were used until the mid 1960s to store, under water, spent nuclear fuel from the site’s reactors before reprocessing to recover uranium and plutonium. A sludge consisting of cladding corrosion products, uranium, fission products and other debris accumulated on the floor of the...

Kinetics of CO2 Absorption Into Aqueous Potassium Carbonate Solution Promoted by Carbonic Anhydrase Enzyme

Oct 18, 2011

Xinhuai Ye

A novel Integrated Vacuum Carbonate Absorption Process (IVCAP) for post-combustion CO 2 capture is being developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A key technical aspect of this process is to employ a biocatalyst, carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzyme, to enhance the rates of CO 2...

Cellobiose Hydrolysis Using Acid-Functionalized Nanoparticles

Oct 18, 2011

Leidy Peña

Mineral acids have been used effectively for the pretreatment of cellulosic biomass to improve sugar recovery and promote its conversion to ethanol; however, substantial capital investment is required to enable separation of the acid, and corrosion-resistant materials are necessary. Disposal and...

Beyond Water: Expanding the Spectrum of Efficient Large Scale Separations

Oct 18, 2011

William J. Koros

Innovations in membrane materials, structures, modules and system design have fundamentally changed the water purification industry over the past four decades. Revolutionary reductions by a full order of magnitude in energy consumption per unit of delivered product were achieved by substituting...

Modified AnoporeTM Hybrid Membranes for the Microfiltration of Cellulose Acid Hydrolysis Mixtures

Oct 18, 2011

Yong-Hong Zhao

Three classes of nonfouling substances, poly[poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate] (POEM), poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PSBMA), and perfluoroalkyl tagged poly(ethylene glycol) surfactants (fPEG), were covalently tethered onto the surface of Anopore TM membranes (nominal pore size 0.2...

New Catalytic Technology for Converting Heavy Oils Derived From Alberta Oil Sands Into Petrochemical Feedstock

Oct 18, 2011

Vasily Simanzhenkov

Oil sands operations in Alberta are poised to experience significant growth over the next number of years. Production of 1.31 million bbl/day of synthetic crude oil and bitumen blends from oil sands in 2008 is projected to increase to over 3 million bbl/day by 2018. This guarantees a large output...

Reducing Process Complexity for Cellulosic Ethanol

Oct 18, 2011

L.O. Ingram

Much of the process complexity and high capital costs associate with cellulosic ethanol (dilute acid hydrolysis as a pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification of cellulose) results from side products such as furfural, acetate, and soluble lignin compounds that inhibit the biocatalysts. Inhibitor...

Biomimicry of the Fungal Consolidation of Biomass Pretreatment with Saccharification

Oct 18, 2011

Justin T. Kaffenberger

Efficient breakdown of ligno-cellulosic material prior to fermentation for bio-fuel production is a key step in optimizing bio-fuel production. Current industrial practice involves chemical pretreatment and acid or enzymatic saccharification to prepare ligno-cellulosic biomass for fermentation. The...

Improved Ethanol Production Through Anaerobic Thermophilic Co-Culture From Various Carbohydrates

Oct 17, 2011

Lei Xu

Saccharification of fermentable sugars is one of the most critical steps in producing bio-ethanol from lignocellulosics through Consolidate Bioprocessing (CBP). However, the extreme pH and ethanol concentration are commonly considered to be the potential inhibitory factors for the application of...

Improving the Sustainability of Biofuels Through Modification of the Biomass Production Subsystem: Application to Corn and Lignocellulosic Ethanol

Oct 17, 2011

Robert A. Urban

Concerns about dwindling fossil fuel reserves and climate change, energy independence, and depletion of ecosystem goods and services have driven the development of alternative technologies such as biomass-based fuels (biofuels). Although biofuels may be a step towards alleviating the aforementioned...

Pennycress-Derived Jet Fuel and Diesel LCA: Sustainable Advanced Biofuels

Oct 17, 2011

Jiqing Fan

Pennycress-derived jet fuel and diesel show promise as emerging biofuels that can help reduce dependence on petroleum imports, lower the trade deficit, and most importantly, lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Pennycress is a prolific seed producer with yields of more than 2000 pounds of per acre...

Sustainability Evaluation of LNG Processing Technologies

Oct 17, 2011

Preeti Gangadharan

Growing demand for clean fuels has led to a renewed urgency in the search for alternative fuels. With the recent shale gas development initiatives, natural gas is poised to capture a much larger share of the energy market. Being clean-burning, natural gas provides many environmental advantages over...

Lifecycle Assessment and Policy: Implications of the Renewable Fuel Standard for Upper-Midwest Energy Supply

Oct 17, 2011

Michael J. Brodeur-Campbell

Lifecycle Assessment and Policy: Implications of the Renewable Fuel Standard for Upper-Midwest Energy Supply Michael Brodeur-Campbell 1 , Jordan Klinger 1 , Kathleen Halvorsen 2,3 , and David Shonnard 1,4 [1] Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University [2] Department of...

Critical Conditions for High Efficiency Flocculation of Freshwater Algae with Ferric Chloride

Oct 17, 2011

John C. Hewson

Algae have recently received much attention due to their potential as a source of clean biofuel. One of the key economic hurdles in the production of biofuel from algal feedstocks continues to be the harvesting process. Flocculation shows great potential for lowering the economic hurdle by...

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