(613c) Reaction Engineering Routes for Waste Utilization As a Sustainable Alternative

This research initiative focuses on advancing a low-to-mid temperature catalytic gasification process as a potential resource utilization alternative. The main goal of this project is the characterization of reaction pathways of waste species as waste management and sustainable energy alternatives for waste management applications. The project is motivated by the need to develop low-cost technologies as environmentally-friendly alternatives for converting waste materials into high-value products. Indeed, as landfills are reaching capacity, waste management is becoming an increasingly important issue for large residential areas.  Experiments were conducted in a research-grade laboratory reactor are characterized by gas chromatography and used for the kinetic characterization of catalytic gasification processes. Experiments are complemented by thermal characterization of simulants and catalytic slurries. The completion of the study is anticipated to lay out the foundation for scaling-up the technology to a continuous process.