RAPID

Did you know that each year the liquid equivalent of 210 million barrels of liquified ethane are rejected in the continguous 48 US states? To tackle this, the RAPID project team at NC State University is developing a novel chemical process using a novel Chemical Looping-Oxidative Deyhydrogenation (CL-ODH) system. It would enable economically viable, field-located, modular technology to convert the would-be flared ethane stream to a more valuable and more readily transportable liquid fuel. Last week, the RAPID team visited the team at NC State to tour the Modular Conversion of Stranded Ethane to Liquid Fuels project first-hand.

RAPID Executive Director & CTO Ignasi Palou-Rivera and Director of Outreach, Education and Membership Ashley Smith-Schoettker visited the project team in-person, received a project status update, and toured the labs of Dr. Henry Lamb (key to the ethylene oligomerization section of the project), Dr. Tiegang Fang (key to the tail gas combustion section of the project) and Project PI Dr. Fanxing Li (key to the CL-ODH section of the project). Additionally, Dr. Phil Westmoreland provided an update on the modeling tasks of the project.

Special thanks to the progress and dedication of the NC State team whose innovation is generating more energy-efficient, modular process technology and advancing RAPID's mission to transform the process industries.

Picture (left) depicts members of the RAPID team and NC State project team in front of the pilot-scale testbed system, a key deliverable in the project. From left to right: Kaushik Nonavinakere Vinod, Leo Brody, Dr. Fanxing Li, Dr. Ignasi Palou-Rivera, Dr. Luke Neal, Ashley Smith-Schoettker, Dr. Phil Westmoreland.

Picture (right) depicts Dr. Joe McCaig providing Ignasi Palou-Rivera a tour of Dr. Henry Lamb's lab.