Invited Talk: Engineering a More Sustainable Polyurethanes Future

The Dow Chemical Company has championed sustainability for many decades. Furthermore, our mantra “Waste Reduction Always Pays” underscores a belief that sustainable solutions will ultimately be economically favorable. Chemical engineers play a key role in improving the sustainability of products manufactured in our company’s plants. This presentation will describe four separate ways that engineers are increasing the sustainability of polyurethanes in an economically-advantaged manner. First, increasing the energy efficiency of the PMDI manufacturing process through mixing improvements will be discussed. Second, opportunities to alter reaction selectivity and reduce solid waste generation will be given. Third, the incorporation of CO₂ into polyol would capture and utilize a gas stream that could otherwise contribute to global warming. And lastly, the development of processes to recycle waste polyurethane foams directs us toward the establishment of a circular PU economy.

Bio for speaker: Dr. Paul Gillis, Fellow, Dow Chemical

After receiving a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University in 1989, Paul joined the Fluid Mechanics discipline in Corporate R&D within the Dow Chemical Company. Paul pioneered the application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to design, debottleneck and develop new chemical processes. He is known for his fluid dynamics and mixing expertise and developing new tools for multi-phase flow with phase change and mixed Damkohler number reacting flow simulations. After becoming a Fellow in 2003, Paul has worked across a number of Dow business units including Polyurethanes, Epoxy, Oil & Gas, Emulsion Polymerization, and Electronic Materials. Outside of work, Paul is passionate about genealogy and camping and hiking in U.S. National Parks with his family.