Belma Demirel recently joined Praxair which supplies atmospheric, process and specialty gases, high-performance coatings, and related services and technologies. Prior to Praxair, she worked at Rentech, Inc. for about 11 years. She, as a manager of Catalyst Development, led the catalyst development, testing and scale-up efforts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to convert carbonaceous materials to valuable fuels and chemicals.
Before joining Rentech, Inc. in 2000, she worked at Eltron Research, Inc. between 1999 and 2000 as a senior chemical engineer. Her responsibilities at Eltron Research, Inc. were in the area of research and development in gasification using a ceramic gasification, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, hydroprocessing of heavy fractions from coal and petroleum, and catalysis. Prior to joining Eltron Research, Inc., she worked at the Center for Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky, between 1996 and 1999 as a postdoc. The work there led her to catalysis, catalyst development/characterization for coal liquefaction, and hydroprocessing of heavy fractions from coal and petroleum.
She received her PhD at the Department of Chemical and Fuels Engineering, University of Utah in 1996 and investigated the production of high-octane gasoline components, without aromatics, by hydroprocessing of coal-related aromatic hydrocarbons for her Ph. D. dissertation. She received her M.S. and B.S. in chemical engineering from Ankara University in 1988 and in 1985.
She has many papers published in the refereed journals in the field of Catalysis and Fuels, holds patents, and given many presentations. She is listed in “Who is Who in Science and Engineering”. She is a member of American Institute of Chemical Engineers and American Chemical Society, and has a very active role in organizing conferences at the AIChE since 1999.