(240b) Energy Challenges and the Role of Process Intensification

The presentation will comprise an overview of some of the key issues affecting process engineering research and development in relation to energy. The impact of the current forecasts of energy supply and demand, the desire for energy independence, and the drive towards the use of renewable resources will be discussed. Some of the challenges offered by the use of renewable resources for transportation fuels production will be summarized, showing the possibilities offered by a systems approach to the production of alternative fuels. Some developments in process engineering and the development of process intensification techniques which impact on energy production and energy efficient processing will be briefly discussed. The presentation will conclude with a case study of process intensification which illustrates the potential for new hardware technologies in achieving access to other sources of energy and in improving energy efficiency. A range of technologies being developed will be reviewed briefly covering some of the novel reactor types and relevant coupled reaction/separation processes. The presentation will conclude with a case study comparing process intensification technologies for continuous biodiesel production based on the criteria of residence time, energy efficiency, operating and capital cost, temperature control and the current status of development.